Sex and the Kitchen: Thoughts on Culture and Forbidden Desire

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks Jessica Benjamin and Steven Kuchuck for their valuable feedback on this article.

Notes

¹ Said's (1978) use of the term describes a pervasive Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of prejudiced outsider interpretations of the East, including false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the Middle East.

²The seventh descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the eighth of the Twelve Imams.

³From Irigaray (1977).

⁴Here I would like to differentiate between the autoerotic and autoeroticism. “Autoerotism” is a term used by Freud to describe a phase in libidinal development, while “autoerotic” is a term used to describe a specific type of sexual activity and gratification. “Autoerotic” sexual activity and “autoerotic” forms of gratification can be observed during the phases of “autoerotism” and “narcissism” (primary) and exist side by side with other forms of sexual gratification characteristic of adult sexuality.