Introduction
This text will aim the redefine what is meant by sex, using and attempting to explain terms used in the psychoanalytic works of Jacques Lacan, and then exploring the movements and critiques made by philosopher Gilles Deleuze and his partner, the Lacanian student Félix Guattari.
I start with my style, which means it may not be immediately clear -unless one is familiar with the style I am using- what it is I am saying. My intentions have been to try and explain what I mean within the next couple of lines provided after. If I have used a term without explanation, this is because it will be explored in the text soon after, or because the term can be easily accessed for free online (or in my previous essay, Other Jouissance and becoming-woman).
The core theme will be on the questions of what is sex? What is masculinity and femininity? And how are these questions approached in psychoanalysis and in critique of psychoanalysis.
I try to make the suggestion that the masculine/phallic signifer is incapable of having sex.
That is to say, in the case of cis-heterosexual intercourse, what I refer to as a masculine male (a Man who performs the masculine function, this is explored in the text) is incapable of having sex. Instead, they can only masturbate.
The masturbation of the masculine male can involve an Other – a secondary or beyond partner – but will never go beyond masturbation.
What most would consider to be sexual intercourse is actually just the masturbation of the masculine male using the Other. The Other in this case, be she female or otherwise belonging to the realm of the Queer or non-binary, is merely a tool for the masculine male’s own gratification.
The Other’s enjoyment is secondary to the masculine male’s. Everything the masculine male does for her/him/they/it/+ is only to achieve his own Jouissance (orgasm or sexual pleasure/satisfaction).