Gender as a Sex Toy: Female Masculinity in a Sadomasochistic Context
Abstract
Sadomasochism has become a beacon of research concerning deviant sexuality.
However, the majority of this literature focuses entirely on male (homo)sexuality or positions the
female as the feminine, passive object and never the active subject. Although the research and
literature regarding women as the subject of sadomasochism is slowly expanding, there remains
vast numbers of questions that cannot be answered until they have first been asked. The
preliminary goal of this article is to emphasize the lack of academic research and literature
specific to female sadomasochism, and offer a small contribution in closing the gap. From here
the article will demonstrate how female masculinity within a sadomasochistic context, contrasted
with the misogynistic history of sadomasochism, produces interesting discourses regarding
female sexuality and gender. This article will reveal, with regard to opposing feminist and queer
theory, how female masculinity is produced by and incorporated into a sadomasochistic context.
Key Words: female masculinity, sadomasochism, gender, “sex wars”
“We come face-to-face with some intractable problems: gender isn't easy; power is
unevenly distributed in relationships; love is always strange, and often ugly” (Love, 2000:113).
Cook p. 2
Convention