Bridging Feminist Waves: Wendy Delorme’s Insurrections! En territoire sexuel

Wendy Delorme’s Insurrections! En territoire sexuel (Insurrections! in Sexual Territory, 2009) articulates a French third-wave feminism that builds upon both historical French feminisms and contemporary American gender and queer theories. This article considers two aspects of Delorme’s syncretic feminism. Drawing on second-wave legacies, she articulates a “femmenism,” or queer performative critique, that exposes gender as a performance and lingering sexist and homo/lesbophobic discriminations. Delorme also belongs to the post-pornographic movement, itself linked to French third-wave feminism. Again bridging feminisms, Delorme uses explicitness when asserting her sexuality while also discussing ongoing issues regarding women’s sexualities in contemporary French society.