Bersani's Against Monogamy

This is actually the first time I've really been explained what an Oedipus complex is. I mean, I've read Oedipus Rex before and know it's about him being a mother-lover and whatnot, and I sort of deduced that's what an Oedipus complex was, but it was so interesting to read up on it, especially because it seems to explain your sexuality-- who you identify more with-- "the rival or the love-object". It's interesting to me because I've read that some girls tend to be drawn to mates that look like their dad, as if it brings a certain level of comfort. I have to admit though, the explanation about a sexual act being about 4 individuals was a little hard to grasp at first. I want to say it's because my best friend is gay, and he says he personally doesn't believe in bisexuality. He firmly believes that you can really, truly, deep down only be attracted to one sex, and perhaps bisexuality is a cop-out of revealing one's true identity. Bersani's explanation is clearly different, it offers up a bit more of a fluidity (depending on your mate?)

Another part of the essay brought up thoughts about the lecture by Streisand Professor Gornick that we were allowed to attend for extra credit. It was about how monogamy is "the right to exclusive possession of a woman..." and "a general right to private property." Given that Emma Goldman can perhaps be surface-defined as a feminist, I can imagine the rage she and other feminists might feel reading this thought. Emma Goldman fought for the right for sexual freedom for women, not for certain rights within a marriage, or anything like that. Although a previous post by Maddie talks about how women with many sexual partners are looked down upon, it surely was a double standard that Goldman was trying to erase. Perhaps Goldman fought so hard for sexual liberation because she wanted to fight for every woman's right to be her own woman rather than a sort of trophy for a man?

I also thought that Ashlee's point about how heterosexual tendencies are really the more natural one, because even in homosexual couples, there is the more feminine and the more masculine one, and although I agree to a certain extent, I definitely think it's hard to define for the most part. For example, in ABC's Modern Family, many people would probably say that Cameron is the more feminine one as he is the one that is the "stay-at-home-mom" who dotes on their baby and loves the Broadway shoes and to dress up and dance, but then again, he is also very protective of Mitchell and knows much more about sports. I agree that in every person, there is some mixture of femininity and masculinity. It's different in what the ratio is in every person, certainly, but I really don't think the emotional side to gender can really be pinpointed.