As I read Audre Lorde’s works “The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power” and “Poetry Is Not a Luxury,” I began to ask what Lorde would say if she were alive today. She had incredible insight into the suppression of the erotic in women whether it be through sex or other acts such as enjoying intimacy and how limiting our eroticism limits our power as women as a Black feminist lesbian. She states that the erotic “…lies in a deeply female and spiritual plane” (Lorde 87). I found this statement really interesting given the hypersexualization of Black children and their bodies that ages children to hold adult responsibilities. Is she referring to the “intrinsic” nature for women to be nurturers? I also wondered how she would address Asian cultures where sex is a taboo or how one would go about accessing power we have been socialized against using.
Furthermore, this piece was written in 1978. How would Lorde perceive the erotic in present times with progression for LGBTQ+ folk? How would this connect to people who identify as non-binary or transgender or people who do not have to worry about the additional layer of being BIPOC?
Lorde’s works have made me realize the way you feel is important and it has a purpose. Women have been conditioned to suppress feelings to maintain the hierarchy and perpetuate the norm (white, cis, straight, male). The erotic is not just sex, it is much more complicated and connected than that. I now feel an obligation to put sensations into forms of media (writing, music, etcetera) that can be shared and expressed for future generations to use to dismantle the racist, patriarchal society we live in.
I leave you with my favorite takeaway from the readings: “they [places of possibility] have survived and grown strong through the darkness”
Works Cited:
Lorde, Audre. “‘The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power.’” Sage Publications, 1978, uk.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/11881_Chapter_5.pdf.
Lorde, Audre. “Poetry Is Not a Luxury.” 1985.
Great analysis here. Good questions and considerations about time and context for Lorde. There is a new collection of her selected works coming out in October. Very timely indeed and the trope of darkness. It would be interesting to trace in Lorde.