Feminist voices and eroticism: the liberated woman in Corps à corps en liberté by Julie Bray

Abstract

While women continue to be marginalized in various spheres of their lives, there exists an unlikely outlet for their stifled voice: erotic fiction. Through eroticism, the feminine figure wrestles power from masculinity in the world’s misogynic society. From this angle, this article examines how erotic fiction, through Julie Bray’s Corps à corps en liberté, amplifies the feminist voice to render women powerful over men. As such, we discuss how the feminine figure in this collection assumes power over both the male body and her own, challenging the archetypal balance of power that often favours the man in contemporary society. We argue that the shift in the balance of power achieved by the feminine character is made possible through female eroticism. Our analysis of the collection adopts a psychoanalytic feminist perspective through which we encounter the woman as master of her own body, the emasculation of man, and the emergence of the rebellious woman against a misogynic society.