France
The intellectual climate in France in the middle of the twentieth century was dominated by the philosophy of structuralism. Structuralism has been applied to a diverse range of fields, from anthropology to philosophy to mathematics. Structuralism claims that meaning doesn't rest in the individual units of a given system (e.g. words in a linguistic system) but in the relationships between these units. We come to understand the world not by understanding the individual things that make it up, but by understanding the relationships between these things. Structuralist thought influenced Foucault's early career. He developed an approach to intellectual history that he called the "archaeology of knowledge." This approach dismissed the importance of individual thinkers or motives, emphasizing instead the inescapable mind-sets that characterize different ages. In his later career, during which he wrote The History of Sexuality, Foucault complemented this archaeological approach with a genealogical approach that he borrowed from Nietzsche. Nietzsche argues that the concepts we use are rarely fixed, but that they evolve to suit the changing needs of different ages. Nietzsche shows how our concepts of "good" and "evil" have ch
Ultimately, his interest is not in sexuality itself, but in our drive for a certain kind of knowledge, a certain perspective, and the kind of power we find in that knowledge. Plot Overview Our thinking about sexuality is largely informed by the "repressive hypothesis," which claims that the history of sexuality over the past three hundred years has been a history of repression. The institution of marriage has claimed the discourse on sexuality as its exclusive property: it has complete power of what is and is not said about sexuality. We think of sexuality as our essence, as the thing that makes us what we are, when in fact, it is just a social construct that makes us easier to control. He argues that Discourse about sex has only intensified and proliferated since the eighteenth century. Foucault wishes to address the modern paradox of our discourse on sexuality: why do we proclaim so loudly that we are repressed, why do we talk so much about how we can't talk about sex? A supporter of the repressive hypothesis might answer that we are so aware of our repression because it is so evident, and liberating ourselves is a long process that can only be advanced by open, frank discussion. " Whoever determines what can be talked about also determines what can be known. We have developed a whole framework in which to talk about the ways in which bourgeois society represses our sexual impulses. It forces a Marxist reading of history: one where sexual repression is part of a larger history of class stru. The repressive hypothesis explains why the institution of marriage claims exclusive rights to discourse on sexuality. Sex for pleasure, then, became an object of disapproval, as an unproductive waste of energy. Unlike the aristocracy that preceded it, the bourgeoisie became rich through work and industriousness. Queer theory studies the intersection between politics, gender, and sexuality. " The deployment of sexuality through these four points allows power to spread itself into the family and throughout society.
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