Live Sex Acts, Reaction Paper Example

In her book Live Sex Acts, Wendy Chapkis divides feminists into two main groups and several subgroups. First, she draws a line Radical Feminists and Sex Radical feminists. Radical feminists, according to Chapkis, oppose the sexualization of women. They push for purity and restraint.  These feminists view the objectification of women as an obstacle to success in the working world and in education. Therefore, according to Chapkis, the aim of these feminists, is to allow women to “take a full part in all the areas of life previously aggregated to man,” by freeing women from “the degradation of her temple to solely animal uses.” (Chapkis 11) Chapkis claims that Radical feminists are generally seen as very hostile to sex.

Other feminists, sometimes called “sex radical feminists”, however, take issue with the first wave feminists’ idea of purity. According to Chapkis, they see their radical feminist counterparts as repressed “spinsters,” who are misguided and out of touch. Indeed, Chapkis quotes one second-wave feminist as saying the following:

It will be an unspeakable catastrophe if our richly complex Feminist movement with its possibilities of power and joy, falls under the domination of sexually deficient and disappointed women. (Chapkis 11)

Clearly, then, sex-radical feminists differ sharply from radical feminists on their view of the nature of sex. Radical feminists treat sex as if it is something to fear, while sex radical feminists (such as the one quoted above) see sex as a source of both power and pleasure.

Although the division between Radical feminists and Sex Radical feminists is the clearest cut, Chapkis cautions that divisions in feminism are much more complex. She breaks Radical Feminism into two distinct groups. One of these groups she says “embraces some limited number of sexual practices, as long as they are mutual and loving in their expression.” The other group opposes all sexual acts, because it sees sex as the expression of male dominance.

Sex radicals, according to Chapkis, also have different perspectives. One segment of Sex Radicalism sees sex as something that is essentially “benign.” Another segment believes that sex can be oppressive, but only if women allow themselves to become victims. Yet another segment believes that sex is neither naturally oppressive nor empowering, but is, rather a tool over which men and women struggle over. These feminists believe that women must assert their rights to have them. Still others see sex as a cultural tradition that can women can either submit to or transform (Chapkis 13).

Perhaps the most interesting division of feminism comes not from Chapkis, but from a sociologist she quotes. That man, Steven Siedman, divides feminists’ perspectives on sexuality into “libertarian” and “romantic” viewpoints. The romantics believe that sex is positive only when it is coupled with love, understanding and sharing. Libertarians, on the other hand, like the idea of “anonymous lovemaking, free of constraints.” (Chapkis 14) The romantic feminists, however, compare constraint free lovemaking to “the anonymous killing of war.” Indeed, they see it as violence against women.

Romantic feminists, says Chapkis, tend to be against prostitution. They see any sort of sexual contact that is not based on trust and mutual giving as wrong. Prostitution cannot be based on these things, as it involves buying and selling. Pornography, likewise, is wrong to the romantic feminist, because it involves the sale of sex as a commodity. Furthermore, according to the romantic feminist, it reduces all women to whores by bringing unwanted sexual practices into the mainstream. Indeed, Romantic Feminist Kathleen Barry says the following:

Sexual liberation has brought into the home many of the bizarre sexual activities that men have demanded with prostitution…Through pornography, time-honored distinctions of society are now blurring and the gap is quickly closing between love and violence, madonnas and whores. (Chapkis 14)

While this blending of Madonnas and whores is repulsive to feminists like Barry, Libertarian feminists embrace it. They see romantic feminists as prudish and repressive. Libertarian feminists applaud the idea of pornography introducing new sexual techniques to lovers. To the libertarians, pornography makes women more free to participate in the kinds of sexual acts they might be afraid to without seeing that others also engage in them.

Other feminists, meanwhile, blame prostitution and pornography on men. Indeed, Chapkis quotes one such feminist, Ariane Amsberg as saying the following:

It seems to me that prostitution is something that only men could have invented. Women need more of an emotional connection when they are sexually active. For most people, at least for most women, sex is absolutely about intimacy and a safe loving relationship. (Chapkis 14)

For anti-sex feminists, the problem extends past pornography and prostitution to the nature of sex itself. Sex, say these women has become so corrupted by men’s objectification of women, that it must be completely rejected – at least in all the forms in which it currently exists. Some say that lesbian sex is an exception, others believe even lesbian sex mimics forms of male domination (Chapkis). Some believe it is possible for women to transform sex into something fair to women, others believe it is unsalvageable.

The libertarians believe that sex can have a variety of meanings and that it can be whatever women want it to be. Many believe that sex can be a source of power for women. Chapkis quotes libertarian feminist Camile Paglia as saying that sex is not some sort of male creation, but, rather, “the ultimate physical reality.” (Chapkis 22) Indeed, according to Paglia, a woman who considers herself a feminist but cannot handle the idea of topless clubs or pornography is not a feminist but a prude. Paglia believes that women, instead of cutting themselves off from sex, should realize its power. Men, she says “are run ragged” by sex. The fact that they have to pay money to get it is a sign of their weakness, says Paglia, not of their dominance. While anti-sex feminists see sex, pornography and strip clubs as victimizing, Paglia believes that they celebrate women as a goddess, rather than a victim. (Chapkis 22)

Sex Radical feminists do not subscribe to the belief that either men or women necessarily hold sexual power. For them it is a field that must be fought over. Nothing about sex is inherent. The rules must be made by those who struggle with it. Women, then, must fight for their rights. Because of this idea, Sex Radical feminists believe that women have a duty not to show any signs of complicity.

My own views on sexuality are partly in line with the views of the Radical Feminists and partly in line with the views of the Libertarian Feminists. Like the libertarians, I believe that sex can be what we make of it. Sex can be a tremendous source of power for a woman. Many women do lead men around on leashes because of it. Meanwhile, women can and do dominate men sexually. While Radical Feminists argue that men objectify women through sex, they fail to mention that women can and do objectify men as well. Several stories of the raping of males by females have been in the news lately. While this is, perhaps, not common, it is possible.  Therefore, I agree with the libertarians on this aspect of sex.

Yet I agree with the Radical Feminists on issues like pornography and prostitution. While it might be true that seeing others perform unusual sexual acts might make women more comfortable with the prospect, I think it is more likely to present unwilling women with the pressure to perform acts that repulse them. Suppose a woman is repulsed by anal sex, but her partner convinces her to watch a pornographic film featuring the act. The partner can then use film to pressure her into accepting it, saying, “See? The actress on the film likes it.”

I also agree with Radical Feminists on the issues of sex and intimacy. Sex does seem to be a more intimate matter for women than it is for many men. Pornography and prostitution both seem to lack that intimacy and it would be a shame if women had to sacrifice loving, trusting relationships because of sexual liberation.

Works Cited

Chapkis, Wendy. Live Sex Acts. New York: Routledge, 1996.