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Quote :The History of Sexuality
We are informed that if repression has indeed been the fundamental link between power, knowledge and sexuality since the classical age, it stands to reason we will not be able to free ourselves from it except at a considerable cost: nothing less than a transgression of laws, a lifting of prohibitions, an irruption of speech, a reinstating of pleasure within reality, and a whole new economy in the mechanism of power will be required.
In other words: this is going to be painful. In many ways, the “economy of power” has shifted in favor of the LGBT community; the civil rights of people of all queer stripes are being recognized more and more. But it’s taken a lot of work to get the conversation up and running.
Foucault focuses on the law, freedom of speech, and codes of sexual morality as three areas where the mechanisms of power have to change. So he’s saying that, along with intellectuals and philosophers and lawyers, there needs to be an active, grass-roots effort that pushes against the old power structures set up by those old enemies, the Victorians.
As Foucault lays the foundation for queer theory, he stretches it across almost all disciplines of human thought. Any institution in power is a prime target to be dismantled and examined. He wants people to know that queer theory can mess with anybody.
Even MTV challenged television programming by introducing gay Real World characters. Then Hollywood made movies about the AIDS crisis. And Harvey Milk challenged political organizations.
Then musicians came out of the closet. Priests came out of the closet. Doctors and professional athletes are coming out of the closet. Some politicians publicly endorse marriage equality.
Foucault’s insights into just how mechanisms of power control our moral codes have helped so many people and organizations challenge and change those codes. Following Foucault, we’ve begun down the path to a “whole new economy.”