This article draws on recent feminist theory that has challenged the authority of the universal male humanist subject.
Identity is reconceptualised as an unstable force produced through particular discursive practices.
The focus of this article is the House of Lords decision in R v Brown . The author attempts to illustrate specific socio-historical and psychical conditions that determined the construction of the 'sadomasochistic homosexual' identity in this case. The debate surrounding the ethics and risks of sadomasochistic behaviour is bypassed, the emphasis instead being placed upon the power of legal discourse to produce a vilified and marginalised sadomasochistic homosexual identity, and the internal anxieties that govern judicial narratives. All rights by all media reserved. The printed edition of the Review is the only authorised edition of the Review and must be used for citations.