The "Non-favourite": Neo-tribal Sexualities on Celluloid

Abstract

Much academic ink has been spilt over the way in which female subjectivities and sexualities are constructed in the public domain. Issues of female sexuality form a huge part of queer studies and feminist accounts. Surprisingly enough, the construction of female sexualities and more specifically bisexuality has never been worth mentioning in the accounts of subcultures. The transition from subcultures to neo-tribes and neo-tribal sociality has paid scant attention to the construction of female sexualities. Even more importantly, most academic accounts deal with the construction of female sexuality as usually being strictly kept within the limitations of the familiar, familial and predominantly straight sexuality. This article examines the ways in which female subjectivities and sexualities are constructed on celluloid canvas through an examination of a recent movie called “Disobedience” by the Chilean director Sebastian Lelio as forming an integral part of neo-tribes. It takes a different view on the construction of female sexualities as it locates this construction within the transition from subcultures to neo-tribes. This paper puts forward the suggestion that female sexuality apart from being a product of a number of different socio-cultural relationships, norms and laws, it mainly exposes the dynamics of not just subcultures but also neo-tribes at play. The first part of the article places the formation of female sexuality within the transition from subcultures to neo-tribes. The second part of the paper discusses the way in which class informs female sexuality within the context of neo-tribes. The final part of the article places the discussion on the construction of female sexualities within the overall context of juxtaposing neo-tribal lifestyle choices