The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century

by Amia Srinivasan

Overview

“Laser-cut writing and a stunning intellect. If only every writer made this much beautiful sense.” —Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women

“Amia Srinivasan is an unparalleled and extraordinary writer—no one X-rays an argument, a desire, a contradiction, a defense mechanism quite like her. In stripping the new politics of sex and power down to its fundamental and sometimes clashing principles, The Right to Sex is a bracing revivification of a crucial lineage in feminist writing: Srinivasan is daring, compassionate, and in relentless search of a new frame.” —Jia Tolentino, author of Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion

Thrilling, sharp, and deeply humane, the philosopher Amia Srinivasan’s The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century upends the way we discuss—or avoid discussing—the problems and politics of sex.

How should we think about sex? It is a thing we have and also a thing we do, a supposedly private act laden with public meaning, a personal preference shaped by outside forces, a place where pleasure and ethics can pull wildly apart.

How should we talk about sex? Since #MeToo, many have fixed on consent as the key framework for achieving sexual justice. Yet consent is a blunt tool. To grasp sex in all its complexity—its deep ambivalences, its relationship to gender, class, race, and power—we need to move beyond yes and no, wanted and unwanted.

We do not know the future of sex—but perhaps we could imagine it. Amia Srinivasan’s stunning debut helps us do just that. She traces the meaning of sex in our world, animated by the hope for a different world. She reaches back into an older feminist tradition that was unafraid to think of sex as a political phenomenon. She discusses a range of fraught relationships—between discrimination and preference, pornography and freedom, rape and racial injustice, punishment and accountability, students and teachers, pleasure and power, capitalism and liberation.

The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century is a provocation and a promise, transforming many of our most urgent political debates and asking what it might mean to be free.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250858795
Publisher:	Picador
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	66,587
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Amia Srinivasan was born in 1984 in Bahrain and was raised in London, New York, Singapore, and Taiwan. She is currently the Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at All Souls College, Oxford University. She has written on subjects as diverse as sex, death, octopuses, anger, surfing, and the politics of pronouns for publications including the London Review of Books, where she is a contributing editor; The Times Literary Supplement; The New Yorker; and The New York Times. The Right to Sex is her first book. She lives in Oxford.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

The Conspiracy Against Men 1

Talking to My Students About Porn 33

The Right to Sex 73

Coda: The Politics of Desire 93

On Not Sleeping with Your Students 123

Sex, Carceralism, Capitalism 149

Acknowledgments 181

Notes 185

Bibliography 231

Index 269

Editorial Reviews

A SUNDAY TIMES (UK) BESTSELLER

“Srinivasan refuses to resort to straw men; she will lay out even the most specious argument clearly and carefully, demonstrating its emotional power, even if her ultimate intention is to dismantle it . . . For a book by a philosopher that makes a vibrant case for theory, The Right to Sex keeps returning to the reality of lived experience.“
—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times

“This new essay collection takes on pornography, power, desire and more, drawing on earlier feminist tradition and connecting questions of freedom to class, race and disability.”
—Joumana Khatib, The New York Times Book Review (Most Anticipated)

“[Srinivasan] shows us how to let philosophical arguments clarify debates within popular culture, and how to read popular culture as a way of wrestling with moral ­dilemmas related to sex, feminism, equality, and freedom."
—Judith Butler, New Statesman

"Each individual essay in this collection is complex . . . On any given page, Srinivasan will leave you feeling convinced she has found a way out, only to pull the rug out from under you; whenever she says “but,” one wants to duck."
—Jennifer Wilson, The New Republic

“Persuasive and daring . . . Srinivasan does not shy away from the difficult tensions that [her thesis] throws into relief.”
—Becca Rothfeld, Boston Review

“The Right to Sex is a truly stunning debut, sure to provoke, unmoor, and inspire many.”
—Audrey Clare Farley, Washington Independent Review of Books

“The emergence of a writer like Srinivasan, who asks feminists to go further, is an enormous gift to the discourse.”
—Jessica Ferri, The Los Angeles Times

“A daring feminist collection considers pornography, desire and the boundaries within student-teacher relationships . . . Compelling . . . The book effectively highlights how sexual desire—who we are and are not attracted to—is political and affected.”
—Rafia Zakaria, The Guardian (UK)

“The philosopher’s debut, The Right to Sex, deftly unpacks the politics of sexual desire, the nuances of the call to ‘believe women’, and fulfills our need for a deeper interrogation of modern feminism . . . [An] urgent call for an intersectional approach to feminism, which is the only way to build an equal society for women . . . Extraordinary.”
—Brit Dawson, Dazed

“To accompany Srinivasan on her thought-work into unpacking, questioning, considering, contextualizing, and deepening contemporary feminist issues is to be stretched into new shapes that the world needs. Srinivasan’s powerful thinking is matched by her powerful language, often striking like an electric revelation at the core of an issue. [The Right to Sex] is required reading.”
—Emily Dziuban, Booklist (starred review)

“This exceptionally well-written collection is among the most insightful works yet about sex in modern culture. It effectively merges academic analysis with lived experience in an accessible read that will interest readers from diverse professional and personal backgrounds.”
—Sarah Schroeder, Library Journal

“Revelatory . . . Srinivasan’s grasp on the arguments and movements of her forebears is spectacular. Her ability to explain complex concepts and issues simply makes the reader’s job both easy and enjoyable . . . Srinivasan is a phenomenal philosopher . . . It’s up to us to start taking the steps. My explicit recommendation, for what it’s worth, is to begin by reading this book.”
—Bri Lee, The Monthly

“Srinivasan’s true subject is the need for nuance and generosity in contemporary discourse on sex . . . [Written with] gliding rigor and sharp edges . . . She takes her opponents at their strongest, she braves ambiguity, and she holds up contradictory evidence to see if her argument still works . . . Srinavasan’s work is too interesting to be perfect. It’s superb.”
—Naoise Dolan, The Irish Times

“[Srinivasan] boldly examines the politics and ethics of sex—past, present and future—in her new work of non-fiction. The Right To Sex is a series of essays in which Srinivasan makes her way through consent, pornography, freedom, teacher and student relationships, male grievance, desire, intersectionality and more . . . Her writing will draw you in and teach you something.”
—Hannah Millington, The Independent (“5 New Books to Read This Week”)

“Amia Srinivasan reveals both the material opportunities and dead-ends of a century-long conscious trajectory towards female empowerment. The Right to Sex reminds us of the foundational complexities to Women's Liberation ideas and why we are still grappling with them. This gathering of evidence invites readers to create new knowledge.”
—Sarah Schulman, author of Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993

“From its luminous beginning words, Amia Srinivasan’s magnificent first book announces itself as a classic. Already one of our most superlative philosophers and stylish essayists, Srinivasan shows that concern for the plight of the most oppressed is never disconnected from general explorations of and movements for free lives for everyone, and the renovated social order our common future requires.”
—Samuel Moyn, author of Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War

From the Publisher

★ 07/05/2021

Philosopher Srinivasan debuts with a fascinating collection of essays on issues facing the feminist movement today. Calling on feminism to be “relentlessly truth-telling, not least about itself,” Srinivasan discusses consent, intersectionality, misogyny, and gendered violence, among other topics. In “The Conspiracy Against Men,” she points out that false rape accusations are more often made by law enforcement officials (in an attempt to convict the wrong suspect for an actual crime) than by women, and describes the slogan “Believe women” as both a “corrective norm” to a legal system that skews in favor of wealthy white men and a “blunt tool” that obscures how race, class, religion, and other factors affect the handling of sexual assault allegations. In “Talking to My Students About Porn,” Srinivasan revisits the anti-porn/pro-sex debates of the 1980s and early ’90s in light of how digital pornography has become a “built-in feature” of her students’ lives. Throughout, Srinivasan returns to the question of who has power, and how it is wielded to protect the status quo, rather than to remake the world as a fairer and more equitable place. Marked by lucid prose, innovative thinking, and a penchant for resisting easy answers, this is a must-read. Agent: Amelia Atlas, ICM Partners. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

08/01/2021

In this sharp and thoughtful collection of essays about attitudes towards sex, philosopher Srinivasan (social and political theory, Oxford Univ.) takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture regarding how these attitudes are formed and how they affect people's lives. She draws on her experience, as a professor and an observer of feminist movements over time, to cover topics as wide-ranging as consent, incels, pornography, online dating, racial bias in dating preferences, punishment of sex crimes, and student-teacher relationships. Srinivasan doesn't back away from uncomfortable moments and offers a reasoned, multifaceted analysis that may change the simplistic ways we sometimes view such issues. The attitudes she discusses are mostly rooted in Western mores, but she connects sex crimes, cultural norms, and gender violence to broader general systems of oppression. Ideas from other scholars, activists, and journalists are expertly woven into her essays, making for a rich and balanced narrative that is fascinating to read. VERDICT This exceptionally well-written collection is among the most insightful works yet about sex in modern culture. It effectively merges academic analysis with lived experience in an accessible read that will interest readers from diverse professional and personal backgrounds.—Sarah Schroeder, Univ. of Washington Bothell

Library Journal

2021-07-14
Potent, thought-provoking ruminations on feminism as a political movement capable of eradicating the subordination of women.

Responding primarily to situations in the U.S. and the U.K., Srinivasan, a professor of social and political theory at Oxford, presents a series of essays with titles like “Coda: The Politics of Desire,” “On Not Sleeping With Your Students,” and the titular “The Right to Sex,” a version of which first appeared in the London Review of Books. “There is no right to sex,” writes the author early on. “To think otherwise is to think like a rapist.” In “The Conspiracy Against Men,” she continues, “there is no general conspiracy against men. But there is a conspiracy against certain classes of men.” This collection contains a staggering amount of research; the notes and bibliography sections span nearly 100 pages, and each essay contains citations from numerous scholars and writers: Ida B. Wells, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Angela Davis, Ellen Willis, Andrea Long Chu, Audre Lorde, Catharine A. MacKinnon, and dozens more. Srinivasan addresses pornography, delineating its role in anti- and pro-sex feminist debates as well as sharing her experience of asking her undergraduate students if porn bears “responsibility for the objectification of women, for the marginalisation of women, for sexual violence against women.” (Their emphatic answer is yes.) The author twice quotes Robin Morgan’s declaration that “pornography is the theory, and rape the practice.” Of the unilateral injunction to believe women (“a blunt tool”), Srinivasan argues that "when factors other than gender—race, class, religion, immigration, status, sexuality—come into play, it is far from clear to whom we owe a gesture of epistemic solidarity.” Throughout, Srinivasan considers significant, pressing questions: “Can a working-class movement afford not to be anti-racist?” “Where does morality end and moralising begin?” “Whom, exactly…did the sexual revolution set free?”

Featuring excellent criticism of subjects such as carceral solutions and sex education, this is a vital, compelling collection.

Kirkus Reviews