Susan Heckman in “Identity Crises: Identity, Identity Politics, and Beyond” borrows from Alcoff’s article to establish the foundation of her writing. In so doing, Heckman identifies politics as a subsidiary issue, with the real issue-defining a new feminism paradigm. With the foundation established, Heckman provides an overview of political identity to substantiate the contradictions and confusion associated with political feminism. Therefore, Heckman serves to move beyond the dilemmas political identity of feminism. The main points are identity and difference, power, politics, identity, and negotiating identity. Susan McLary, in “Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality,” asserts that sexuality is among the most intensely pleasurable yet troubling human experience aspects. In literature, McLary shows attention is almost always attributed to sexuality organization relative to gender constructs. The same notion applies in music and classical music; gender construction and desire channeling portray competing images of sexuality models, which forms the central point in the literature.
On the one hand, Heckman shows that women, specifically from minority groups, claiming political identity fail to enter the political arena by asserting their identity as constructed or provisional instead of being authentic and fixed. In how Heckman observes the issue of identity, she considers it subjective and knowledge-oriented when reflecting on defining a new paradigm. On the other hand, McLary shows that the opera demonstrates vivid impotent sublime experience transcending in classical music’s face of the lowest common dominatrix.
It is still undeniable that to date, politics has an issue with feminism. That remains why there is never an equal representation of women in politics. Moving from identity challenge and affirming the post-structuralist identity rejection might be the first step in solving the identity crisis. On the other hand, social order remains the most common constraint associated with social practices. While virtue distinguishes humans from animals, the same virtue should be equally applicable to allow distinctiveness to be acknowledged in men and women.
References
Hekman, S. (1999). Identity crises: Identity, identity politics, and beyond. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2, 1, 3-26.
McLary, S. (1991). Feminine endings: Music, gender, and sexuality. Choice Reviews Online, 28, 10, 28-56.