“Desire” by Minna Salami. What is it to be the author of one’s own desires? In her essay for our “New Basics” series, Minna Salami begins by looking at those female authors who seek out solitude, noting how “due to being away from everyday patriarchal realities, they wrote about their lives, memories, and observations with a rare freedom”. From here, Salami explores both sexual and non-sexual forms of desire, noting the history of philosophers from Plato onward who believed that “a life guided by desire is a flawed one, preventing us from living well and virtuously”, before looking to feminism and the question of how to reconfigure female desire as a route to liberation. You can read Minna’s essay here.
This artwork by the wonderful Samira Abbassy seems a suitable companion for Minna’s essay: