Virgins and Queers

Rehabilitating Heterosexuality

Bibliographic Data

ID2369145
AuthorsC Kitzinger (0000-0002-7552-7275, Loughborough University), Sue Wilkinson (0000-0002-7146-3016, Loughborough University)
Year1994
Volume8
Issue3
Pages444-462
Publication date1994-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0891-2432 • E-ISSN: 1552-3977
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/089124394008003009
OpenAlexW1969656883
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited26

Radical feminism has critiqued heterosexuality both as a primary means through which people are constituted as women and as men, and as inherently oppressive for women. Two recent developments challenge this critique: the concept of 'virgin' heterosexuality, a form of heterosexuality in which the performance of heterosexual sex, with or without sexual intercourse, is voluntarily chosen, and 'queer' heterosexuality, a concept derived from postmodernist and queer theory, which does not only reinscribe, but also actively subverts and disrupts, oppressive categories of gender ('maleness' and 'femaleness') and sexual orientation (e.g., the 'gay'/'straight' dichotomy). This article analyzes the attempts made in 'virgin' and 'queer' theory to rehabilitate heterosexuality, and finds both fundamentally flawed from a radical feminist perspective. It ends by considering why such rehabilitatory attempts are currently being made, and what they reveal about heterosexuality

Art · Feminism · Heteronormativity · Heterosexuality · Homosexuality · Queer · Queer theory · Sexual orientation · Sociology · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy

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