Language, Power and Discourse of Sexuality
Foucault asks "What are the links between these discourses, these effects of power, and the pleasures that were invested by them?" (Foucault, 11). In the case of New Jersey governor it seems clear that power, language and pleasure were very much related in his speech on August 13, 2004, in which he announced his resignation, that he had had an affair with a man, and that he was a "gay American." A man in a position of power was both given power and gave power to the general public with his announcement. Consequently he opened up a multiplicity of discourses on the matter ranging from the true reason for his resignation, to the true meaning of the word Gay, to the effects that his coming out would have on the gay community. The case of governor McGreevey showed how language can be powerful, helpful and harming all at the same time, furthering Foucault's suggestion of strong links between discourse, power and pleasure.
McGreevey exercises a great deal of power in choosing the things that he says in his speech and even the ways that he says them. He uses his words to benefit him. The majority of the speech sounds like a plea to the people of New Jersey and the American public. He asks for the audience to sympathize by speaking of his struggle and confusion. So, when McGreevey says, "And so my truth is that I am a gay American. And I am blessed to live in the greatest nation with the tradition of civil liberties, the greatest tradition of civil liberties in the world, in a country which provides so much to its people" the audience feels a pathos for him. This statement is a direct call for forgiveness and sympathy, even before they have heard the whole case. It calls for the American ...
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...ew Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1996. 119-143.
Foucault, Michel. "We 'Other Victorians'" and "The Repressive Hypothesis."The History of Sexuality, Volume I: An Introduction.Trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage, 1980. 3-13, 17-49.
Gendar, Alison and Standora, Leo. "Gov's groove no secret around town". New York Daily News Saturday, August 14th, 2004.
Huffinton, Arianna. "Drama of New Jersey governor teaches us that to be gay is to be normal". Ariana Online August 16, 2004
Lazarus, Edward. "The Issues Governor McGreevey's Resignation Raises:
Stigma, Acceptance, and the Difference Between Legal and Social Change". Thursday, Aug. 19, 2004
"McGreevey: I am a gay American" www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/12/mcgreevey.transcript/index.html
Santos, Fernanda. "Instant hero in gay community". New York Daily News Friday, August 13th, 2004.
The film had showed the conflict between television journalist Edward Murrow and the United States senator in the states of Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy. Edward Murrow through his nightly news program "See It Now" to expose the scrutiny and criticism of McCarthy’s “red scare.” Murrow and his colleagues caused by the actions of a great disturbance at the time, and became the United States history of most according to the legendary moment.
Yersinia pestis is a zoonosis disease categorized in the family enterobacteriaceae. It is a non-spore forming, gram-negative coccobacilli that, when grown on agar, forms pin-point white/translucent colonies. Defining qualities of the Y. pestis are it’s bipolar staining, it’s negative test results for lactose fermentation, urease, and indole production, and positive testing for catalase. This pleomorphic bacterium is facultatively aerobic with an optimal growth temperature at 28 degrees Celsius. At temperatures above 37 degrees Celsius, it appears the Y. pestis is non-motile, but at temperatures less than 30 degrees Ce...
It has now been scientifically proven that the Black Plague had first originated from arid plains of centra...
No other epidemic reaches the level of the Black Death which took place from 1348 to 1350. The epidemic, better regarded as a pandemic, shook Europe, Asia, and North Africa; therefore it deems as the one of the most devastating events in world history. In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350, John Aberth, compiles primary sources in order to examine the origins and outcomes of this deadly disease. The author, a history professor and associate academic dean at Vermont’s Castleton State College, specializes in medieval history and the Black Death. He wrote the book in order to provide multiple perspectives of the plague’s impact. Primarily, pathogens started the whole phenomenon; however, geological, economic, and social conditions
Roos, Anna Marie E. "Plague, Early History." Infectious Diseases: In Context. Ed. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2008. 627-634. In Context Series. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Rose, Howard Lester, "Edward R. Murrow: His Life, Legacy and Ethical Influence" (2010). Theses and Professional Projects from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Paper 2.
Around 1347-1348 the most well-known epidemic struck the European world. The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death or the Black Plague, rained sickness over millions; for most people, death was the only end to the sickness. The Black Death is known as one of the most depressing occurrences in history. It attacked the three most important aspects of a person’s well-being, their mental, emotional and physical health. While the plague impacted early society, authors, Jean de Venette and Giovanni Boccaccio, described the epidemic in their own words. Modern author, Charles L. Mee Jr., describes the plague with the scientific knowledge he has living in today’s society. These three authors wrote about the bubonic plague with their own voice’s and reasoning’s but many of the accounts they mention are similar to one another. Jean de Venette, Giovanni Boccaccio and Charles L. Mee Jr. explain the symptoms, the causes and the way people acted because of the black plague.
He was known for smoking 60-65 cigarettes a day, causing him to develop cancer. Murrow had part of his lung removed and died April 27, 1965, just 2 days after his 57th birthday. Murrow’s legacy and work still live on. After his death, the Edward R. Murrow center was established at Tuft’s University. Murrow’s papers are still available in this building. In 1971, the Radio Television Digital News association developed an award in his name, including one at Washington State University where Murrow attended school. In 1973, expanded communication facilities in his name and established Edward R. Murrow Symposium. More recently, in 2008, Washington State University became the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. Murrow’s impact of radio, television, broadcasting and interviews will be a legacy that will live on
...their children and that this was a violation of the respect and rights of all mankind, any assault on the integrity and the full enjoyment of the rights of any human group, including the Homosexuals, is synonymous of humiliation to human dignity in our society. Gay people, just like any other person must have full recognition and protection by the State and society itself. As Byrne Fone said, academic and researcher at the City University of New York: "It is inevitable that homosexuality unquestionably entitled to recognition in terms of their individual rights. Semilisexual love, secretly defies all penalties and social intolerance "(Fone 2008).
Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives. Geanne Harwood, interviewed on an National Public Radio Broadcast commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, said that “being gay before Stonewall was a very difficult proposition … we felt that in order to survive we had to try to look and act as rugged and as manly as possibly to get by in a society that was really very much against us.” The age of communist threats, and of Joseph McCarthy’s insistence that homosexuals were treacherous, gave credence to the feeling of most society members that homosexuality was a perversion, and that one inflicted was one to not be trusted.
Dannemeyer, Congressman William. 1989. Shadow in the Land, Homosexuality in America. Ignatius Press, San Francisco.
Edward R. Murrow, a writer for radio broadcasting, in his broadcast, “See It Now”, Murrow describes the effects of communism during the anti-communist era. Murrow's purpose is to let americans take initiative, defend, and take responsibility. He creates a opened an fearless tone in order to engage americans to speak up on the anti-communist movement.
It is apparent that Nella Larsen’s Quicksand is concerned with the naturalistic element of determinism. Helga Crane illustrates both a biological and sociological determinism in her animal instinct for “flight” and her inability to conform in any of her environments. Larsen’s ability to integrate these themes into the character of Helga proves that the Quicksand is not only representative of the Harlem Renaissance, but also of the naturalistic movement.
Hill, Laban Carrick. Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance. New York: Little, Brown, 2003. Print.
Have you ever thought how much progress the LGBT community has made and how it affects other people? The gay rights movement was and is currently a movement that “strives to end all discrimination towards the LGBT community” (Redlingshafer). As early as 1924, the Society for Human Rights in Chicago becomes United States’ earliest known gay rights organization (“Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement”). However, most people recognize the Stonewall riot in 1969 as being the beginning of the gay rights movement. Almost ninety years later, society and the government have progressed over time and are still growing. Harvey Milk, author of “The Hope Speech”, was a politician who led a portion of the gay rights movement. Also, a more recent and well known leader of the movement is Dan Savage, the creator of the “It Gets Better Project”. The followers of the gay rights movement are not just homosexual. There are followers and supporters of every gender, race, and sexual orientation. The gay rights movement and its issues are represented in “The Hope Speech” by Harvey Milk.