Sex, Violence and the Body

'Sex and violence are each moments of transgression, trespassing across boundaries. The essays in this startling book, so ably collected by Burr and Hearn, attend to the similarities among various erotic wounds. Whether self-inflicted or done by others, criminal or consensual, textual or corporeal, erotic wounding is more than simply a site of skin-deep pleasure and/or pain. Beneath the epidural lie a host of gendered and sexual inequalities that many of these authors make viscerally visible.' - Michael Kimmel, Professor of Sociology, SUNY Stony Brook, US and author of The Gender of Desire

'A fascinating collection of readings on the interweaving of sexuality and violence in the 'erotics of wounding' men's and women's bodies. Surprises abound the collection encompasses unexpected and controversial viewpoints, theories of the body, sexuality, and the social nature of violence, and deconstruction of popular culture. You'll want to read every chapter.' - Judith Lorber, Professor Emerita, Graduate School and Brooklyn College, CUNY, US; co-author of Gendered Bodies: Feminist Perspectives and author of Breaking the Bowls: Degendering and Feminist Change.

'This is a fascinating, challenging and timely book, drawing together an impressive list of international contributors. Exploring a wide range of issues around the relation between sex, violence and the body, it makes a significant contribution to the literature and will, I have no doubt, appeal to a wide readership across a range of disciplines. What is particularly original is approaching the sex-violence-body nexus through a specific focus on the 'erotics of wounding' and, in each of the subject areas addressed across the 12 chapters, the book clearly sets out the key conceptual issues, debates and challenges in this frequently misunderstood area. This is an important, insightful and challenging book.' - Professor Richard Collier, Newcastle Law School, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.