A review by diyashasen
King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes

dark informative fast-paced

3.5

Major content warning: King Kong Theory has incredibly graphic descriptions/discourse surrounding SGBV. Typically, this would be quite triggering for me as a reader, but I was able to stick with the book as Despentes's life experience was only additive to the theory she espoused. Her writings on SGBV and sex work were particularly compelling and I really appreciated that she established herself as an 'outsider within' white middle-class femininity. In doing so, it was clear that the feminine norms she frequently referred to were unique to... white middle-class women.

I do have some issues with some of her theorization—the most glaring is her cisnormative approach, but this was published in 2006 so feminist theory wasn't quite as comprehensive. Also, while I found her arguments surrounding porn interesting, I did think she failed to account for a Lacanian perspective and for gaze theory more broadly. As a (prospective) media studies scholar, I had to disagree with her dismissal of porn as a channel of begetting violence.

I only wish I'd read this book in undergrad, because it would've been perfect for so many of my papers in gender studies.
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