Reading Human Sex

Abstract

This article charts the feminist perspectives that have come out of the author’s thinking on the dance performance text Human Sex and how this has informed her own feminism. In doing so, the author argues that a feminist agenda is shifting and dynamic but also reliant upon prior readings and interpretations that provide the point of reference for a departure to other readings and perspectives. Using autobiographical material, the author highlights the importance of considering the personal histories of subject-hood that influence a feminist consciousness and how these are the condition of possibility for making other readings. To demonstrate the shifting character of identity over time, she engages in different readings of Human Sex through the work of feminist theorists Sara Ahmed, Judith Butler and Peggy Phelan.