Reviews

The Absence of lzanagi By Kei Takei Performed at La MaMa E.T.C., New York June 22–25, 2000

Otome Bunraku performs two Japanese classics Japan Society, New York September 13–16, 2000

Towa—Part I—Kanojo (Eternity—Part I—She) By Kishida Rio Performed at Kinokuniya Southern Theatre, Tokyo August 31‐September 9, 2000

Toothless By Kazuko Hohki Performed at Battersea Arts Centre, London June‐July 2000

Hagi‐ke no San‐Shimai (Three Sisters of the Hagi Family) By Nagai Ai Performed at Theatre Tram, Setagaya Public Theatre, Tokyo November 4–19, 2000

Women's Gidayū and the Japanese Theatre Tradition. By A. Kimi Coaldrake. 1998. London and New York: Nissan Institute, Routledge Japanese Studies Series. Xxix+262. With nine‐track CD.

Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan. By Jennifer Robertson. 1998. University of California Press, Japan. Xvi+278.

Angura: Posters of the Japanese Avant‐Garde. David G. Goodman. 1999. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Viii+91.

About Face: Performing Race in Fashion and Theater. By Dorinne Kondo. 1997. New York and London: Routledge. xiii +277.     

Sex research and the construction of sexuality: A tool of male supremacy?

The social construction of sexual knowledge is analyzed by examining the model of sexuality which underpins ‘scientific’ sex research. It is an essentialist model, in which ‘sex’ is equated with heterosexuality, and coitus is assumed to be a biological imperative; male violence against women is legitimated; and sexual practices based on dominance and submission are ‘normalized’ on the basis of biological determinism. Male-defined sex research can thus be seen as constructing and promoting, by means of spurious scientific legitimation, a model of sexualiy which both reflects and reproduces the interests of male supremacy. The particular form of male sexuality that exists under male supremacy has been ‘naturalized’ and ‘universalized’, and presented as the scientifically objective model, not merely of male sexuality, but of sexuality in general. Conceptions of female sexuality based on the same model must be rejected, if feminist sexual practices are to be developed.