å Wednesday, October 25th, 2017

In part one of “We Other Victorians” by Michael Foucault, he describes how sexuality was an openly discussed topic in the seventeenth century. However as we moved into the Victorian Era, it soon became an abomination to a wide variety of things in this topic. Foucault describes the Victorian Era as monotonous, tyrannical and constituted a lack of freedom of speech.  During this repressive time period, a great deal of revolt would be required to reinstate their freedom. Foucault makes a distinct connection between the incompatibility of labor and sex.

Foucault explains the freedom one has to speak on matters regarding sex stems from the feeling evoked from violating the law during the Victorian Era and the attitude of transgression as a result of prohibition from sex. One of the results that come from the freedom to speak on topics of sex during this time was enlightenment and liberation.

Foucault also seeks to analyze why discussing sex is considered a sin, why one must feel guilt towards this matter, and he also seeks to investigate what led biblical references to believe that sex should be repressed. This is considered one of the beliefs that the monarchs during the Victorian Era strongly believed. Moreover, it seemed to Foucault that prohibition, censorship and denial were ultimately the ways in which the monarchs of the Victorian Era governed their people.

One question I had based on part one was why the Victorian’s believed they should govern their people based on religious books/studies and if they felt that this government would fit all of the citizens in the United Kingdom. If they believed this form of government did not fit all people, what was done to those who didn’t believe in it, as opposed to those who protested their government?

Another question I had based on part one was how did this system of utilitarianism manifest after the seventeenth century? How did the Victorians rise to power? Was there a sharp change of thought amongst all or most of it’s citizens,  were there any socio-political groups that rose to oppress those in favor of liberation?

In Bell Hooks’ “Eating the Other”, she explains how western societies have exploited those with cultural differences. They’ve become intensely interested in these different cultures that it has brought up strange desires. In Britain, whenever “the Other” was discussed in conversations, it has always made referenced to those with different sexual desires that deviated from what was considered normal. In modern culture of the United States, they’ve connected the idea of being culturally diverse to having diverse sexual interests. They’re both seen as odd sources of pleasure in  that it is different from what society is usually being exposed to. As a result of the exploitation of “the Other”, western society is seen as usual as being dominant over “the Other”, especially in those who have power.

Another way in which culture is strongly connected to sexual desires, is the idea that it is an “exciting experience”. Hook provides an example of a time where she was walking by Yale University, and she noticed a several white male students discussing how they’ve created a task of having sexual relations with as many women of different racial backgrounds as possible. This example shows us how western society have tried to escape what they’re normally exposed to, and in doing so have sexually exploited “the Other”. They’ve also generalized the idea that women of certain racial backgrounds might be easier or harder to have sexual relations with. Moreover, in establishing this task made by the western society, they are admitting to the fact that they’ve had a white supremacist society for some time by associating other women of different races as weird or interesting.

Hook also describes the idea of imperialist nostalgia, which is the mourning of western societies of their past successes in racial inequality. These societies do not claim responsibility for their actions and even further deny the existence of their ancestors actions. This idea is another way in which exploitation can take form of “the other”.  Hook also says the longing for pleasure is another reason for the desire to westernize and/or take part in other cultures. Additionally, lesser -economically represented groups have been lured into western society with the promise of political change and recognition. In doing so it reinstates the idea of a nationalist society.