Резюме: | Kristen R Ghodsee’s study of the links between female sexual pleasure and politics is a joyous read Vote for me and have more orgasms! Politicians don’t usually campaign on these terms but in these days of Brexit anaesthesia maybe they should. Sex may feel mostly private and individual but it takes place in a system that changes how we may experience it. So does late capitalism make the earth move more or less? We have lived through a period in which we could actually test that. Before the Berlin Wall came down we had a communist and capitalist society living side by side. For all we were told about ugly, unfeminine communist women, the awful Stasi, the lack of material goods, the deprivations, west German women were grateful that as soon as east German women came over they demanded creches and childcare. They felt no stigma about being single parents. Some viewed their sexuality as free and somehow different to the commodified sexuality of the west. If we look at many eastern European women now we see quite clearly the ravages of unfettered capitalism. The free market takes over as state socialism collapses and what happens? Women become items to be bought and sold, whether they are Russian mail-order brides, Ukrainian sex workers or Polish “maids”. This zippy little book argues that not only is unregulated capitalism bad in itself, it is also disproportionately bad for women. Continue reading... |