Sex as power: stories and memories

The following thesis, entitled Sex As Power: Stories and Memories, is a journal consisting of essays, stories and letters. A response to male terms of reference, it is an exploration of heterosexuality as an institution of power and an examination of the social construction of masculinity, femininity, and sexual discourse. It is based on the premise that sexuality is constructed and maintained by and for a male-dominated social structure and that it is through sexuality that men retain their power. Experiences of sex as power are described and discussed by women, from their own individual points of view as well as from the perspective of radical feminism. It represents an attempt to address the phallocracy; to record women's words and experiences; to employ a feminist methodology; to place the subjective in the realm of the political and authoritative; and, to work towards defining women's sexuality by questioning the one that has always taken precedence - men's sexuality, heterosexuality