King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes
| King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes | |
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| Category: Autobiography | |
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Reviewer: Heather Magee
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| Summary: This truly brave and personal manifesto drawing on Despentes' own experiences makes for a rousing, intriguing and emotional read. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 176 | Date: August 2020 |
| Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions | |
| ISBN: 978-1913097349 | |
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King Kong Theory is a hard-hitting memoir and feminist manifesto, which can be seen as a call to arms for women in a phallocentric society broken at its core. Originally written in French, the book is a collection of essays in which Virginie Despentes explores her experiences as a woman through the complex prism of her varied life: from rape to sex work and pornography. Though these discussions are intertwined, their placement within the book can feel somewhat disjointed, a reflection of their original form as independent essays.
In King Kong Theory, the ideal woman is described in commodified terms as a great meat market, while those excluded from this market are free subjects, who do not behave, and therefore cannot be controlled. She is one such free subject, who rebels in more than one way. In her words, she is more King Kong than Kate Moss.
Her prose is inflammatory and rageful; it has often been labelled as controversial, for her unconventional feminism and her somewhat contradictory claims. For example, she claims she is anti-bourgeois and anti-capitalist, and yet sex work and pornography, which she upholds, directly benefit capitalism. It is important to consider, however, that general beliefs do not always coincide with personal experiences, and that it would be cruel to judge a woman who is being so honest and raw in a tone that can be called confessional. Indeed, Despentes even likens autobiographical writing to sex work, in that both are forms of selling oneself and forms of exhibition. But, because of her rape at age 17, she cannot help her view that sexwork actually helped her regain bodily autonomy after that traumatic event.
Despentes laments that in society, a woman's rape is succeeded by a culture of silence, the topic avoided by the men that commit the crime, and by the victims who suffer it. She explores how attitudes towards rape within French society are tainted with sexism and victim-blaming, however, unfortunately some critiques of this book argue that her claims are not evidence based. I would argue that her own personal experience should be sufficient evidence to make claims of this nature.
Overall, Despentes constantly redefines and unravels what it means to be a woman. Self-admittedly tainted by her rape, and unconventional in her performance of womanhood, Despentes emerges as a pioneer of punk feminism in France. Her vision seeks to dismantle harmful gender binaries and allow for the widest possible freedom of expression.
Her anger is palpable, her demands are clear, and her strength is unmistakable. While I may not agree with all of her theories, Despentes' unflinching honesty and the raw power of her experiences make 'King Kong Theory' a crucial, if divisive, feminist text. Another feminist manifesto that divides opinion is The Whole Woman by Germaine Greer.
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