What Kind of Freedom?

Rebecca Walker's essay, "Lusting for Freedom," amazed me the first time I read it. A lot of defensive questions sprang to my mind: How can an 11 year old girl know what she wants? How can assuming personas be a version of freedom? What are the implications of this experience? Why is she not apologizing for her actions?

I admit this because I think it was an important step to understanding this essay and how powerful it can be. What cultural mores are shaping my own reactions to her story and what are they keeping me from being able to hear? I remember sex education when I was eleven and it had nothing to do with pleasure, with exploring our bodies positively. Sex education was a warning and it left the continent of pleasure unexplored, not even on the map. How can we allow for this voice that says: sex is good; I love my body and using my body in this way; sex can be good even when you're young; I am not ashamed.

I am mostly amazed by her forceful voice in this piece. Though she is vulnerable in sharing personal details of her life, she is speaking something radically taboo and unapologetic. Young women deserve to know their bodies as they see fit, and deserve to see sex as a source of pleasure. This flies against all our cultural mores and even our statutory rape laws. This essay makes us think about how we treat young (adolescent and pre-adolescent) women and their rights regarding their own bodies. This widens the scope of the concept of "choice" and womens' reproductive and sexual rights.

In many ways, Anne Koedt's article is dated, but I feel it is still important. I have shared this article with many students now and am no longer surprised to hear them wonder why they didn't learn this information this explicitly when they were in sex ed. They understand the basic female anatomy now, but the myth has continued, and the insult of frigidity also continues. I think it is worthwhile to think about the media images we are exposed to concerning women's pleasure and orgasm. It is also worthwhile to think of "mainstream" pornography and its representaion of women's pleasure. How do women orgasm in these contexts? Is it explicit? Is it necessary?

Most importantly, then, is the female orgasm originating in the clitoris threatening to men? If so, is Ane Koedt right about why?