''Testo Junkie'' (published in English with the subtitle ''Sex, Drugs, and Biopolitics in The Pharmacopornographic Era'') is a book, described as "auto-theory", by contemporary writer and philosopher

Paul B. Preciado Paul B. Preciado (born 11 September 1970 as Beatriz Preciado), is a writer, philosopher and curator whose work focuses on applied and theoretical topics relating to identity, gender, pornography, architecture and sexuality. Originally known as a ...

, first published in Spanish in 2008 (''Testo yonqui'' / Espasa Calpe), then in English in 2013 by The Feminist Press, translated by Bruce Benderson. It chronicles Preciado's multifaceted and

liminal Liminal is an English adjective meaning "on the threshold", from Latin ''līmen'', plural ''limina''. Liminal or Liminality may refer to: Anthropology and religion * Liminality, the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle ...

experience taking a topical testosterone called

Testogel Testosterone (T) is a medication and naturally occurring steroid hormone. It is used to treat male hypogonadism, gender dysphoria, and certain types of breast cancer. It may also be used to increase athletic ability in the form of doping ...

as a political and performative act, while working in Paris, France, as well as intertwining perspectives on

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

and

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

. The book was the choice of McKenzie Wark in a list of the 11 best scholarly books of the 2010s by '' The Chronicle of Higher Education.''

Outline and concept

Preciado declares that Testo Junkie is a "

body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...

- essay", and writes of his use of testosterone as a way of undoing gender inscribed on the body by the capitalistic

commodification Within a capitalist economic system, commodification is the transformation of things such as goods, services, ideas, nature, personal information, people or animals into objects of trade or commodities.For animals"United Nations Commodity Trad ...

and mobilization of sexuality and reproduction, a process transcendent from the social norm expected with transitioning. Testo Junkie is a homage to French writer

Guillaume Dustan Guillaume Dustan (November 28, 1965, Paris – October 3, 2005) was an openly gay French writer. Dustan's 1998 novel, ''In My Room'', brought the author instant notoriety for his masterful use of autofiction and depiction of gay glamour and ...

, a close gay friend of Preciado's who contracted

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

and died of an accidental overdose of a medication he was taking. In the book Preciado also processes the changes in his body due to testosterone through the lens of a romantic affair with his then lover, French writer

Virginie Despentes Virginie Despentes (; born 13 June 1969) is a French writer, novelist, and filmmaker. She is known for her work exploring gender, sexuality, and people who live in poverty or other marginalised conditions. Work Despentes' work is an inventory of ...

, referred to as "VD." Sex and sexuality is a major theme in the book, as it is framed to pick up where

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

's ''

The History of Sexuality ''The History of Sexuality'' (french: L'Histoire de la sexualité) is a four-volume study of sexuality in the Western world by the French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault, in which the author examines the emergence of "sexuality" as a di ...

,'' and the writings of

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...

leave off. ''Testo Junkie'' is a political history of reproductive technologies including oral contraceptive pills, Viagra, drugs used in doping,

fluoxetine Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...

, and the history of clinical testosterone and estrogen usage, that connect to Preciado's own use of pharmaceuticals, among other things. It discusses '' potentia gaudendi'', the idea that the body has an inherent potential for pleasure.

Pharmacopornographic capitalism

Preciado coins the term ''pharmacopornographic era'' in the book, a term based on his idea that the pharmaceutical industry, pornography industry, and late capitalism are integrated in their responsibility to the cycles of reproductive and social control through the regulation of bodies: it is framed into the micro-biological scale of design, and its place within a global political, social and economic context and strategies.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* Auto-Theory as an Emerging Mode of Feminist Practice Across Media 2008 non-fiction books 20th century in philosophy Biopolitics Queer theory Transgender non-fiction books Trans men's culture Transgender studies Gender studies books 2008 LGBT-related literary works