Foucault Pop Culture

For thousands of years, female, queer, trans, and intersexed bodies, especially those of color, have found themselves to be the point of contention, and as time progressed gained advocates, some more than others. These groups often find themselves marginalized when placed in the binary system of gender, which tends to ignore everything but what is considered to be a “normal male” and a “normal female”. Like race, it can be argued that the idea gender is merely a social construct intended to establish and maintain differences between groups, however, as seen historically, “science” would be used to justify these constructs. In feminist discourse, bodies of color especially, are often not properly acknowledged, being one of the most marginalized groups, thus the persistence of the representation of them as being deviant or invisible reflects a power struggle and the desire to assert and maintain control over them. Today in popular culture, a key figure that reflects the continuation of such representation while also presenting us with subversive re-framings, is female rap sensation Nicki Minaj. In medicine and pop culture, there have …show more content…
Baartman, was used as a means of inciting fear into European women, by showing them what sexuality could become if it was not properly maintained. Foucault, argues that an increase in the discourse surrounding sex and sexuality is a direct result of power being exercised. Because sexuality is a social construct, it is beneficial for the powers to be, to assert what can be considered to be sexually sound. As Foucault states, as time progressed “between the state and individual, sex became an issue, and a public issue no less” (26). Efforts were made to dehumanize these groups (females, trans, queer, intersexed, and particularly bodies of color), because they did not fit the status quo, and as Foucault