Title

Black Philosophy and the Erotic

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

The Black Scholar

Publication Date

2013

Date Added

2022-05-16

Abstract

In the following, I will examine briefly several arguments pertaining to marriage in an effort to illustrate possible threads of philosophical inquiry into black eros, especially within black feminist philosophy. The institution of marriage is befitting for this purpose because it serves as a site in which state interests converge with private intimate relationships and where assumptions of sex, gender, and sexual orientation are questioned. Mainstream philosophical literature on the subject of marriage explores the aforementioned issues without sufficiently addressing the particularity of our experiences with the institution. Marriage has functioned historically for black people, and expressly for black women, not only as a nexus for romantic and familial love but also as a necessary component of racial uplift, a marker of personhood, and a sign of sexual chastity in the face of stereotypes of sexual deviance.2 As black women, our belonging to, or alienation from, the controlling categories of personhood that emanate from the marital institution, such as "wife" and "mother," have significant implications for black feminist philosophers' work in ethics, epistemology, and political theories of justice.

DOI

10.1080/00064246.2013.11413668

Keywords

Black feminism

Disciplines

Philosophy

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