Now that we have delved into the nature of desire and erotocism, we follow the death drive into the abyss to stare directly into its most horrific product: that of fascism itself. Through a critique of Susan Sontag's essay "Fascinating Fascism", we look at the ways that fascist ideology and art insidiously operates, and ultimately how the aesthetic of the capitalist business world acts as the direct descendent of Nazi aesthetic far more than queers dressed in leather could ever be. The thing that terrifies people most about leatherqueers is how we diagnose the heart of the problem: that what we desire is out of our hands—that we are all complicit in our desire just as we are complicit in the society that births it. Knowing that, how do we go on from here?

End Notes:

"Fascinating Fascism" in Susan Sontag's "Under the Sign of Saturn"

"Leatherfolk" anthology edited by Mark Thompson

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