All in LITERATURE

Tullia d’Aragona’s Dialogue on the Infinity of Love (1547) challenged Renaissance norms with its bold assertion that love unites the physical and spiritual, while advocating for women’s intellectual and sexual equality. As an "honest courtesan," Aragona navigated elite circles with intellect and grace, using her paradoxical position—empowered yet stigmatized—to publish groundbreaking ideas that resonate alongside those of Christine de Pizan, Simone de Beauvoir, and Audre Lorde. Her work remains a timeless lesson in challenging norms with elegance and persuasion.

“Polly Barton interrogates the absence of discussion around a topic that is ubiquitous and influences our daily lives. In her search for understanding, she spent a year initiating intimate conversations with nineteen acquaintances of a range of ages, genders and sexualities about everything and anything related to porn: watching habits, emotions and feelings of guilt, embarrassment, disgust and shame, fantasy and desire.”