New Books in Psychoanalysis Oliver Davis and Tim Dean, "Hatred of Sex" (U Nebraska Press, 2022)
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Dec 1, 2025 Oliver Davis, a professor of French studies at the University of Warwick, and Tim Dean, a sexuality studies scholar at the University of Illinois, explore the complex relationship between sex and identity. They discuss how cultural frameworks often overlook the 'unpleasurable pleasures' of sex, revealing how trauma and societal norms can distort our understanding. By critiquing queer theory and identity politics, they urge a deeper reckoning with sex's destabilizing nature, suggesting that embracing its chaos can lead to authentic self-discovery.
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Sex Mirrors Democracy's Unruliness
- Sex and democracy share an intrinsic unruliness that can't be treated as mere defects of the system.
- That disordering quality is integral and resists being fully managed or stabilized by social institutions.
Pleasure’s Capacity To Overwhelm
- Pleasure can overwhelm and flip into unpleasure, making sex both desirable and destabilizing.
- Much of culture organizes itself to prevent being overwhelmed by sexual pleasure rather than to maximize it.
Sexuality Versus Eros
- Drawing on Jean Laplanche, sexuality unbinds while eros binds; they are distinct and often opposing forces.
- Treating eroticism as a euphemism obscures sex's intense, unmasterable aspects.
