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Michel Foucault Research Paper

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Michel Foucault once said, “If repression has indeed been the fundamental link between power, knowledge, and sexuality since the classical age, it stands to reason that we will not be able to free ourselves from it except at a considerable cost.” This quote can be defined as in that no matter what we do to have a peaceful mindset about sexuality, there will always be a judgement towards it. Society is quick to judge when it comes to sexuality, but it is ought to make people understand that it’s a natural thing from culture that came to existence since long time ago. Michel Foucault is a French Philosopher who wrote about the history and theory of sexuality. His main achievement on why he wrote his books was to contradict the Western people …show more content…

Foucault states, “The history of sexuality is not a history of bodies, practices, attitudes, and positions but a history of the formation of “himself”, it documents a critical dimension of the broader modern project of subjectivication.” (Boyarin and Castelli 359). This quote defines that sexuality has nothing to do with physical appearance nor anything, but only depends on an individual’s beliefs who day by day creates this new formation of …show more content…

The history of sexuality in the 19th century, had a lot of chaos and misunderstandings. Even though Sexuality has always been part of the West, which concluded it was a topic being ignored but historians rather judged the morals of sex. According to the article, Thoughts on the History of Sexuality, he stated, “Moreover, this development of discourses about sex was constituted as a way of getting at the truth individual, about groups, about societies-culminating in the late nine teenth century in a science of sexuality whose very object is the polyvalence of sex as a human activity.” (Wilson 194-195). This quote means that sexuality is about knowing the person truly and not judge nor take over their power by making them less of an individual. This can teach society that no matter what their identity is, they still have the right to choose for what’s best for their body and that there will not be any corruption towards their decision and give society the comfort of speaking

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There has been an evaluation of sexual behavior over the past centuries, and it has demonstrated that there were acts that were considered taboo, homosexuality, bestiality and so on. Due to the emergence of most of the cultures, the history of sexual behavior shows an increase in the collective supervision of sexual abuse, moral codes were developed in the process. The sexual activity of some cultures have been “detailed in art, literature, poetry, mythology, and theater”(pg. 24). Even same-sex behavior was actually displayed in visual arts.

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Moreover, this restriction on expressing sexuality encourages passive behavior amongst women. In addition, linking a woman’s ethics to her body reinforces the double standard related to sexuality between men and women. Ultimately, being sexual is “stigmatized in women, but encouraged in men” (Heldman, Part 2). This double standard, combined with the expectations of passivity, reinforces the concept of rape culture. Women are expected to refrain from sex in order to embody purity and thus, are defined by what they do not do.

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It’s a cultural production that represents the appropriation of the human body and of its physiological capacities by an ideological discourse. Sex has no history but sexuality does. French Philosopher Michel Foucault thought that sexuality was, “a set of effects produced in bodies, behaviors, and social relations by a certain deployment.” Sexuality for a person can be narrowed down to what a person is attracted to, their desires, and pleasures. In the article, “Is There a History of Sexuality?”

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Foucault: The Incitement to Discourse In Foucault’s essay “The Incitement to Discourse” he argues that because historically sex was something that had to be confessed, it has become “not a thing which stubbornly shows itself, but which always hides.” He claims we as a society talk about sex more than anything else and by speaking of it again and again in the same way; we are exploiting it as the secret (35). He supports his answer by noting that sexuality was the relationship of elements and discourses, a series of giving it meaning and a social structure that had history from the roots of pre-Christianity and past.

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Based on Stuart Hall’s (2006) discussion of Foucault’s theory of discourse, a discourse is generally consisting of a group of statements that together offer a way of talking about a par-ticular knowledge on a certain topic. Many individuals can produce it together, in different institutional settings. The discourse thereby enables the construction of a topic in a specific way which at the same time limits other constructions of the same topic. A discourse is made up not only from one but a multiplicity of statements that all share the same style to talk about the same topic. However, it is not a closed off system, it draws statements from and into other discourses.

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This essay considers the making of sexual identity and its effects on homosexuals during the period of Nazi regime in Martin Sherman’s Bent. It utilizes Michel Foucault’s theory of power along with concepts of “social tattooing” and “the bios of zoe” in order to explore the ways in which Max is psychologically freed from the geography of exclusion. Mainly using Max’s journey from negation to acknowledgement of his homosexuality, this essay suggests that the negative image of homosexuality is not natural, but is symbolically constituted to solidify Hitler’s Nazi regime. Even though he is homosexual, Max is eager to wear a yellow star for a Jew by falsely proving Nazi SS officer and guards that he is “not bent.” Thus, his heterosexuality is socially

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There is such a variety of definitions regarding discourse that make it difficult to stick to one definition, therefore the context to which discourse is used is helpful to narrowing down a less diverse definition. Michel Foucault (philosopher, social theorist and literary critic) used various definitions of discourse at separate instances. The rough definition that Foucault suggests for Discourse is ‘the general domain of all statements’. He also defines discourse as an adapted cluster of statements, which could relate to the distinct structures in discourse. Discourse has to do with distinguishing groups of statements which are controlled in a way that they match and reach a mutual effect.

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