Disciplining Sexuality

Paper Summary:

Through the examination of Michel Focault's works, "Discipline and Punish" this author first examines the efficacy of varying modes of disciplinary action, from brutal torture as a means of punishment, to constant surveillance, used as a more dissuasive device. The author discusses how different institutions over the years have acquired and maintained power. Finally the author explores Focault's "The History of Sexuality" and discusses the nature of human sexuality, ultimately propounding the argument that human sexuality has evolved into a tool that power-wielding institutions use to dictate how we live. Evidence of sexuality as a disciplinary instrument includes church confessionals, lecturing children on the dangers of masturbation, the implementation of one-child policies in overpopulated countries, and "family planning."

From the Paper:

"If sexuality is ultimately, a tool how then did it develop into this and what is its purpose? Current definitions of sexuality refer to either the sexual act itself, coitus, or referring to the gender differences of man and woman. However, this does not give the complete picture for sexuality as a tool. It is more interesting to note that, as Foucault claims, sexuality was invented; it is a "concept designed to give order, unity, and the status of natural inevitability to a bundle of discourses and administrative policies." What was the history of sex then? How did it emerge? If we take a step back in Western history we would remember the middle ages as being characterized by a single powerful institution, the Church and inside this institution developed one "main ritual we rely on for the production of truth: the confession."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish, trans. Alan Sheridan (New York: Random House Inc., 1977)
• Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: Vol.1, trans. Robert Hurley (New York: Vintage Books, 1990)
• Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: Vol.2, trans. Robert Hurley (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985)
• Michel Foucault, Ethics: Subjectivity and Truth, (New York: New Press, 1998)
• Michel Foucault, Foucault Live, trans. John Johnston (New York: Semiotext, 1989)

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