Reconstructing Female Sexuality and Deconstructing Male Anxiety: Black Hole or Living Hall?

by  Gizem Serdar Ömür (Author)

Key Focus:

• Topic: An interdisciplinary exploration of the representation and symbolism of female genitalia, aiming to challenge patriarchal narratives and offer a new understanding of female sexuality.
• Goal: To scrutinize the complex relationship between female sexuality and the male psyche through literature, feminist theory, and psychoanalysis.

Key Themes:

1. Literary Analysis:
   • Focuses on works by Charles Burns, Angela Carter, and Patrick Süskind.
   • Unveils how these authors explore the interplay between female sexuality and the male psyche.
2. Feminist Theoretical Framework:
   • Draws on the works of prominent feminist theorists such as:
     • Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, Hélène Cixous, Barbara Creed, Riana Eisler, Bracha Ettinger, and Marija Gimbutas.
   • Critiques androcentric views from psychoanalysts like Freud, Lacan, and Jung.
3. Reclaiming Female Reproductive Power:
   • Celebrates women’s reproductive features, aiming to revive a primordial representation rooted in procreational power.
   • Rejects conventional, patriarchal depictions of female sexuality, advocating for a more empowering view.
4. Interdisciplinary Approach:
   • Incorporates insights from myth, psychology, archaeology, philosophy, and religion.
   • Analyzes the layers of unconscious thought embedded in literary works, examining how cultural narratives shape our understanding of femininity.
5. Non-Binary Understanding of Femininity:
   • Advocates for a non-binary perspective on femininity, where the female reproductive body is seen as a symbolic gateway between the animate and inanimate realms.
   • The female body is positioned as both alluring and repelling, challenging traditional gendered representations.