Uses of Erotic Expressive Culture: Queer Erotic Art and Literature as Power

Abstract

EuroAmerican society’s inability to look towards the sexual unconscious is actively causing harm to women and queer individuals. In “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power” Audre Lorde suggests that the erotic is a powerful tool that has been intentionally suppressed and devalued in order to maintain patriarchy. I argue that expressive culture, such as art and literature, is one avenue in which we can look towards the sexual unconscious and harness erotic power in order to make real change against the oppressive way our culture structures gender and sexuality. Using three contemporary artists, Nico Mazza, Miles Greenberg, and David Wojnarowicz, as a case study, I demonstrate different ways eroticism can be embraced in order to counter a variety of injustices.