Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power Summary and Analysis

Audre Lorde begins The Uses of the Erotic by defining the erotic as both female and spiritual and as a source of power. Because it may be used as a source of power for women, Lorde says, the erotic is a suppressed element in her society. The erotic is a depth of feeling that women in this society are encouraged to ignore except in the service of men, when it can be "psychically milked" (p. 54) for their benefit. Lorde defines pornography as the opposite of the erotic, though the two are often confused. While the erotic is all about feeling, pornography is about sensation only, completely devoid of feeling.

To Lorde, the erotic serves two main functions: it provides the power of sharing an experience with another...