Revisiting sexual politics

• We might define "sexual politics" as control of the political body and its tactics present in interactions within networks of power.
• That definition assumes that sexuality is more than a hobby or feel-good activity. It restricts, and permits, the political behaviors of individuals by situating them within culturally preconceived hierarchies of power.
• We might understand desires or tendencies to rape women after military conquest in that sense. It is not only about sex but about power through domination.

By extension, then, to rape a man (in the ancient world) was to "feminize" him, to make him subordinate to the aggressor.

Other forms of sexual politics

By seeing control (even to the point of domination) over sexuality and gender as a way of controlling the identity of society, we gain insight into how roles were distributed along a network fo power.

But we should always bear in mind that biblical portrayals of sex and gender were written by men.