5 Assignment 08

In Part 4. Chapter 4: Periodization, Foucault says that where wa a new technology of sex in that it was independent from the holy, religious establishment it was always associated with, but remained defenseless with its connection to sin. In the 18th century, sex was not only a nonreligious concern, but a social one through interests in the medical fields, economics and people wanting to teach sex as an academic subject. In the 18th century, the advancement in the medical field was the cause for interests of the sexual lives of women, children and married couples. In the 19th century, people in the medical field who studies sex connected it to pervasion. They believed that sexual pervasion was hereditary and it was dangerous to society. They believed that is this “disease” was not contained future generations could be at risk so they were led to create pervasion medicines and eugenics programs. It was believed that by having an ancestry with numerous illness and sickness, helped produce a sexual pervert. Foucault then explains that the pervasion- heredity- degenerescence system of society at the time did not coincide with the repressive theory of the discourse of sexuality. He says that if that was the case then young men and the working class would be subjected to scrutiny, but not the bourgeoise. Foucault says that the bourgeoisie were careful in protecting their own sexualities, not for economic growth, but so that their family line was pure. This is why the aristocrats were so interested in the sexualities of women and children. They believed that their sexuality was something very valuable and important. I think Foucault is trying to show us that sexuality is somewhat of a social construct and something that can be regulated. As we see, sexuality used to be controlled by the church, but it then became a way aristocrats exerted their power over the lower and working class. The bourgeois didn’t want eliminate sex, but saw its importance in ensuring a healthy future for their ruling family. It was a source of domination for the ruling class.

In chapter four, “Periodization”, Foucault discusses the “technology” of sex. These “technologies” can be defined as medicine, education and demography which restricted sex and transformed it into a public matter. In past, the sixteenth and seventeenth century, sex was seen as a private matter that should be confined to the home and never mentioned in public. The topic of sexuality was then altered, it was then discussed in confusion as a Catholic church belief. During the nineteenth century sex was converted into a public matter. Many believed sex  to be of “biological responsibility” (1978:118) meaning homosexuality must be due to one’s genetics, designating as hereditary and declaring it an illness. This reasoning caused the public, more importantly the bourgeois, to fear for the future generations that could harm their standing in society. This encouraged the practice of eugenics, which enforced sterilization. Although this theory placed reforms it was never scientifically proven. This ideology turned sex from a spiritual and religious matter to a physical health concern that could effect the public, more specifically the bourgeoise. Foucault does not believe in the repressive theory. He argues that this theory could not possibly be true because if its intentions were economic, there would be strict restrictions placed upon young men who were the leading force in the working class. The restrictions were most stringent upon the bourgeoise as it was implemented to preserve their status and “eliteness”. Foucault exclaims, “The bourgeoisie’s “blood” was its sex” (1978:124). This reinforces the notion that the elite class believed sex to be heavily influential to their overall health. Although their intentions were to place restrictions on themselves to keep a healthy sexuality, their beliefs extended to the working class. This expansion lead the bourgeoisie to assert their dominance over the proletariats. The “technologies” are just methods or tools that were used to control sex.

In the chapter called “Periodization” Michael Foucault talks about the technology of sex and how it has progressed thought out different centuries. As Foucault explains before nineteenth century themes of sex and sexuality were connected to church and it was controlled by religious people in power. Sex was still considered a sin and it was still a restricted topic to talk about. Foucault also stated that there was a new technology of sex. He additionally classified these technologies into three categories such as education, medicine and economics.

Education as he stated had a function of teaching people and especially children in sexuality. Since education played a huge role in this new technology, people have been exposed to the different aspect of sexuality. In addition, children were also under control of adults. Then, medicine had a role in this technology and mostly as Foucault explained it had roots in women’s physiology. After that the demography also was a part of this new of technology of sex. Demography had maybe the most crucial part because society had to understand how to regulate and establish the birth control. All these aspects forced people to hide their sexuality and put stop talking about it. However, with a turn of a new century things started to get different, “mutated” as Foucault suggested. Technology of sex started to shape up and new subcategories appeared. Medicine divided into two parts with medicine of sex and body. So, people became more aware since everything kind of become clear. Education and economics also changed into a different testimonial.

Foucault also added that sex was repressed and people were led into obscurity with sex. Privileged people and bourgeoisie wanted to contain sex and prevent people from economical and demographical development. And, there were religious people who did not want people to understand that sex was not a sin because they would lose their power. Under this circumstances, sex was subjugated and controlled the society of people in power.

In Part 4, Chapter 4 of Focault’s “History of Sexuality”, the term “technology of sex” is frequently used. Focault talks about how earlier on (within the 17^th century) sex was looked at as a private matter, one that had no association with medicine or the state; society found no reasoning for it to be a societal topic of discussion. The body was meant to be concealed outside the boundaries of the private marriage. Sex did however find itself appropriate to be discussed under the church within the confessions. Yet as time went on discourse concerning sex emerged from confession rooms and bedrooms and eventually made its way to matters of the state. Due to advancements in education, medicine, and economics, sex became a topic of analysis. Relating more specifically to medicine, Focault explains that people began to distinguish a difference between medicine of sex and medicine of the body. They looked closely at sex related diseases and studied those disease’s possible impacts on future generations. Through the new technological analysis of sex, eventually sexual discourse would evolve once more. Though it started as an exclusively private and secular matter, then grew to be discussed and analyzed openly, it eventually began to retreat as the state started regulatory actions against it. “The sexuality of children and adolescents was first problematized, and feminine sexuality medicalized.” (Focault, “History of Sex” pg 120) Society constructed criticisms and regulations surrounding sexual discourse as a response to these new advancements in the “technology of sex”.  Just like in modern day, aside from legal regulations around sex, sex before marriage is still something society has constructed to be shameful, especially for women. Woman are portrayed as disobedient and wrongful if they express their own sexuality. These social constructs and regulations up until modern day I think Focualt recognizes to be stemming from the original Christian Church’s belief that sex and desire is sinful and must be shut down.

When Foucault talks about, “A Technology of Sex” it’s clear that he’s referring to tangible objects as he makes an effort to mention the tracking of said “devices” that partake in the mechanized approach to sex. These objects were socially constructed as a means to scrutinize and inspect how people were having sex and to make the act of sex not just a secular issue, but a state one as well. In doing so, this intense regulation of sex wasn’t enforced through practical means like a police force, but rather through meticulous self-inspection and the observance of vows from the church and laws from the state. This, in turn, helps us to understand the application that went into applying these mechanical devices into the livelihood of people ranging from the 1700’s to the 1900’s. Through this specific mechanization of sex, the act itself went from something private that didn’t need discussion to something that became thoroughly dissected through active discussion, in perhaps monotonous detail to avoid the prudish act of deriving pleasure from discussing it. Which seem to be the intended desire of mechanizing sex and all of its facets; was the careful removal and regulation of pleasure and how people sought pleasure privately. This, I think, had a lot to do with how the church in particular viewed bodily aspects of pleasure and enjoyment as sin and something that should be rectified. By being able to mechanize and control sex through specific tools, it made having a firm grasp on its (the churches) followers all that much easier to do. Which in turn, popularized these devices and their intended use for a very long time as their effectiveness was well documented by none other than the church itself through confessions. Ultimately, when talking about the application of these devices, I think Foucault stresses the idea that these devices were intended to be efficient tools to control prudish acts so both the state and church could benefit appropriately.

Foucault suggests that the history of sexuality is more complex than just the repression of sex. Foucault emphasizes what he calls “a technology of sex” in Part 4 of Chapter 4: Periodization. The new technology of sex that Foucault examines basically required that all individual plus society as a whole essentially put themselves under surveillance, this system emerged from the institution of  economic, medicine and also pedagogy, which is the method and practice of teaching. There was a secularization of sex and the church basically lost it social and cultural significance. The notion of sex started to move away from the church and social classes developed their own views on sexuality. Pedagogy, medicine and demography developed a interest in women’s sexuality, human reproduction and child sexuality. Foucault addresses the idea of repression and how it’s misunderstood. Sexual repression was not exercised for economic motives but because the bourgeois class wanted to control sex as a means of preserving their own health and lineage. Foucault addresses eugenics for sterilization and racial control. The bourgeoisie had concept of healthy sexuality while the aristocracy had a concept of pure bloodlines.The bourgeoisie class believed in the concept of healthy sexuality and believed that general health and longevity would extend their power and influence.  The bourgeois class did not try to repress sexuality instead they embrace it and made it something normal.  Foucault states that there’s a different between bourgeois and the working class when it came to sexuality. For the bourgeois sexuality meant self-affirmation and for the working class it meant control.  Foucault mentions how sexual repression began with the bourgeois class wanting to distinguish themselves and their sexuality from the working class. The concept of the new technology of sex suggests that sexuality was still being repress but in this case by the different social class instead of the church.

I believe Foucault’s intentions in this chapter was to talk about the general discourse of sexuality and how the repression sexuality was being lifted in the twentieth century. The “technology of sex” was a different way of analyzing sexuality in relation to many things such as economics and medicine. According to him the transformation of discourse in the technology of sex opened more opportunities for other changes and techniques to be developed. In the 17th century sex was considered only to be done/discussed in the home, it was something that was shameful to talk about so Foucault believed it hindered the  development of these “technologies of sex”.

I think one of the main reasons we were able to move forward with the discourse of sex was the development and understanding of the medicine of sex. Medicine allowed the prevention of perversions and disease. Prior to this in the 19th century people would worry about them spreading throughout the classes which in turn cause hysteria. The upper class on the other hand used medicine as a form of Eugenics to create what they saw was best in themselves and allowed them to continue being wealthy and to boast the physical superiority. The bourgeois wanted utter control of everything, not only society but the sexuality of their men, women and children. With this newfound technology the bourgeois were able to regulate childbirth and marriage which would ultimately determine the population.

With the technology of medicine developing it also resulted in eugenics in the 19th century, I believe that Foucault determines that sexuality was a social construct created by the bourgeois, it was put into place to empower their social class while essentially the lower class was stunted by it due to their somewhat forced decrease in population from regulated births and marriages that came out of their fears of impurity in the family.

In chapter 4, of “History of Sexuality”, Foucault discusses a ‘technology of sex.” He puts a strong emphasis on the fact that it affected the whole state and not just the church. Society often forced people to abstain from sex and it seemed as if all eyes were on people partaking in “illegal” sexual activities. The technology of sex was used as a way of controlling sex and measuring its impact on society.

Medicine was being used to cure sexual “diseases.” Knowledge of medicine was being used to progress the eugenics movement, which would control breeding and control the genetic quality of the population. The technology of sex began taking the church and religious aspect out of sex and began instilling a more fact and scientific based approach on people. The idea that people could control certain hereditary characteristics of society made people more interested in sex. Studies in hereditary made people more knowledgable and allowed them to carry a certain biological responsibility with regards to future generations. The possibility of transferring diseases and un-normal hereditary traits made people more aware of the consequences of sexual activity. Medicine was being used to make sex more about life and people. It took the shame and punishment aspect out of sex, which made sex a more plausible topic.

Foucault mentions that certain hereditary traits such as homosexuality was passed down and that it could not be controlled. It is a disability that hinders the views that society holds. Foucault tries to imply how society characterizes sexuality highly changes the way people view sex. When discussing the characteristics of sex we see how society held the lower class to a little to none standard when it came to sex. The lower class were seen as people that did not have sex and had no knowledge of it. The lower class had no worth and that the bourgeois controlled the sexual aspects of women and children and to eliminate any hereditary traits that would harm the future children of society. The technology represents an improvement over past beliefs on sex, but it is still a very flawed idea.

In part four chapter four of Foucault work, Foucault mentions the idea of “a technology of sex”. In order to go into depth of the concept you have to know what he is talking about when he mentions “a technology of sex”. Foucault states that during the end of the eighteenth century a new technology of sex emerged. He states the word new due to the fact that it escaped ministerial institution without being completely removed from the topic of sin. Foucault also uses the word new due to the fact that sex expanded to three stand points which were of  pedagogy, of medicine and of demography. Within these three applications Foucault brings them to tie with the specific sexuality of children, the sexual physiology strange to women, and the spontaneous regulations of births. All three applications were coming from the methods that had already been formed by Christianity, now the technology of sex was ordered in relation to the medical institution, the exigency of normality, and the problem of life and illness. With this all being said, it is clear to state that Foucault  is trying to explain that the notion of sex is starting to move away from the church. Foucault talks about the the medicine of perversions and the programs of eugenics. Both were considered to be the two great innovations in the technology of sex of the second half of the nineteenth century. This led to the assumption that heredity that was charged with many diseases ended up making a sexual pervert. This technology of sex also went on to explain how a sexual perversion resulted in being in your genetics meaning it will be pasted on to the next generation as well. Foucault also states that this technology of sex was nothing more than a
medical theory and didn’t have much scientific proof to support its theory. To conclude with this application the medicine stand point of a technology of sex just shows how sex is still being controlled, but this time it is not only by the church.