Michel Foucault's The History Of Sexuality
Anne McClintock wrote her essay “Gonad the Barbarian and the Venus Flytrap: Portraying the female and male orgasm” to examine pornography and how it has changed throughout history and its effects on how women perform as sexual beings. McClintock focuses on the various roles of pornography such as its emphasis on voyeurism, pleasure, and the male ego. She wants her readers to know that women are still not represented in pornography to satisfy their own desires, but they are there to cater to men and their subconscious. I will analyze how McClintock argues that due to the history of sexism towards women, the roles that men and women have in pornography are inherently different because of the societal belief that women are only seen as objects of sexual desire and are solely there to satisfy the male audience.
Although the text, Women: Images and Realities a Multicultural Anthology, has done a wonderful job of showcasing the diversity of women’s experience; however, the most striking article we have read so far has been Lori Tharps “In Search of the Elusive Orgasm”. In the essay, Tharps traces her journey to finding an orgasms and begins by describing her love of Harlequin novels as a teenager. In which Tharps discusses how twisted these sex fueled novels are, in which she states “I basically gathered that true love and good sex were synonymous. The only other options were rape and chastity.” (158).
Inside and beyond the myth and the social impact of the subject as One or Substance. Alan H. Goldman’s essay ‘Plain Sex’ is a central contribution to the academic debate about sex within the analytic area, which has been developing since the second half of the ‘90s in Western countries. Goldman’s purpose is encouraging debate on the concept of sex without moral, social and cultural implications or superstitious superstructures. He attempts to define “sexual desire” and “sexual activity” in its simplest terms, by discovering the common factor of all sexual events, i.e. “the desire for physical contact with another person’s body and for the pleasure which such contact produces; sexual activity is activity which tends to fulfill such desire of the agent” (Goldman, A., 1977, p 40).
In his essay, Alan Soble provides a conceptual analysis of the notion of masturbation by categorizing masturbation into solitary and mutual masturbation. He outlines the derogatory attitude of the society on masturbation throughout history. Even in today’s sexually enlightened society masturbation is still a sign of derogation. He describes in detail the difficulties that arise in properly defining masturbation on a conceptual level. He analyzes that the common notion of masturbation, a solitary private act of sexually pleasing by an individual does stand the close scrutiny.
Solomon contends that there is much more to sex than orgasm. Linking it to the metaphor of conversation, focusing on content not form. The contentment that comes from sexual acts has more intensity than simple gratification with pleasure (Solomon, 341). If the only aim of sexual acts were to orgasm, then Solomon questions why society would trouble with other choices than masturbation. Solomon sends a reminder that masturbation frequently involves imagined partners, pornography and imaginations.
Within Oceania, the Party strives for sexual puritanism in order to eradicate true humanity and demonize sex. Actual sexual acts are portrayed as filthy deeds to the citizens of Oceania since young childhood. Organizations such as the Anti-Sex League work to exalt individuals who choose to remain chaste rather than to partake in sex. According to Gorman Beauchamp in his essay “Of Man’s Last Disobedience: Zamiatin’s We and Orwell’s 1984,” these societies are comparable to “medieval monks and nuns” who demonstrate “their superior love for and loyalty to their God” and are in turn treated with a greater degree of respect and are given a higher position in their society (11). The Anti-Sex League functions similarly, but instead of growing in faith or
In the second part, Foucault notes that from the 17th century to the 1970s, there has been an explosion on the discussion about sex, however it was a codified discussion,
In “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” the topic of the ultimate goals for feminism was discussed. In was noted in Levy’s article that the ultimate goal of feminism was when someone acknowledges another person’s inner ‘slut’ in themselves. This was shown by Germaine Greer, a pioneer for the feminist movement. She always talks a lot about sex-positive feminism, which is a movement revolving around the main idea that sexual freedom is an immensely important component to women’s
MICHEL FOUCAULT ON SEXUALITY Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, philologist and social theorist. He made discourses on the relationship between power and knowledge and about how they are utilized as a form of social control through social establishments. This essay talks about Michel Foucault’s discourse on sexuality. He put forward his theory of the history of sexuality.
1.1. Background and aims of the essay Michel Foucault spent much of the later part of his investigation on the idea of the 'The ethics of the care of the self. ' He expound such care as using one 's personal motives to discover who one is. Foucault takes on a different outlook on this subject, and investigates his focus on finding out who one is. "
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?”
In the novel Brave New World, author Aldous Huxley links sexual promiscuity and happiness by utilizing diction and imagery, proving that the only link sexual promiscuity has towards happiness is that it promotes a false sense of happiness. In the “New World Society”, where the main characters Lenina and Bernard Marx are from, everything is controlled and created to fit the social ecosystem of their “perfect” society. Even the people are created, from vials. Not born or produced.
Foucault’s work on asylums and insanity allows for a different and unique take on the evolution of the modern self. In his 1977 work, ‘Discipline and Punish’, Foucault breaks down and analyses the connections that exists between power and knowledge. He examines these connections in relation to those in charge, which due to societal circumstances are deemed in power over the masses as they exert and impress their form of identity onto those over whom they are in control. The social construction of sexuality revitalises an even stronger argument for cultural identity and its link to power and overwhelmingly dominant discourses.
Masturbation is the touching of one’s own body or genitals to achieve sexual arousal and pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm (sexual climax). It involves touching, stroking, or massaging the penis or clitoris usually done with the hands, or sex toys such as vibrator, until an orgasm is achieved. Some of the common slang terms for masturbation include the following: Fapping Jerking off Jacking off Fingerbating Wanking
Human Sexuality Diane Dyche Sociology 21 # 22071 The top three things in my life that have most influence my viewpoints about sex and sexuality are my family, peers, and tv and movies. My family influenced my viewpoints on sex and sexuality because that is usually what I grew up listening to. My family was very open about a person’s sexuality and sex while growing up. They talked about gender roles, sexuality, and even sex.
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