Mehdi Belhaj Kacem

 

text by MEHDI BELHAJ-KACEM
Translation by Sara Sugihara

 

MEHDI BELAJ-KACEM is one of the most brilliant — and controversial — philosophers of his generation. For the past five years Belaj-Kacem has been working on a philosophical essay about sex, more specifically about women’s sexuality. He gave Purple this brief introduction to his upcoming book, Être et sexuation (Being and Sexuation), a post-Lacanian essay which will be published in French this coming winter.

First, a brief refresher on the deleuzian theory of masochism and its compelling, subtle nuances:

According to Deleuze, a masochist is someone who is able to take control of his desire and make it into “full desire,” increasing it, making it a desire that becomes more and more intense,
as — with the help of his Dominatrix — he manages to delay the moment of his orgasm longer and longer. The masochist is able to implement…