(Re)Claiming the Kamasutra through Graphic Language to discover 'Consensual Erotica' for Contemporary Women

In the context of sexual patriarchy, women are controlled through sexual acts owing to a lack of sexual consent. Consent becomes ambiguous within reciprocal heterosexual relationships between women and men. For example, a man frequently prioritises his sexual desires, preferences, and ownership over a woman’s sexual agency (Ozoguz, 2023). Nevertheless, Wendy Doniger, an Indologist, contended in 2016 that the Kamasutra holds profound significance for women's sexual emancipation through lovemaking and advocates feminist principles. The term 'Kama' signifies sex, desire, and pleasure, while 'Sutra' denotes a thread (Doniger & Kakar, 2002; Gautam, 2016). Accordingly, this research aims to examine womanhood within the Kamasutra to demonstrate to contemporary women the values inherent in its consensual erotica within heterosexual contexts. The study promotes a novel model of the relationship between women and men, rooted in its consensual erotica, which emphasises that women must recognise their sexual freedom, particularly in intimate settings. By employing feminist hermeneutics (Ferraris, 1996) and creative observation (Kara, 2020) of this ancient text, this research introduces the arts of reciprocity and the arts of sexual consent, along with the arts of living, and the arts of sexual activity. Consequently, the findings reveal that the sexual knowledge contained in the Kamasutra requires men to demonstrate respect and dignity, thereby enabling women to experience consensual sexual pleasure.