The Laugh Of Medusa Analysis

1. Foucault The History of Sexuality, Volume 1, An Introduction In The History of Sexuality, Volume 1, An Introduction, Foucault traces a shift in both power and control and society’s connection to concept of “sex”. According to Foucault, people had the tendency to interpret and understand the history of sexuality in the 18th century in accordance to what he calls the “repressive hypothesis”. The repressive hypothesis postulates that from the time of the rise of the bourgeoisie, those in power frowned upon individuals spending too much expendable energy on things that were deemed as purely pleasurable activities. Sex was considered to be part of that category and therefore, the discussing and practicing of sex outside of marriage and the privacy …show more content…
Helene Cixous’s “The Laugh of Medusa”
There are many texts that discuss feministic ideas and work to provide information on the struggles of womanhood. However, Helene Cixous’s 1975 “The Laugh of Medusa” is not like those typical texts on feminism and female empowerment. “The Laugh of Medusa” is more of a literary representation of female liberation and less of a suggestion on how women should go about regaining control of how they are represented in literature. Cixous manages to differ in tone compared to the other works because she presents feministic ideology in a performative text that manages to be more than the typical rhetorical …show more content…
Women are now able to be proud of, and admit to, their sexuality. Women do not need to stay naive and pure, scared of masturbation and orgasming because that is the world that men have created. Cixous makes the term “sexts” neologism because she is describing it not only as a connection sex and text, but also as a way for women to no longer feel as though they have to repress their sexuality and not talk about it. “They haven’t changed a thing: they’ve theorized their desire for reality! Let the priests tremble, we’re going to show them our sexts!” (p. 1951). Men are not going to change the way they perceive women or how they believe women should behave so Cixous is calling for women to embrace their sexuality and shove it in the faces of the men who believe that women should not publicize their sexuality. By recreating Medusa’s image to one of her laughing/orgasming at men getting aroused by the thought of her castrating them, as well as her description of masturbation, Cixous is proudly showing men her “sexts” and challenging women around the world to do the