In today’s world, sex is thought of as a natural part of life. We think of it as something that humans are born with. One’s sexuality is a defining aspect of his/her life. However, many scholars and thinkers alike have argued that sex is a man made thing. They believe that, for example, ancient Greece was before sexuality. In other words, sex is something that we have constructed for many reasons, and there was a time way back when where sexuality did not even exist. Scholars such as Michel Foucault and David M. Halperin have different ways of explaining this point of view, but at the end of the day they all believe that there were human societies in the past where sexuality was not a part of their culture.
Michael Foucault argues that we …show more content…
Foucault focuses on the sexuality of married couples, children, women, and the sexually perverse. He believes that power encompasses these groups of people through sexuality. Foucault blames the bourgeoisie for giving sexuality so much power. He discusses how in the past, “it was a time of direct gestures, shameless discourse, and open transgressions, when anatomies were shown intermingled at will, and knowing children hung about amid laughter of adults: it was a period when bodies made a display of themselves” (3, The History of Sexuality). Sex used to be something that we gave very little power to, even children witnessed it and there was a sense of humor to it giving it very little power. Sex was simply something that was fun. It is important to understand the distinction between what we call sex and what we refer to during back then as “sex”. Sex back then, like Foucault says, was simply something we did to show off our bodies. Sex was not viewed as a naturally occurring aspect of life which all people must be a part of and define themselves by it. “But a twilight soon fell upon this bright day”, Foucault argues, “followed by the monotonous nights of …show more content…
Halperin agrees with the idea that hetero and homosexuality are historically and culturally produced. Halperin focuses a lot of his points around current culture and how it affects how we think about sexuality. He claims that “the history of sexuality is now such a respectable academic discipline…that its practitioners no longer feel much pressure to defend the enterprise-to rescue it from suspicions of being a palpable absurdity” (1, How to Do the History of Male Homosexuality). Halperin argues that the idea of sexuality being a natural aspect of life is so embedded in our minds that we don’t even begin to think about questioning it. It is hard to argue against Halperin here. It would be a very rare occurrence for a classroom to discuss whether sexuality is natural or socially constructed. Furthermore, Halperin questions the tendency of many teachers and philosophers who minimize the history of sexuality to a simple history of sexual classifications rather than a history of sexuality on an individual basis. If we looked at sexuality in its most true form, we would most likely learn a lot more about it instead of assuming it is a natural part of life. We might see that sexuality really means very little if you throw away the societal pressures that come with sex in today’s world. Halperin and Foucault also argue that heterosexuality is something that puts us all together in mass. It is a construct that categorizes everyone similarly and helps prohibit certain
Michael Foucault argues that we …show more content…
Foucault focuses on the sexuality of married couples, children, women, and the sexually perverse. He believes that power encompasses these groups of people through sexuality. Foucault blames the bourgeoisie for giving sexuality so much power. He discusses how in the past, “it was a time of direct gestures, shameless discourse, and open transgressions, when anatomies were shown intermingled at will, and knowing children hung about amid laughter of adults: it was a period when bodies made a display of themselves” (3, The History of Sexuality). Sex used to be something that we gave very little power to, even children witnessed it and there was a sense of humor to it giving it very little power. Sex was simply something that was fun. It is important to understand the distinction between what we call sex and what we refer to during back then as “sex”. Sex back then, like Foucault says, was simply something we did to show off our bodies. Sex was not viewed as a naturally occurring aspect of life which all people must be a part of and define themselves by it. “But a twilight soon fell upon this bright day”, Foucault argues, “followed by the monotonous nights of …show more content…
Halperin agrees with the idea that hetero and homosexuality are historically and culturally produced. Halperin focuses a lot of his points around current culture and how it affects how we think about sexuality. He claims that “the history of sexuality is now such a respectable academic discipline…that its practitioners no longer feel much pressure to defend the enterprise-to rescue it from suspicions of being a palpable absurdity” (1, How to Do the History of Male Homosexuality). Halperin argues that the idea of sexuality being a natural aspect of life is so embedded in our minds that we don’t even begin to think about questioning it. It is hard to argue against Halperin here. It would be a very rare occurrence for a classroom to discuss whether sexuality is natural or socially constructed. Furthermore, Halperin questions the tendency of many teachers and philosophers who minimize the history of sexuality to a simple history of sexual classifications rather than a history of sexuality on an individual basis. If we looked at sexuality in its most true form, we would most likely learn a lot more about it instead of assuming it is a natural part of life. We might see that sexuality really means very little if you throw away the societal pressures that come with sex in today’s world. Halperin and Foucault also argue that heterosexuality is something that puts us all together in mass. It is a construct that categorizes everyone similarly and helps prohibit certain