Fundamentally, Foucault defines discourse as the approach of constituting know-how, together with social behaviors, forms of subjectivity, and power relations. He recounts that discourse is a culturally created presentation of reality. In his study of sexuality, he notes that tight controls were placed on discourse about sex in the emergence of the bourgeoisie in the 17th century, which led to the control of sex at speech level (Foucault 17). He associates sex and discourse in the sense that new discourse of sexuality had transformed the way people think, desire, and their inner self.
Primarily, he recounts that discourses about sexuality do not discover some pre-existing important truth about an individual's identity but rather shaped it through the practice of acquired knowledge or power. The explanation of Sexuality by Foucault helps us understand the occurrences that surround different situations. Moreover, it communicates different affiliation in the society. The issue of discourse on sexuality thrived in between the seventeenth and twentieth century when individuals began to examine sexuality in a different manner. People were encouraged to speak about their sexual sentiments and actions. Primarily, articulating matters about sex do not necessarily imply that people are liberated (Foucault 17). Foucault explained that in this era of proliferation of discourses on sex, sexual occurrences were subjected to a power of suppression, which governs them.
Hence, liberation would not be present in such a scenario. Engaging in pornographic activities may not be an expression of liberty as the perpetrators of such acts operate under the instructions of somebody else who advises them on what to do. As such, those that engage in these activities do so under the conception of power from the instructor.
Work Cited
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality. Vol. 1: The Will to Knowledge. Penguin Books Limited, 1998.
