Reading Notes:

Audre Lorde, Uses of the Erotic

Alice Walker and Audre Lorde did not have any direct influence on each other, but one can see that they are similar themes:

1. Objectification of women as sexual objects (plastic sexuality) versus erotic as affirmation of a woman's whole being: body, heart, & mind
2. The erotic as encompassing body, heart, and mind.
3. The erotic as expressed in art, culture, and a wide range of physical activities. (Compare with Freud's notion of sublimation.)
4. The erotic as non-rational and spiritual.
5. Audre Lorde's own identity as an African American lesbian woman and her critique of dominant "Euro-American" culture.