"Not so Much About Libido" : Solidarities and Sexual Policies Grassroot Feminist Initiatives in Petersburg

Abstract

Feminist sex wars began in the West in 1970-1980S and nowadays run on globally. The article takes sex wars into account and considers the construction of sexual policies and solidarities among the participants of the grassroots feminist initiatives in the modern Russia. The feminist debate about sexuality is especially relevant in a conservative domestic context based on the construction of "traditional”, "primordially-Russian” models of sexuality in a binary dichotomy of the dominance of hyper-masculinity over non-subversive femininity. Within this discourse, sex and sexual-80 ity are reduced to the nation breeding’s reproductive function. Using the analysis of 28 in-depth interviews with Petersburg feminists and participant ethnographic observation (32 days), I consider the production of sexual values by informants in the "risk / pleasure” continuum offered by Carol Vance, as well as emerging solidarities and exclusion mechanisms. Several solidarity lines have been found in the following continuums: participants’ self-determination as "women” or "queer”, aspirations to create male-free or LGBTIQ-inclusive space, the perceptions of commercial sex and BDSM in the continuum "violence-free choice”. Within the framework of designated solidarities, there emerge such sexual dissidents as: LGBTIQ identifiable as men, sex-workers and commercial sex consumers, participants of BDSM practices. At the same time, the most important for informants category is the risk associated with possible violence. Meanwhile, the possibility of obtaining sexual pleasure and sexual expression in the absence of security is questionable.