Sex and Power

Hypatia has a varied collection in regards to women’s power and sexuality. Some of the items concerning power in sex are found in the politics section of the collection. In particular, this theme includes items published throughout the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s-1980s.

Topics include pornography, such as Take Back the Night: Women on Pornography (1980), a collection of essays by different authors - including radical feminist Andrea Dworkin – who argue pornography is dangerous for women, as it is often used as a form of domination; a key argument is that, in a sexist society, what sells is lies about women and sex. Diana E. H. Russell, and Laura Lederer (ed.), make clear that they do not want to ban pornography all together, but want to eradicate all violent forms of it.

More general writings from the Women’s Liberation Movement in Britain are also available.  The collection includes work by the feminist Sheila Rowbotham (1971) on the oppression of women. Violence against women is further explored in Sexual Violence: The Reality for Women (1984), which highlights the ramifications of sexual violence, and provides information on legislation. The topic of sexual discrimination is explored in two pamphlets, by Socialist Woman (1976) and by the Home Office (1975), on the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act. 

Connie Adams