The Lady of the House of Love
The Werewolf |
Angela Carter’s ‘Polemical Preface’ in The Sadeian Woman[1] definitively presents itself as just that, polemical. As a key figure of second-wave feminism, Carter’s preface would suggest a seeming contradiction of moral and ethical values. However, the first sentence in the preface defies any accusation that Carter has abandoned all inherent feminist values; “Pornographers are the enemies of women” (4)¹, a sentence which reaffirms the generally-accepted feminist stance that pornography, in its brutal compulsion, only serves to reinforce patriarchal standards which advance the commodification and objectification of women, not just in pornography but also in our phallocentric society. Carter’s denunciation of society’s unjust acceptance of the submissive female role is written with in both a sanguine and purposeful way which paves the way for revolution. As such, Carters work was followed by Dworkin’s ‘Pornography: Men Possessing Women’[2] and a host of other writings condemning, not sex, but the assuming and misogynist view of sex that is most explicitly illustrated in pornography. The articles on this website will further explore Carter’s argument in the preface by reading a selection of her short-stories in which she often subverts the expectations of gender and sexuality.
[1] Carter, A (1979). ‘Polemical Preface’. In The Sadeian Woman: An Exercise in Cultural History. London (1993): Virago [2] Dworkin, A. (1981). 'Pornography: Men Possessing Women'. In: Humm, M. (1992) Feminisms: A Reader. Oxen: Routledge. |
The Company of Wolves
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