--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sex as desired by the class that…" description: "\"Sex as desired by the class that dominates women is held by that class to be elemental, urgent, necessary, even if or even though it appears to require..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/andrea-dworkin-1998_claims_sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominat_2594659.png" --- # Sex as desired by the class that dominates women is held… ![“Sex as desired by the class that dominates women is held by that class to be elemental, urgent, necessary, even if or even though it appears to require the repudiation of any claim women might have to full human standing. In the subordination of women, inequality itself is sexualized, made into…” quote by Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/andrea-dworkin-1998_claims_sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominat_2594659.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/andrea-dworkin-1998_claims_sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominat_2594659.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/andrea-dworkin-1998_claims_sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominat_2594659.png) > “Sex as desired by the class that dominates women is held by that class to be elemental, urgent, necessary, even if or even though it appears to require the repudiation of any claim women might have to full human standing. In the subordination of women, inequality itself is sexualized, made into the experience of sexual pleasure, essential to sexual desire.” [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The dominant class frames sexual desire as essential and urgent, turning women’s subordination into a source of pleasure and reinforcing inequality. **In simple terms:** Powerful men make sex a tool of control, tying desire to domination. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge how desire is used to sustain oppression. Themes gender power sexuality oppression inequality Mood critical defiant analytical Type philosophical political feminist When to use this quote - media analysis - policy advocacy - education curricula - personal relationships Key Concepts feminist theory social construction hegemonic masculinity Questions to Reflect On - How does desire become a mechanism of control? - Can desire be reclaimed outside domination? A Different Perspective It can overlook agency and the complexity of consensual desire. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Claims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claims/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Elementals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elementals/) [Essential Sexual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essential-sexual-1890845/) [Essentials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essentials/) [Feminist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminist/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) [Inequality Sexualized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality-sexualized-1890843/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Sex Desired](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex-desired-1890846/) [Sexual desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexual-desire/) [Standing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standing/) [Subordination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subordination/) [Subordination Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subordination-women-1890844/) [Urgent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/urgent/) ## Related quotes > [In every generation women have to be taught their place one more time. The subordination of women is never accomplished for once and for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-radford-ruether/in-every-generation-women-have-to-be-taught-their-place-one-more-time/) [Rosemary Radford Ruether](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-radford-ruether/) > [Being female in this world means having been robbed of the potential for human choice by men who love to hate us. One does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/being-female-in-this-world-means-having-been-robbed-of-the-potential/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [We are not utopians, we do not “dream” of dispensing at once with all administration, with all subordination. These anarchist dreams, based upon incomprehension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-not-utopians-we-do-not-dream-of-dispensing-at-once-with-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > ["All government in essence," says Emerson, "is tyranny." It matters not whether it is government by divine right or majority rule. In every instance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/all-government-in-essence-says-emerson-is-tyranny-it-matters-not/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [It may be that a second wave of the sexual revolution might at last accomplish its aim of freeing half the race from its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/it-may-be-that-a-second-wave-of-the-sexual-revolution-might-at-last/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [As a feminist, I consider the female pronoun to be an honorific, a term that conveys respect. Respect is due to women as members…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jeffreys/as-a-feminist-i-consider-the-female-pronoun-to-be-an-honorific-a-term/) [Sheila Jeffreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jeffreys/) > [To deny one's self, to take up the cross, denotes something immeasurably grander than self-imposed penance or rigid conformity to a Divine statute. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-lorimer/to-deny-one-s-self-to-take-up-the-cross-denotes-something/) [George C. Lorimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-lorimer/) > [Islam has a total organization of life that is completely different from ours; it embraces simply everything,...There is a very marked subordination of woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/islam-has-a-total-organization-of-life-that-is-completely-different/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement. But as every art ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-trade-of-advertising-is-now-so-near-to-perfection-that-it-is-not/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Any group of people that has been subordinate absorbs the idea of our own subordination, and that it is natural, and comes to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/any-group-of-people-that-has-been-subordinate-absorbs-the-idea-of-our/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-h-stephens/its-foundations-are-laid-its-cornerstone-rests-upon-the-great-truth/) [Alexander H. Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-h-stephens/) > [our republican ideas cannot be consistently carried out while women are excluded from any share in the government. ... Any class of human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/our-republican-ideas-cannot-be-consistently-carried-out-while-women/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [The ultimate binding element in the medieval order was subordination to the divine will and its earthly representatives, notably the pope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-babbitt/the-ultimate-binding-element-in-the-medieval-order-was-subordination/) [Irving Babbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-babbitt/) > [The idea of freedom can never be disassociated from real Prussia. The real Prussian spirit means a synthesis between restraint and freedom, between voluntary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-von-tresckow/the-idea-of-freedom-can-never-be-disassociated-from-real-prussia-the/) [Henning von Tresckow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-von-tresckow/) > [If our faith in God is not the veriest sham, it demands, and will produce, the abandonment sometimes, the subordination always, of external helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/if-our-faith-in-god-is-not-the-veriest-sham-it-demands-and-will/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) ## More by Andrea Dworkin > [Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women's bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/heterosexual-intercourse-is-the-pure-formalized-expression-of/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [There is no place on earth, no day or night, no hour or minute, when one is not a Jew or a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/there-is-no-place-on-earth-no-day-or-night-no-hour-or-minute-when-one/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [Men are rewarded for learning the practice of violence in virtually any sphere of activity by money, admiration, recognition, respect, and the genuflection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/men-are-rewarded-for-learning-the-practice-of-violence-in-virtually/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [“Inferiority is not banal or incidental even when it happens to women. It is not a petty affliction like bad skin or circles under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/inferiority-is-not-banal-or-incidental-even-when-it-happens-to-women/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [“Critiques of rape, pornography, and prostitution are “sex-negative” without qualification or examination, perhaps because so many men use these ignoble routes of access and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/critiques-of-rape-pornography-and-prostitution-are-sex-negative/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [Surely the freedom of women must mean more to us than the freedom of pimps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/surely-the-freedom-of-women-must-mean-more-to-us-than-the-freedom-of/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [As I see it, our revolutionary task is to destroy phallic identity in men and masochistic non-identity in women--that is, to destroy the polar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/as-i-see-it-our-revolutionary-task-is-to-destroy-phallic-identity-in/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [The will to domination is a ravenous beast. There are never enough warm bodies to satiate its monstrous hunger. Once alive, this beast grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/the-will-to-domination-is-a-ravenous-beast-there-are-never-enough/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [Feminism exists so that no woman ever has to face her abuser in isolation, alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/feminism-exists-so-that-no-woman-ever-has-to-face-her-abuser-in/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [“people ask, well, dont sweet things happen? yes, indeed, many sweet things, but sweet doesnt keep you from dying, making love doesnt keep you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/people-ask-well-dont-sweet-things-happen-yes-indeed-many-sweet-things/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [Feminism is a political practice of fighting male supremacy on behalf of women as a class, including all the women you don't like, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/feminism-is-a-political-practice-of-fighting-male-supremacy-on-behalf/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [As long as there is rape... there is not going to be any peace or justice or equality or freedom. You are not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/as-long-as-there-is-rape-there-is-not-going-to-be-any-peace-or/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [Pornography reveals that male pleasure is inextricably tied to victimizing, hurting, exploiting; that sexual fun and sexual passion in the privacy of the male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/pornography-reveals-that-male-pleasure-is-inextricably-tied-to/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [The man takes a body that is not his, claims it, sows his so-called seed, reaps a harvest - he colonizes a female body,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/the-man-takes-a-body-that-is-not-his-claims-it-sows-his-so-called/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [We have a double standard, which is to say, a man can show how much he cares by being violent-see, he's jealous, he cares-a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/we-have-a-double-standard-which-is-to-say-a-man-can-show-how-much-he/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) [Explore all 186 Andrea Dworkin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) ## More Claims quotes > [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/) [Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [We do not claim that punning is legitimate wit. Wit consists in combination of ideas, punning in combination of words only. We wonder at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-hosmer/we-do-not-claim-that-punning-is-legitimate-wit-wit-consists-in/) [Harriet Hosmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-hosmer/) > [It is popular to call it a crisis of the Western world. It is in fact a crisis of the whole world. Communism, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/it-is-popular-to-call-it-a-crisis-of-the-western-world-it-is-in-fact/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [One argument goes that recessions are good for female artists because when money flies out the window, women are allowed in the house. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/one-argument-goes-that-recessions-are-good-for-female-artists-because/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [Atheist’s denial of God’s existence needs just as much substantiation as does the theist’s claim; the atheist must give plausible reasons for rejecting God’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/atheist-s-denial-of-god-s-existence-needs-just-as-much-substantiation/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [In luggage claim at the Minneapolis airport, the guy came up to me and said, "Maybe you're wrong, maybe stories do matter." I wrote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/in-luggage-claim-at-the-minneapolis-airport-the-guy-came-up-to-me-and/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) > [The rights essential to happiness. . . . We claim them from a higher source - from the King of kings and Lord of all the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickinson/the-rights-essential-to-happiness-we-claim-them-from-a-higher-source/) [John Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickinson/) > [Those who do not know what love is likens it to beauty Those who claim to know what love is likens it to ugliness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tite-kubo/those-who-do-not-know-what-love-is-likens-it-to-beauty-those-who/) [Tite Kubo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tite-kubo/) > [If ever my life can be of any use to you, come and claim it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/if-ever-my-life-can-be-of-any-use-to-you-come-and-claim-it/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [How can I set free anyone who doesn't have the guts to stand up alone and declare his own freedom? I think it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/how-can-i-set-free-anyone-who-doesn-t-have-the-guts-to-stand-up-alone/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [The Chinese describe themselves as political refugees. Many base that claim on China's strict population laws, which allow them to have only one child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-koch/the-chinese-describe-themselves-as-political-refugees-many-base-that/) [Ed Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-koch/) > [Life is so full of meaning and of purpose, so full of beauty - beneath its covering - that you will find that earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-giocondo/life-is-so-full-of-meaning-and-of-purpose-so-full-of-beauty-beneath/) [Giovanni Giocondo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-giocondo/) [Browse all 2,762 Claims quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claims/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sex as desired by the class that dominates women is held by that class to be elemental, urgent, necessary, even if or even though it appears to require the repudiation of any claim women might have to full human standing. In the subordination of women, inequality itself is sexualized, made into the experience of sexual pleasure, essential to sexual desire.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andrea Dworkin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominates-women-is-held-by-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Claims" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominates-women-is-held-by-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/andrea-dworkin-1998_claims_sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominat_2594659.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/andrea-dworkin-1998_claims_sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominat_2594659.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b31/andrea-dworkin-1998_claims_sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominat_2594659.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sex as desired by the class that dominates women is held by that class to be elemental, urgent, necessary…” — Andrea Dworkin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andrea Dworkin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Sex as desired by the class...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominates-women-is-held-by-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/sex-as-desired-by-the-class-that-dominates-women-is-held-by-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```