Tackling the Taboo

• In Event: Feminist Engagements with the Im-materialites of Gender and the West

Abstract

From a queerfeminist STS perspective my research looks at the fragility of the cis-male body whose (hegemonic) self-perception is bound to virility and intactness. Therefore my focus are fractures of critical tissue and functions. Within a wide range of cosmetic surgery, especially through medical-technological artefacts such as testicle or penile implants the sexed body can be constructed, enhanced, repaired. But what happens when testicles or penises get injured, even amputated or become “dysfunctional”? How do these men cope and adjust their sexual practices? What role do artefacts such as implants or sex toys play? I planned to conduct interviews with people affected. But over time it became evident: These injuries seem to be “the unspeakable”, with a continuity at least from WWI until today. My research is dominated by dead ends and meanders, criss-crossed by silence, irritation, laughter and embarrassed faces. I argue that a methodology that is informed by queer-feminist theory, memory and critique can master that challenge of silence, gaps and taboos, e.g. through a creative handling of the shattered material, bold adjustments of methods and therefore questioning “good science” in general.

Author

• Myriam Raboldt, TU Berlin / TU Braunschweig, Germany