Queering Sexology: A Critical Approach to the Construction of Mandatory Sexual Desire. By Ana Belén Amil Submitted to Central European University – Department of Gender Studies In partial fulfilment for the ERASMUS MUNDUS MA in Women’s and Gender Studies (GEMMA) Main supervisor: Hadley Z. Renkin Second reader: María Emilia Durán Almarza Budapest 2017 CEU eTD Collection Queering Sexology: A Critical Approach to the Construction of Mandatory Sexual Desire. By Ana Belén Amil Submitted to Central European University – Department of Gender Studies In partial fulfilment for the ERASMUS MUNDUS MA in Women’s and Gender Studies (GEMMA) Main supervisor: Hadley Z. Renkin Second reader: María Emilia Durán Almarza Budapest 2017 Approval signed by the main supervisor CEU eTD Collection TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... iv DECLARATION OF ORIGINAL CONTENT ....................................................................... v TABLE OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 Topic and background ................................................................................................................. 1 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................. 2 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 8 ▪ Primary sources and selection criteria ........................................................................... 8 ▪ Critical discourse analysis .............................................................................................. 12 Historical overview. Married manuals and heterosexual anxieties ...................................... 16 Literature review ......................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter outline ............................................................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER ONE DEFINITIONS OF DESIRE..................................................................... 31 The many phases/faces of frigidity .......................................................................................... 33 Low sexual desire in the DSM .................................................................................................. 36 Lack of sexual desire in my primary sources .......................................................................... 40 Desire working mechanisms ..................................................................................................... 43 Evolutionary accounts ........................................................................................................... 43 Psychological and relational accounts .................................................................................. 46 Reasons for malfunctioning ...................................................................................................... 48 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 53 CEU eTD Collection CHAPTER TWO SEX WORK AND NEOLIBERAL GOVERNMENTALITY ........... 54 Neoliberal governmentality and its subject ............................................................................. 57 Female sex work ......................................................................................................................... 65 Appropriate heterosexual acts ................................................................................................... 70 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 76 i CHAPTER THREE SEXUAL, COUPLED AND MONOGAMOUS ............................... 78 The narrative structure ............................................................................................................... 80 Compulsory sexuality and the true self .................................................................................... 82 Affairs and mononormativity .................................................................................................... 87 ▪ STDs and physical health .............................................................................................. 89 ▪ Emotional care ................................................................................................................ 90 ▪ Lack of necessity............................................................................................................. 90 ▪ Psychological maturity ................................................................................................... 91 Marriage, divorce and compulsory coupledom ...................................................................... 94 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 97 CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................................... 100 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 100 Queering sexology –the move beyond normalcy ................................................................. 102 Final remarks ............................................................................................................................. 106 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................ 108 CEU eTD Collection ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There is no such thing as a private endeavour, and this statement has never held more true than in the case of this thesis. My writing of this work would have been impossible without the support of humans and non-humans alike. To start with the non-human contribution, I would like to thank sweet Peach, who has always been there to lick my feet and ask me for carrot snacks in times of crisis. Her furry love was essential for my surviving this process. The list of human contributors is more extensive. First of all, my being here would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the Erasmus Mundus grant for GEMMA third-world country students. I want to thank the University of Granada, the University of Oviedo and Central European University staff for making me feel at home and cared for, tens of thousands kilometres away from my city. Thanks Hadley, for being the most committed supervisor I have ever had the pleasure to work with, and to Liamar for your useful feedback and support. My appreciation to Francisca, that always had trust in me. I consider myself very lucky to have had the greatest possible companionship during my long days at the library. The community of buddies of the third floor were family to me: Oli, Mari, Bea, Arrate, Didem, Danielle … thank you for being there day after day. Thanks Maru, my porteña friend, for the shared ice-creams and lunches, the laughter and the complicity. The adventure continues. Lots of people have given me emotional, practical and academic support during this time in Budapest, from different parts of Europe and from across the Ocean. My beloved friends Zari and Vane, that give meaning to my life; Anna, Liis, Amela, Jolly, Jesi, Nori, Rodrigo, Kailey, Kuku, Alice, Sihame, Hanna, Paula … you all contributed to this thesis being possible. Special thanks to Rob that proofread this endless work with patience and great care. Mom and Dad, thanks for supporting me in following my dreams for a better future. I cannot think of a better way of honouring your trust in me than being happy. And last but definitely not least, this thesis is dedicated to my beloved husband. Thank you for loving me in a way that makes me feel free. Thank you for joining me in the challenge of making theory, practice. CEU eTD Collection iii ABSTRACT Based on a Foucauldian and Queer Theory framework, this thesis performs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on seven sex self-help American manuals from the twenty-first century that give advice to heterosexual married couples on how to enhance sexual desire. It aims to show how these manuals constitute a technology of the self that (re)produce normative understandings of sexuality. Embedded in neoliberal modes of governmentality, the books use several legitimation strategies to persuade the readers, who are mainly female, into undergoing tremendous amounts of self-discipline and self-surveillance in order to make themselves and their partners enjoy sexuality, which is considered to be the privileged path to health, self-knowledge and realisation, and marital stability and happiness. The normal and healthy life is portrayed, first and foremost, as sexual; there is