TY - JOUR
T1 - "A little theatrical but mostly athletic": The mutable erotics of Miranda July's The First Bad Man
AU - Sullivan, Emma
A2 - Geraghty, Lincoln
N1 - AH/K503010/1
PY - 2016/11/16
Y1 - 2016/11/16
N2 - By attending to the inherent flux of sexual fantasy, Miranda July’s first novel The First Bad Man reveals a mobile and mutable erotics capable of generating an enlarged range of self-identification and relational intimacy, far from any essentialist assumptions of stable or coherent sexual identity. July focuses specifically upon role-play as the means to unpack the normative categories of hetero/homosexuality, masculinity and femininity, celebrating rather than pathologising qualities like superficiality and inconsistency. The novel touches upon many polarising issues (for example, sexual violence, sadomasochism and assisted reproductive technology), deftly avoiding the conventional language which colours perception. Both erotic and humorous, The First Bad Man helps to redefine the often highly charged discourse around sex and sexuality.
AB - By attending to the inherent flux of sexual fantasy, Miranda July’s first novel The First Bad Man reveals a mobile and mutable erotics capable of generating an enlarged range of self-identification and relational intimacy, far from any essentialist assumptions of stable or coherent sexual identity. July focuses specifically upon role-play as the means to unpack the normative categories of hetero/homosexuality, masculinity and femininity, celebrating rather than pathologising qualities like superficiality and inconsistency. The novel touches upon many polarising issues (for example, sexual violence, sadomasochism and assisted reproductive technology), deftly avoiding the conventional language which colours perception. Both erotic and humorous, The First Bad Man helps to redefine the often highly charged discourse around sex and sexuality.
U2 - 10.1080/23311983.2016.1256115
DO - 10.1080/23311983.2016.1256115
M3 - Article
SN - 2331-1983
VL - 3
JO - Cogent Arts & Humanities
JF - Cogent Arts & Humanities
IS - 1
ER -