The Libidinal Politics of Fur

JULIA EMBERLEY fur coat, of the consumer. in the Globe and Mail on the cosmetic mctustry eC()lO'~G:U correctness which ran with TU·"............,.......'O its continued commercial value in Dene economies. It is not hard to see that a over rne:arrmg and value of fur is and of the that fur itself should have critical than the utilitarian ,,...+,,,,,,r,...o'I-,,,h'An ............."",...... A.Innis in his seminal aC(:OUlIlt, a the economic UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY. VOLUME 65, NUMBER 2, SPRING 1996 438 JULIA EMBERLEY access to economic '-...'1............'-1.. i'h~:.T'oh'[T .........,,-t ................'-' sodal prE~stilge Innisfs work lies in his tor'rn,ltlcm of "-.......'............. THE UBIDINAL POLmCS OF FUR 439 shoulders. is W€!arlnQ' hidden arm and hand dress underneath and with the furrs 440 JULIA EMBERLEY etc~nnlgs of women's ras.nlc)n, ~nl~H'~ andan1bapatorv in renowned te:x:tm:lp...n"'I>'... • ...... Of""t£)r! and and all the women whom the of lust and violence: JWJ..ULlL>i">CI. of fur in Masoch's Venus in Furs would su~~ge:st fur has become invested with a SUlpltlS SV]ffiC/OlJlC nleallUJn.g~s; indeed it has become a rel)reSelltatlv'e constructs its essential ele~mE~nts, threshold of ....""' .........L .. ..,"" wornan1s status as I'\.I '!lM 11"0' \;\rOnrtarl-trl-hrr DI~COlmE$ natured woman? and the rests. THE UBIDINAl POlmcs OF FUR 441 POIIttc,al difference. In the se'Terlb~E~nth-(~entulv LJ'~'r."'.""""""1 t:H::!aver-nat ........U'... ,_"'_,....... came to signify at a time 1"\"'\1"1.rI"...·...AI:"'T charter simulated economic and libidinal dralmaltlzles the laeOlOgICal consumer, it is women's of 3 The sexual 442 JULIA EMBERLEY bec:am,e it for women. The textual and women. ponncal and libidinal economies offur have come to~~etJler in the moment. Constitutive to the t.of-i.:>,,",'.:>"""'" a.eSlres res OF FUR 443 T.u.....lrl" fur retains its economic value for ",r>I.....' I....,.., 1">.0/"£'\""'''''.0'' a vital NOTES 1 For an elaboration of fur as a material slgJl11t1ler see my 'Fantasies of Contact in a Transnational Frame: A Transactional I 54-55. 2 For an of !';vrnb()1ic IJ.I.~~U"£~"",V,U ...... u.Jl..........;U L-'lroa.uct]on or: The Economic World Reversed,' 3 For a discussion of ml5;recof?11~ltl(m U'V~LI.""'."" u., Outline of the of 5-6. WORKS CITED l'rC)dl:Lction, or: The Economic World .itP.1ratlJrl'. Ed and intro JFantasies of Contact in a Transnational Frame: A Transactional l'.:;v..'v....... Venus Furs. In Masochism. New York: Zone Books ...