Sex And Sex : The Repression Of Sex

Alike gender, sexuality is also a social construct, especially when looking at the period before the 18th century, when one’s sexual orientation did not matter, hence there being no need for justification, just as pointed by Foucault: “Sexual practices had little need of secrecy; words were said without undue reticence, and things were done without too much concealment; one had a tolerant familiarity with the illicit.” (3). And the 19th century came and brought with it a big change, and not only did people become engulfed by social norms, whom they should abide at all costs, but they also had to keep their sexual preferences under lock and key: “But twilight soon fell upon this bright day, followed by the monotonous nights of the Victorian

    In contrast to our contemporary understandings, back in the late nineteenth and twentieth century sexology had just emerged and cast a new way of understanding. There were controversial views on sex and its benefits or dangerous. Our view of sexuality was quite intertwined with biblical and religious inputs. At this time understandings and terminology of same-sex sexual relations were linked with mental illness or considered sinful. Laws were in place to criminalize male sexual activity.

Unlike sex, the history of sexuality is dependant upon society and limited by its language in order to be defined and understood.

Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.

For centuries people have made decisions or assumptions of others based solely upon what they choose to do in their respective privacies. Societal institutions ranging from schools to religious affiliations have created guidelines surrounding sexual activity that determine when and if it should be done. While the topic of virginity may be taboo for some, people fail to realize the social stigmas associated with the term in itself. In “The Cult of Virginity”, the author succeeds at illuminating the notion that virginity is a socially constructed term that invokes or revokes the morality of women. Valenti does an excellent job of challenging the societal standards regarding virginity by comparing them to her personal experiences as well as referencing the observations of other authors.

Throughout history, sexuality has been an extremely discussed and disputed topic. In the United States, views on gays and lesbians have fluctuated as social norms changed and adapted rapidly as the nation grew into a major international superpower. Even today, the topic of sexuality is one of the most controversial and progressive movements sweeping the country as more and more states pass laws allowing the marriage of gay and lesbian couples. This essay will attempt to delve into the controversial history behind sexuality in the United States, addressing both positive and negative issues, beginning in the 1920s until the end of the 20th century.

First, this book talks about the sexuality of women. Back in those days, women were considered lower than men purely on the fact that medical doctors had the notion that women had the sexual organs of men but inside out (Wiesner, 56). Second, I chose to target the issues of rape in the past. Women rarely came forward to accuse a man of rape (Wiesner, 61). This leads to the thought that more women were raped than that came forward, directing

The repression of sex started from Victorian bourgeoisie. Sex was “carefully confined”: there were a lot of taboos, silence became the rule, and sex was considered as serious function of reproduction. (3) Sex had to be repressed because “it is incompatible with a general and intensive work imperative”.

Repression in modern society is a complex process. Foucault's work divides pre-modern sexual acts from modern sexual identities and sexualities (Lochrie 86). Foucault explained that the discussion of sexuality itself was restricted in a few areas. After the eighteenth century he noted "an institutional incitement to speak about [sex]... a determination on the part of the agencies of power to hear it spoken about, and to cause it to speak through explicit articulation and endlessly accumulated detail" (18). This proliferation of discourse had the effect of increasing encroachment of state law onto the issue of private sexuality.

Human sexuality is defined as the capability of individuals to experience their sexuality and be able to express themselves as sexual beings (Hyde & DeLameck, 2006). Our interest in this topic is because with time, there has been a change in rules that control human sexual behaviour. The status quo in our contemporary society is much different as compared to an earlier state of conditions, and the change has, as a result, brought the evolvement in human sexuality. People 's view on virginity has changed greatly with a decrease of importance in regards to its preservation. Sexuality is essential to the economic, cultural, social and political organization of society or country. Our sexuality plays a fundamental role in all our lives regardless of age, sex or race. It forms a basic part of our personality and the decisions we make in what we do. One’s sexuality also consumes much of their time through behaviour or thoughts; at times every aspect of our lives seems to revolve around our sexuality. Studying sexuality is very important since human sexuality majorly contributes to social as well as personal problems. A lingering question concerning this topic is to what extent is virginity determined by the status quo and the rules that control human behaviour?

In his book, Michael Foucault discusses the history of sexuality and the way in which power and knowledge have played a role in the “repression” of sexuality. Despite historical statements, Michael disagrees with the fact that power solely serves the purpose of repression. Rather he argues how power and knowledge are both repressive and productive. In regards to power, in Part 5 of his book, Foucault contrasts two claims of power.

In The Introduction to the History of Sexuality, Foucault explains how during the 19th century with the raise of new societies, the discourse or knowledge about sex was not confronted with repulsion but it “put into operation an entire machinery for producing true discourses concerning sex” (Foucault 69). In fact, this spreading of discourse on sexuality itself gives a clear account of how sexuality has been controlled and confined because it was determined in a certain kind of knowledge that carries power within it. Foucault reflects on the general working hypothesis or “repressive hypothesis,” and how this has exercised power to suppress people’s sexuality. It has power on deciding what is normal or abnormal and ethical or unethical

Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.

In the History of Sexuality Vol. 1, Michel Foucault writes the body as a constructed and manipulated agent, the locus of sociopolitical discourse and power. To Foucault, the body cannot exist before the law (that which holds and ascribes its meaning). Similarly, sexuality cannot free itself from relations of power (Butler 1989:603). Indeed, the body is culturally contested; it is incapable of independence from any particular structuralized narrative. The ubiquitous yet uncertain subject of sex, as Foucault describes, is an “imaginary point, the consequence of materiality fully invested with ideas” (Butler 1989:603). He writes; “Nothing in man— not even his body – is sufficiently stable to serve as the basis for self-recognition or for understanding other men” (Foucault 1980:153). The culturally constructed body then, asserts a multitude of identities. The body is molded by distinct regimes of life, broken down by “rhythms of work, rest, and holiday” uprooted by cultural significant values, habits and moral laws (Foucault 1980:153).

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian, social theorist, philologist and literary critic whose work had a tremendous impact on several disciplines. He was not a sociologist by training, but he worked diligently on sociological issues and otherwise had significant influence on the work of other sociologists. One of his most famous works is the The History of Sexuality, in which he examines the emergence of "sexuality" as a discursive object and separate sphere of life. According to Foucault, the idea that everyone has a sexuality is relatively a recent development in the West. In Volume 1, Foucault discusses the relationship between sex and power in a historical context. He states that the ways in which humans think about sexuality is primarily shaped by the "repressive hypothesis," which claims that Western society had suppressed sexuality from the 17th to the mid-20th century, and this was due to the rise of capitalism and the bourgeois society. There are several key concepts in this book that will be discussed in this paper include repressive hypothesis, sexuality, power, and discourse. This paper will seek to show the ways in which sexuality is a discursive object, and how sexuality was linked to power throughout history.