Dancing after the Whirlwind: Feminist Reflections on Sex, Denial, and Spiritual Healing [Paperback]

Linda J. Tessier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

Dancing after the Whirlwind explores how the denial of a sexual self affects a woman's spiritual identity and her understanding of her place in the world. L. J. Tessier traces the deep roots of this denial and separation of sexuality and spirituality in both Western and Eastern religions. She examines the experiences of three groups of women whose sexual desires, memories, and experiences are routinely denied by society: lesbians, survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and HIV-positive women. Drawing on their powerful examples, Tessier offers us strategies for reclaiming the whirlwind of erotic power and seeing it for what it is-the sacred force through which we most deeply touch one another as human beings.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this intriguing volume, Tessier brings both her academic background in philosophy and religion as well as her poet's soul to bear on important issues of sexuality and spirituality. "What happens to a woman's spiritual identity," she asks, "when certain key aspects of her sexual identity--her desires, her memories, her ability to see herself and to be seen as a sexual being--are routinely denied?" She focuses her attention on three groups of women: lesbians, women with histories of childhood sexual abuse and women who have tested positive for HIV/AIDS. Tessier strives to make connections between spirituality and sexuality by taking an overview of various religious traditions' views of female sexuality. From her overview she concludes: "Where sexuality is cut off from spiritual life, whether in theology, religious ritual, or cultural practice, the result is often increasing oppression and violence against women, children, and nature, and increasing cultural and personal denial." On the whole, Tessier's overviews of religion are competent, and she avoids generalizations about the relationship between sexuality and spirituality.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

In this lucid, transformative, liberating, and beautifully written theology of sexuality, Tess Tessier provides us with a vision of our sexual lives that will lead us to greater courage, honesty, healing, and wholemaking loving. -Rita Nakashima Brock, director, The Bunting Institute, Radcliffe College

"Undulating with sex and spirit, Tessier's text releases the suffering, repressed and ultimately healing energies of women's most disqualified eros. . . . An original, accessible and indispensable discourse of the wild." -Catherine Keller, author of From a Broken Web and Apocalypse Now and Then

"In this intriguing volume, Tessier brings both her academic background in philosophy and religion as well as her poet's soul to bear on important issues of sexuality and spirituality." -Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807065110
• ISBN-13: 978-0807065112
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,281,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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