Lorde’s use of “erotic” holds a specific philosophical meaning that pointedly contrasts with the colloquial sense; in “Uses of the Erotic,” the author cites the word’s Greek etymological origins in eros, which is also a concept in ancient Greek philosophy. While eros can involve a passion for physical beauty, it transcends carnal appetites and is a fundamentally spiritual desire for truth or knowledge. Lorde’s concept of the erotic is inextricable from its contrast with the pornographic, which she maintains is “diametrically opposed” with the erotic: The pornographic—a male-driven distortion of reality—is a “plasticized sensation” and the denial of true feeling.

 “Hegemony” refers to the disproportionate influence—political, social, cultural—of a dominant group. In political philosophy, the idea often appears through the term “hegemonic discourse,” or a dominant group’s narrative about reality. Lorde examines the white heteropatriarchal hegemonic discourse, which is a constructed “reality” wherein heterosexuality, whiteness, and masculinity are desirable and deserve to dominate, while all else is lesser and deserves to be dominated.

When a group’s dominance becomes hegemonic, the marginalized are often so overwhelmed and indoctrinated by the hegemonic discourse that they genuinely believe themselves inferior, even if that belief is unconscious (or “internalized”).