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Fear of Flying (novel)
Encyclopedia
Fear of Flying is a 1973 novel by Erica Jong
, which became famously controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality, and figured in the development of second-wave feminism
.
The novel is narrated by its protagonist, Isadora Zelda White Stollerman Wing, a twenty-nine-year-old poet who has published two books of poetry. On a trip to Vienna with her second husband, Isadora decides to indulge her sexual fantasies with another man. In this context, a "zipless fuck" refers to a sexual encounter with a stranger that one will never meet again, and no one one knows will ever know that it happened.
The book resonated with women who felt stuck in unfulfilled marriages, and it has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Jong has denied that the novel is autobiographical but admits that it has autobiographical elements.
Despite Jong's claims to the contrary, Isadora Wing's origins in fact may be more than a sum of autobiographical elements. In 2008 Jong appeared at a conference to celebrate Fear of Flying as a feminist classic. An article recounting the conference in The New Yorker
, described how Jong’s sister, Suzanna Daou, née Mann, identified herself as the reluctant model for Isadora Wing, calling the book “an exposé of my life when I was living in Lebanon
”. Daou angrily denounced the book, linking the book's characters to those in her own life and taking her sister to task for taking cruel liberties with them - especially Daou's husband. In the book, Isadora Wing's sister Randy is married to Pierre, who makes a pass at both Wing and her two other sisters. Jong dismissed her sister's claim, saying instead that “every intelligent family has an insane member".
Jong goes on to explain that it is "zipless" because "when you came together, zippers fell away like rose petals, underwear blew off in one breath like dandelion fluff. For the true ultimate zipless A-1 fuck, it was necessary that you never got to know the man very well."
The term has seen a resurgence in popularity as third-wave feminism
authors and theorists continue to use it while reinterpreting their approach to sexuality.
Erica Jong
Erica Jong is an American author and teacher best known for her fiction and poetry.-Career:A 1963 graduate of Barnard College, and with an M.A...
, which became famously controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality, and figured in the development of second-wave feminism
Second-wave feminism
The Feminist Movement, or the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted through the early 1990s....
.
The novel is narrated by its protagonist, Isadora Zelda White Stollerman Wing, a twenty-nine-year-old poet who has published two books of poetry. On a trip to Vienna with her second husband, Isadora decides to indulge her sexual fantasies with another man. In this context, a "zipless fuck" refers to a sexual encounter with a stranger that one will never meet again, and no one one knows will ever know that it happened.
The book resonated with women who felt stuck in unfulfilled marriages, and it has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Jong has denied that the novel is autobiographical but admits that it has autobiographical elements.
Despite Jong's claims to the contrary, Isadora Wing's origins in fact may be more than a sum of autobiographical elements. In 2008 Jong appeared at a conference to celebrate Fear of Flying as a feminist classic. An article recounting the conference in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, described how Jong’s sister, Suzanna Daou, née Mann, identified herself as the reluctant model for Isadora Wing, calling the book “an exposé of my life when I was living in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
”. Daou angrily denounced the book, linking the book's characters to those in her own life and taking her sister to task for taking cruel liberties with them - especially Daou's husband. In the book, Isadora Wing's sister Randy is married to Pierre, who makes a pass at both Wing and her two other sisters. Jong dismissed her sister's claim, saying instead that “every intelligent family has an insane member".
Zipless fuck
In the novel, Jong coined the term "zipless fuck", which soon entered the popular lexicon. A "zipless fuck" is defined as a sexual encounter for its own sake, without emotional involvement or commitment or any ulterior motive, between two previously unacquainted persons.Jong goes on to explain that it is "zipless" because "when you came together, zippers fell away like rose petals, underwear blew off in one breath like dandelion fluff. For the true ultimate zipless A-1 fuck, it was necessary that you never got to know the man very well."
The term has seen a resurgence in popularity as third-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism is a term identified with several diverse strains of feminist activity and study whose exact boundaries in the historiography of feminism are a subject of debate, but often marked as beginning in the 1980s and continuing to the present...
authors and theorists continue to use it while reinterpreting their approach to sexuality.