During the
medieval period sex and sexuality was liberated and celebrated. However, during the Victorian period an attempt was made to repress it and make it a taboo subject. Foucault blames the rise of the bourgeoisie for this attempt at the repression of sexuality. They were a class of individuals that had to
work hard to achieve their place in society. They saw pleasure as
frivolous and a waste of time that could be spent working hard to
contribute to the expanding industrial society. Therefore sexual
activity for pleasure became frowned upon. It was to be kept for the
confines of marriage and primarily for the purpose of reproduction.
One of the key points in the
“repressive hypothesis” is rather than the Bourgeoisie
successfully repressing sexuality they made it more explicit. Their
attempts to control the discourse about sex only intensified it.
Confessions in the Church were always expected to include sexual
deeds; however people were now expected to confess every sexual
desire they felt, or dream that they had. Consequently they were being
inadvertently encouraged to consistently think about sex and their
own sexuality.
Sex became something of science. It was
to be studied as a source of knowledge. This is an interesting point
as in the “repressive hypothesis” language, knowledge and power
are all closely linked. The Bourgeoisie attempted to use power in
order to control the discourse on sex and sexuality; however the
consequence of this was to drive sex out of hiding and create more
sexual discourse than ever before. Thus supplying sex with power
rather than achieving the repression they desired.
In today's contemporary society there
is no doubt that individuals are more sexually aware than ever
before. Sexual discourse has become a normal part of everyday life.
It is particularly present in the use of advertising. There is far
more knowledge and discourse of unusual sexual activity compared to
the Victorian period. This can be seen as a consequence of the
intensified discourse resultant from the attempts of repression.
Individuals have learnt of each others experiments during sex through
discourse and the desire for sexual scientific knowledge. Some may
say that these activities were always present, but were kept behind closed doors. This may be so, however the increase in numbers of
individuals partaking in such activities, can only have risen as a
result of the access to knowledge through the intensified sexual
discourse inadvertently created by the Victorian bourgeoisie.
Amy Sargent N0286490
Cheers Amy for this very detailed and accurate blog post. I think you did really well to capture what Foucault is getting at in his attempt to overturn the repressive hypothesis in the word limit allowed. It really is a counter-intuitive to understand what he is saying here, especially when he argues that it is the very act of repression which is precisely what underlines an increase in practices of sexuality. Again, the very attempt to control and structure sexuality within precise practices is precisely what generates a multiplication of sexual discourse.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that did strike me as interesting in what you said is the link to the question of science and sexuality. This I think, at least intuitively, is not something that we associate with sexuality or sexual activity. The point of sexuality is that is seen as utterly natural, indeed for some cultures it is that which is utterly irrational and a threat to the security of everyday life. One of the interesting things about Foucault is how he discerns that science is contributes to the discourse of sexuality by turning sex into a confessional through examination, the science of psychoanalysis, the idea that 'truth' heals and that we must get at something that is repressed beneath the surface of our rational discourse. Truth is that which makes explicit The idea is I suppose that sexuality as practiced is utterly conventional rather than natural; sexuality has become the confessional of the 20th and 21st century.