Gayle Rubin’s “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality” focused on the history of sexuality and sexual persecution. Gayle Rubin recognizes the idea of sex as a natural force that exists prior to social life and which shapes institutions and society. First, Rubin, emphasizes the idea of negative sex, by showcasing views by other scholars. Rubin notes Foucault in his 1978 publication “The History of Sexuality”, as “sex as the natural libedo wearing to break free of social constraint” (Rubin, 149). This leads Rubin to her understanding of sex negativity. Sex, as Rubin depicts, is dangerous, destructive and a negative force and sex negativity is any negative sexual behaviour other than married or reproductive sex. Many Western religious believe that sex should only be for reproductive reasons and that pleasure and anything outside of martial sex should not be experienced. Third, Rubin goes on to construct the charmed circle, distinguishing good and bad sex. Resulting from sex negativity, Rubin develops an illustration of good and bas sex, better known as the charmed circle. Instances of bad sex include; casual, …show more content…
For instance; referred to the correct pronoun and are not misgendered, are not asked about which genital body parts you have, if you have undergone any medical surgeries or enhancements and not being questioned about your ‘real’ gender. In addition to these privileges, cisgender privilege allows those individuals to have safe and non-violent access to public places, such as bathroom, but also access to sex-segregated events and facilities that correspondence to your gender identity without any question, resentment, refusal, or risk of violence. Cisgender privilege induces criminalization of the non-heterosexual community, posing a enormous risk to many
In the book, “On the Meaning of Sex” J. Budziszewski talks about the meaning of sex. Budziszewski states that the issue of sex is one of the most important issues in our culture since the sexual revolution. Budziszewski opens the book by restating a conversation he once had with a student about the Book, “Brave New World.” The student states that the people are revolting and disgusting. Budziszewski is delighted by this statement. He believes that the student and himself are on the same page. Budziszewski responds to the student by agreeing and saying that there needs to be some meaning to sex. However; the student replies by saying, that the manner in which babies are “born” in the brave new world is disgusting and that sex doesn’t necessarily
Irigaray, Luce. “That Sex Which is Not One.” The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Ed. David H. Richter. Boston: Bedford Books, 1998. 1467-1471.
With the “Orange Is the New Black” star, Laverne Cox being transgender and permitted to play a vivid character as “Sophia”, Caitlyn Jenner’s announcement on the Diane Sawyer interview in 2015, and the arsenal of social media, being non-cisgender (not the gender assigned at birth) in general, has been discussed more than ever. Due to the Internet’s broadness, people who met this classification are unraveling new identities such as non-binary and genderqueer (only people who are this can say this word as “queer” is a slur). Being cisgender is the norm in society. I am also non-cisgender and this is an unique thing that possessed many scars.
In The Introduction to the History of Sexuality, Foucault explains how during the 19th century with the raise of new societies, the discourse or knowledge about sex was not confronted with repulsion but it “put into operation an entire machinery for producing true discourses concerning sex” (Foucault 69). In fact, this spreading of discourse on sexuality itself gives a clear account of how sexuality has been controlled and confined because it was determined in a certain kind of knowledge that carries power within it. Foucault reflects on the general working hypothesis or “repressive hypothesis,” and how this has exercised power to suppress people’s sexuality. It has power on deciding what is normal or abnormal and ethical or unethical about sexuality. Through discourses of life and sexuality, power is exercised because humans learned how to behave in relation to sexuality, which method keep individuals controlled and regulated. This explains why people experience that sense of behaving inappropriate when we talk about sex in a different way than the whole society. Foucault points up how sexuality is not just treated in terms of morality, but it is a matter of knowledge and “truth.” However, these discourses, including sexual discourses are not true or false, but they are just understood to be the truth or falsehood to control society. As a result, sexuality begins to be explored in a scientific way, developing the “truth” science of sex (Foucault 69). For Foucault, he asserts that sexuality has developed as a form of science that keeps us all afraid of such phenomena, which people think to be true, thus this science helps society to discipline and control individuals’ behaviors.
Foucault, M. (1978). The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction. New York: Vintage Books.
Halperin, David. "Is There a History of Sexuality?." The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed. Henry
Transgender is an umbrella term, meaning an individual’s gender-identity does not align with their assigned sex at birth. Although transgender is a protected class in eighteen states, these individuals still face discrimination within the country and around the world (“Non-Discrimination Laws”). Transgender is not a lifestyle, no one chooses to live their life constantly being discriminated against. Transgender issues should be more educated on and their lives should be more protected. The most common issue transgender individuals face every day is bathroom use.
In the article “An Anthropological Look at Human Sexuality” the authors, Patrick Gray and Linda Wolfe speak about how societies look at human sexuality. The core concept of anthology is the idea of culture, the systems of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors people acquire as a member of society. The authors give an in depth analysis on how human sexuality is looked at in all different situations.
In the book History of Sexuality: An introduction, Volume 1 by Michel Foucault, he discusses the “repressive hypothesis” which he had developed. Sexual repression was due to the rise of the bourgeois. He suggests that the repressive hypothesis is important for discourse on the revolution of sexuality. Foucault has recognized the repressive hypothesis as a form of discourse. The repressive hypothesis has power to repress the debate of sexuality. Foucault mentions that society has created control over how people talk about sex over time. In the 17th century with the rise of the bourgeoisie, there had been control on the discourse of sex. In the 18th century, sex was studied for the means of regulating the demographic of the population. Sex lives
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
In the year A.F. 632 no pleasure is denied to the populous. Hypnopaedia is used as a device to form the moral education of children. What is taught through this method is not true ethics, but warped actions trained by words. An illustration of this is in the teaching of Elementary Sex to children. The society that Huxley created was one where having sex often and with many people was a positive course of action. Anyone who did not have multiple partners, such as Lenina or Bernard, were considered a blight to society. Society as a whole uses the act of having sex as relief from pain and emotions. A person does not have to lust for someone they merely set up a time and place for them to meet and have sex, and it is completely accepted by everyone. When sex is not enough to relieve a person from pain or loneliness they take soma, a drug that stimulates them into happiness. Unlike the drugs of present day there is no set backs from taking soma, no headaches after use, and after all “One cubic centimetre cure ten gloomy,” (60). Finally, there is the concept of feelies, movies that you can feel what the actors are doing. These feelies are nothing more than glamorized porn movies giving the participants quick orgasmic feelings without effort. All these materialistic pleasures are used to substitute an individuals basic emotional needs and to give them a false sense of happiness. Huxley used this warped view on what today’s society deems morally right and wrong to reveal how shallow the citizens of the brave new world truly are.
Transgender Rights and Gender Neutral Bathrooms Cassidy Howell No one wants to feel like they do not belong or like they are not cared for. Transgender people are just like everyone else and deserve to be treated equally as cisgendered people. According to Sam Killerman, being transgendered means living "as a member of a gender other than that expected based on sex assigned at birth. " This definition is extremely important because a transgender person is still a person.
The issues of sexual ethics in relation to morality and perversion have been addressed in depth by each of the gentleman at this table. Sexual activity as described by Solomon and Nagle is comprised of a moral standard and ‘naturalness’ aspect. So, in claiming an act is perverted we must first examine it through a moral framework and understand how this interacts with the ‘naturalness’ of a particular act. Solomon makes the distinction as follows “Perversion is an insidious concept…To describe an activity as perverse is not yet a full blown moral condemnation, for it need not entail that one ought not to indulge in such activities.” Along with the examination of the nature of an act, there must be clear justification as to why sexual acts deserve special separate ethical principles. The question arises: does an act simply due to its sexual nature deserve a separate form of moral inquisition than other acts that occur in nature? In this essay I shall argue that perversion and immorality are not mutually exclusive. By this I mean that a sexual act that is, by my definition, immoral must also be perverted. It is also my contention that if an act is perverted we must also define it as immoral. This second part of the argument is contrary to what many of you have claimed. At the outset of this paper I would also like to state my support of Thomas Nagel’s argument holding that the connection between sex and reproduction has no bearing on sexual perversion. (Nagel 105)
... decades ago. This book is one that will allow the reader to view many aspects of sexuality from a social standpoint, and apply it to certain social attitudes in our society today, these attitudes can range from the acceptance of lesbian and gays, and the common sight of sex before marriage and women equality. The new era of sexuality has taken a definite "transformation" as Giddens puts it, and as a society we are living in the world of change in which we must adapt, by accepting our society as a changing society, and not be naive and think all the rules of sexuality from our parents time our still in existence now.