The notion of ‘the self and the other’ leads to many questions about the construction of identity, and the differences amongst individuals, cultures, and nations. When this concept is applied to colonialism, it creates a lens to understand the possible motivations behind colonisation.

Clarissa Dalloway’s sexuality, in the fictional novel Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, is ambiguous. Clarissa kisses her female friend Sally Seton, and describes it as “the most exquisite moment of her whole life” (Woolf 1925:33). This event in the novel causes intrigue for postmodernist queer theorists, who analyse the possibilities of an abrosexual or bisexual Clarissa in a heteronormative world. One particular postmodernist writer, named Michael Cunningham, decided to write a novel which creatively explores the themes of gender and sexuality, which are hinted at, or rather suppressed, in 'Mrs. Dalloway'. Cunningham’s book, 'The Hours', boldly plots the lives of a few queer characters, whose sexual orientations shift, blend, and change with time.

'Woman at Point Zero' is an Arabian novel written by psychiatrist and feminist, Nawal El Saadawi. In her novel, she interviews a woman who is jailed for the murder of a man, that man being her pimp. Firdaus, the protagonist, is a prostitute, and the novel tells the story of how she came to be a sex worker and murderer. Saadawi documents her interviews with Firdaus before Firdaus is executed. Firdaus’s story reveals the dark side of being a woman in patriarchal Egypt.