Story of O

Natalie Frank

Story of O Рan erotic novel that shocked and aroused millions Рwas published in 1954 under the pseudonym Pauline Réage; many suspected the book, with its frank descriptions of bondage and desire, must have secretly been written by a man. The French intellectual Dominique Aury (born Anne Desclos, 1907-1998) came forward to reveal her identity in 1994 in an interview at the age of 86. She was the first women to write openly and explicitly about domination, submission, and sex.

Frank has been drawing and painting images that celebrate and explore the female erotic imagination for a decade. She was drawn to O because of its groundbreaking portrayal of complex female sexuality, an exploration which continues to provoke in art as in life. Prescient to our current moment, as women and others speak out about sexual violence and agency – this book champions individual choice and sex positive feminism. Written as a parody of pornography, one whose heroine undergoes physical and emotional transformation, O explores the boundaries of her own will, desire and self-possession.

Her journey of transcendence is one of choice, physical and emotional liberation, intertwined with fantasies of dominance and submission. This book is still contested by feminists as both an icon of sex positive writing and a tool of oppression. Frank hopes debate will spark conversation and bring both nuance and a voice to the ways in which we perceive our own and others’ desire.

status	Copy #1 (23995): in
genre	Sex & Gender » Erotica
publisher	Lucia|Marquand
publish date	2018
popularity	checked out 0 time(s)