Ms Siân Loxston

Research project: Orgasmic sex and writing: the violence of 'we' and sex positivity in women's writing in the UK, 1980-1999

Abstract

Orgasmic sex and writing is a theory-based project focusing on the fiction and poetry of female British writers in the 'inter-wave' period of British feminism (1980-1999). My research uses new materialist theory to re-examine the re-presentation of women's sexual bodies during this period; I am specifically interested in the way female orgasm is embodied in the transitory, fractured, and fragmented space which existed after the second wave of feminism but before third wave feminism had been defined and enshrined in the British mind. 

In an era of "Me Too" where questions surrounding the autonomy and safety of individuals' sexual bodies have become a mainstream concern for the media and the law, I feel it is timely to look back at the significance of the representation and uses of female orgasm in literature at a time ('post-feminism') when many believed feminism no longer had any reason to exist.

  • Research degree: PhD
  • Title of project: Orgasmic sex and writing: the violence of 'we' and sex positivity in women's writing in the UK, 1980-1999
  • Research supervisor: Dr Martin Dines
  • Other research supervisor: Dr Éadaoin Agnew

Biography

I was recently awarded an MA in English Literature (Distinction) from Kingston University and have worked for several years in secondary education. 

Areas of research interest

  • New materialism
  • British fiction and poetry
  • Feminist literary theory
  • Sex positive writing
  • Queer theory

Qualifications

  • MA in English Literature, Kingston University
  • PGCE Secondary English, Brighton University
  • BA (Hons) English Literature, Kingston University