The (Bio)logical Fallacies of Luce Irigaray

Here's one from the archives. Though her star seems to have faded now, Luce Irigaray once wore the crown--or the designer cardigan--of theoretical fashion, and was revered accordingly. When I got around to reading her work, I couldn't quite believe it. This paper, presented at a graduate conference called "Figuring the Body" at the University of California in 2000, was an attempt to articulate my incredulity. Intended as a humorous, polemical response to Irigaray's polemical nonsense, the paper was, well, not warmly received. Heretics are rarely popular. Rereading this piece today I find it at times embarrassingly amateurish and undisciplined. Were I to write it today it would be more precise, perhaps more gracious, and certainly better supported; and, as a result, probably a lot less fun.