When reading both “Foucault and the Disciplinary Society” By Riki Wilchins and “The History of Sexuality” by Michel Foucault the concept of discursive power stood out to me as an important concept. Foucault describe discursive power as the “account for the fact that it is spoken about, to discover who does the speaking, the positions and viewpoints from which they speak, the institutions which prompt people to speak about it and which store and distribute the things that are said”(Foucault, pg.11). Foucault is aiming to identify why we speak about sex, what is the script of sex, who creates the script society uses to discuss sex and also how this discursive power affects our society and its views of sex. In the reading by Wilchins she describes
…show more content…
69). This is suggesting that society is its own authority that continues to repress itself. This seems counterproductive, however it make sense when you consider that there is no laws dictating how to behave as a gender. However as Foucault pointed out we have and still do have laws about sex, “as to the courts, they could condemn homosexuality as well as infidelity, marriage without parental consent, or bestiality. What was taken into account in the civil and religious jurisdictions alike was a general unlawfulness” (Foucault, Pg. 38). Foucault is implying that through the religious and civil definitions of deviant sexual acts has shaped how the script of society understands sex and how it is continually perpetuated. Lastly are the effects of this sexual repression. Foucault asserts that “the growth of perversions is not a moralizing theme that obsessed the scrupulous minds of the Victorians. It is the real product of the encroachment of a type of power on bodies and their pleasures” (Foucault Pg. 48). Foucault is suggesting that deviant sexual behavior arises not from sexual freedom but from sexual repression. That the act of hindering a person’s pleasure will create a dynamic that leads to people desiring sexual acts that are farther away from the
69). This is suggesting that society is its own authority that continues to repress itself. This seems counterproductive, however it make sense when you consider that there is no laws dictating how to behave as a gender. However as Foucault pointed out we have and still do have laws about sex, “as to the courts, they could condemn homosexuality as well as infidelity, marriage without parental consent, or bestiality. What was taken into account in the civil and religious jurisdictions alike was a general unlawfulness” (Foucault, Pg. 38). Foucault is implying that through the religious and civil definitions of deviant sexual acts has shaped how the script of society understands sex and how it is continually perpetuated. Lastly are the effects of this sexual repression. Foucault asserts that “the growth of perversions is not a moralizing theme that obsessed the scrupulous minds of the Victorians. It is the real product of the encroachment of a type of power on bodies and their pleasures” (Foucault Pg. 48). Foucault is suggesting that deviant sexual behavior arises not from sexual freedom but from sexual repression. That the act of hindering a person’s pleasure will create a dynamic that leads to people desiring sexual acts that are farther away from the