Status Updates From Sensational Flesh: Race, Po...

Almost at the end (currently on the conclusion chapter) AND just realized I got a different ISBN than the one I got logged... Anyway, what a ride.

Had to stop to record the reaction to the beginning of the Lacerated Breasts's chapter. Wow. Again, I think I had an entirely different idea of what to expect but this is so good. Interesting medicine/pain and S&M prime with Lorde and Bob Flanagan's performance.

Took a moment to log while reading because this chapter started off great. As much as I appreciate the framework Fanon provided to understand the colonized mind, the critiques on the lack of nuance (or overt exclusion?) on his analysis of the black woman on the search for lactification/infantilization of her desires via Mayotte are on point. Wasn't there a similar critique for Césaire?

Been dwelling on Objectification, Complicity and Coldness. The highlight has been the evaluation of the masochist's desire for recognition & Musser's point on agency: the masochist cannot achieve full objectivity because on their pursuit for it their agency reifies their subjectivity; simultaneously objectifying the Master, ignoring their desire (their own search for pleasure vs. the pleasure for the masochist).

Just started, the introduction is banging! Musser begins with the concept of masochism per Krafft-Ebing, Freud, Foucault, Bersani and Edelman to position it as an analytical tool. Enjoyed the reading of S/M from Foucault as a call to build new forms of kinship from subversion plus then she says without hesitation "Hey, let's not stop there" to set sexuality aside in favor of difference.