From Biological Limits to Political Performance: Female Masculinities and the Genderless Nature of Hegemony in Naomi Alderman’s The Power
Öz
This study challenges the biological determinism of political violence by analysing Naomi Alderman’s The Power (2016) through the lens of Judith Halberstam’s concept of female masculinity. By examining the transition from a patriarchal to a matriarchal order, the article argues that the novel’s female protagonists do not establish a new feminist ethics but rather reproduce hegemonic masculine codes of domination. Focusing on the commodification of the body, the biopolitical control of the state, and the theological justification of violence, the study posits that political masculinity is a gender-neutral technology of power. The analysis demonstrates that when women seize the means of violence, they inevitably adopt the structural mechanisms of patriarchy. Ultimately, the article concludes that hegemony is defined not by sex, but by the performance of sovereignty, revealing power as a construct independent of biology.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Female Masculinity, Naomi Alderman, The Power, Hegemonic Masculinity, Biopolitics, Political Performativity
Kaynakça
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