Uses of the Erotic by Audre Lorde (essay)

A seminal black feminist text. 

I'm deviating from my normal routine of reviewing short-stories and focusing on a powerful short-essay instead: "Uses of the Erotic" by Audre Lorde. As a black feminist writer, she has the uncanny ability to tackle the complex issues of race, gender, and sexuality with impressive lyrical finesse. 

The crux of this essay explores the "erotic" outside of a heteronormative sexual context that should be understood as being intrinsically linked to empowerment, knowledge, identity and creativity. Under the oppressive structures of patriarchy, she posits that men use the erotic as a source of control to objectify and abuse women, reducing them to the pornographic: "pornography emphasizes sensation without feeling." Instead, women should reclaim their erotic power that has been repressed because the patriarchy seeks to rob them of their vital strengths, ensuring that they remain subservient as the inferior sex.

Additionally, the author is keen to to emphasize the spiritual element of the erotic that is often overlooked, described as "sharing deeply any pursuit with another person." Hence, the erotic is not only rooted in the physical but also within the emotional, and intellectual as well. It is this spiritually erotic connection with another person that helps to build a foundation of trust, understanding and deep connection with others. Moreover, it opens up the capacity for self-reflection; a means to experience joy, establishing a stronger "self-connection", being more emotionally attuned to one's needs. 

She claims that men fear the erotic, since it relinquishes their power that can only manifest in the bedroom. Once women fully embrace the erotic, they will start connecting with their most authentic self: "for once we feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that they feel in accordance with the joy which we know ourselves capable of." 

By embracing the erotic, especially for black women, it becomes an impetus for social change that can be weaponized to dismantle white supremacy, racism and patriarchy. 

Mic drop.