The politics of love in the magazine La Vie en rose: The discourse and rhetoric of disobedience
Through a discourse analysis of the “L’amour, toujours l’amour!” issue (June/July/August 1982) of the Quebec magazine La Vie en rose (1980−1987), this article aims to demonstrate that the issue is not so much about love as it is about politics. Feminist analyses of the male-female couple as the core cell of the heterosexual institution allowing the maintenance of patriarchy indicate that La Vie en rose has perpetuated the claims and theoretical discourse of the radicals (and materialists) of the second wave of feminism. Also, the affirmation of a pro-lesbian position allows the issue to position itself within the Quebec movement that is moved by the tensions between lesbian feminists, heterosexual feminists and radical lesbians. The issue’s articles also criticize, in line with the magazine’s overall stance, the heterosexual doxa constructed and relayed by the mainstream media.