only started to read the article and while the writer makes some important points I have some bones to pick with her about categories. I have not yet finished it and will probably want to read it several times before commenting fully.
Concerned that I might spend all day reading and thinking about this I decided to listen to the video that LeftHandDown posted while I did some chores. I didn’t get very far before I found something I wanted to clarify.
I have never studied queer theory but have studied structuralism in relation to anthropology (helped a friend to revise and found it interesting, I am not an expert) and my understanding of "binary oppositions" is that it is a concept from structuralist theory not queer theory.
Queer theory may have appropriated the term and perverted it to mean something completely different to the original meaning. I will look into this further as the hijacking of language is something that is an important element of social engineering and should be scrutinised and made conscious.
I’m just mentioning it as when I referred to binary oppositions in a much earlier post someone dismissed by post as “queer theory” which was a surprise to me as I have never studied it.
Secondly, re the audio / video, Cox states that in psychoanalytic theory women are defined by the “lack” of a penis.
Certainly when I studied various models of psychoanalytic and other psychological theories, the writer who focussed mostly on the identification of females with “lack” was Jaques Lacan.
Lacan is not an easy writer to engage with and I do not believe that he was a very pleasant person, however he did have some fascinating ideas.
I struggle with Lacan but my understanding of his use of the word “lack” while it does signify the lack of a penis also has a deeper meaning similar to how, when Freud talked about the phallus, he was talking about the penis, but was also talking about the phallus as a symbol of masculine authority and what we would call the patriarchy.
If readers are interested in depth psychology and its relationship to current trends re transgender narratives then they would do well to explore the Lacanian concept of “disavowal”, especially in relation to paraphillias. The fantasy of a penis wielding woman is central to the disavowal fantasy and is, I think, fruitful for women to explore.
Just some provisional thoughts, please don't read these as too critical, it is always good to engage with clever women on these kinds of issues and I look forward to reading the rest of the article and hearing the rest of the podcast