A queer reading of the story of Samson and Delilah

What is it about?

This article looks at how the biblical character Samson performs his masculinity. It reads the encounter between Samson and Delilah as a non-genital erotic play (BDSM) that centres around castration fear. This provides new insights into the mechanisms of violence in the Samson narrative.

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Why is it important?

By taking a queer perspective and using insights from masculinity studies, this reading moves beyond some existing feminist readings. Moreover, this reading can stimulate further research on the Book of Judges, which is one of the oldest, obscurest and most violent books of the Hebrew Bible. Finally, this reading also helps to understand the violent aspects of ‘heterosexuality’.