Dismantling Conventional Gender and Sexuality: Lesbianism inWritten on the Bodyby Jeanette Winterson

Abstract

Thisresearchentitled “Dismantling Conventional Gender and Sexuality: Lesbianism inWritten on the Bodyby Jeanette Winterson”problematizes and redefinesthe concept of gender and sexualitycreated by hetero-patriarchal discourse of western metaphysicsthereby blurring the strict boundary between male and female based on binary oppositionsthat createdichotomy and hierarchy betweenthemand openingup theother alternativesas lesbian, transsexual and bi-sexual relationships rejected and dejected by the western thought.Deconstructing and destabilizing gender and sexuality,Written on the Bodydramatizes a lesbian love story betweenthe genderless, nameless and ageless narrator and Louise. It subverts and deconstructs the male-supporting patriarchal and heterosexual discourse thereby reconstructing the stereotypical feminine attributes.Thus, in this research, the traditional adherence to heterosexuality is revisited in post-feminist advocacy of genderlessnarratorin order to challenge and subvert the binary opposition between male and female thereby critiquing and deconstructing the traditional notion of gender and sexuality.