Gayle Rubin
Who Was Rubin?
Gayle Rubin is an American cultural anthropologist, feminist, and lesbian activist who is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in queer theory. She was born on January 1, 1949, in South Carolina, and received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1975.
Rubin's work has focused on a wide range of issues related to sexuality and gender, including sex acts, prostitution, pornography, and the role of women in the sex industry. She argues that the study of sexuality must be approached from a perspective that takes into account the social and political context in which it operates, and that the liberation of sexuality is intimately connected to the liberation of gender and other social categories.
Rubin's Main Ideas
The Charmed Circle
In her essay "Thinking Sex," Rubin introduced the concept of the "charmed circle" to describe the ways in which society creates a hierarchy of acceptable sexual behaviours, with heterosexual, monogamous, procreative acts being at the centre of the circle and other forms of sexuality, such as homosexuality, BDSM, and non-procreative sex, being relegated to the margins. This concept has been influential in understanding how power operates in sexual discourse.
"The Traffic In Women"
"The Traffic in Women" is an influential essay by Gayle Rubin, published in 1975. In the essay, Rubin uses the concept of "traffic" to describe the way that women are treated as commodities in patriarchal societies. She argues that women are often exchanged between men, both literally (in the form of marriage or prostitution) and figuratively (through social and economic relationships).