Introduction

Abstract

The Seduction of the Female Body: Women’s Rights in Need of a New Body Politics. At first glance, it is a rather puzzling title. If the first part hints at a sensual book written by a young female scholar attempting to make ‘male’-stream philosophy sexy again, the second evokes the repetitious feminist claim that women are the victims of an oppressive patriarchal structure. However, this book is neither a feminist manifesto nor a cleverly marketed erotic novel lacking in substance. My aim is both more ambitious and provocative. While I do not wish to discount the importance of the political struggle to give women control over their bodies, the politics of rights is not my primary focus. The emphasis rather lies on the need of a new body politics, suggesting that a pure politics of rights, when mechanically applied, is not enough. The book’s provocative thesis is that women are more likely than men to let them-selves be seduced by symbolization and that this has something to do with the female body which is specifically vulnerable.