A Sexually Open Society; Repression; the Issue of Porn

[Stella_Omega]

Well, in one thing she's certainly right;

And feminists have misunderstood many of these prohibitions.

I cannot understand them in the way she seems to.

You can post these things right away, you know. Call it pandering, if you wish, but it's always better, in these debates, to misunderestimate your audiences re-reading skillz-- or desires.

 

[Huckleman2000]

Well, in one thing she's certainly right;

I cannot understand them in the way she seems to.

You can post these things right away, you know. Call it pandering, if you wish, but it's always better, in these debates, to misunderestimate your audiences re-reading skillz-- or desires.

Thank you! I thought I was losing my mind!

 

[Verdad]

The idea of sanctifying sex arose in the Naomi Wolf article:

Okay, Huck: that, for a change, was fairly clearly stated. I take it that in your view, which is fully and inalienably yours, Wolf is full of it.

If we have established that, have you any thoughts on Foucault or Marcuse?

Or, if you prefer a personal angle, any instances where you have felt an unpleasant influence of either porn or other sexually explicit material on your life? Or even just some irritation with it?

 

[Verdad]

Well, in one thing she's certainly right;

I cannot understand them in the way she seems to.

As you can imagine, I harbor no secret desire, or any other kind of desire to wear a burka. Were it my friend to show up wearing a burka, I could only hope to show her the same amount of tolerance Wolf showed to her friend, and I confess I'd be still keeping an eye on her for the signs of a psychotic breakdown, just in case.

However, the social evils associated with wearing a burka are a matter of its being imposed by the authorities and a matter of curtailing the women's rights, rather than being 'inherent'. Wolf, in my reading, uses this to make her points, which include raising the awareness about inherent superiority of any sanctified view, as well as a question of our own choices being limited, by means that are clearly not as objectionable as that of an Islamic state-religion but have considerable socially coercive power nevertheless.

I'm not purporting to translate Wolf's thoughts, though, as every reader can access the material and draw his own conclusion. Nor do I support Wolf to the letter.

 

[Verdad]

As an additional thought on burkas, coming from an aesthetic rather than a political angle, I think it's quite essential for a writer to be able to project themselves in a differing point of view. So while none of us need be keen on trying on a burka, we can imagine how a woman, provided that she wears one of her own choice, could find the experience both empowering and erotic. I can certainly say I've imagined things way weirder than that.

And if Wolf herself was guilty of using an extreme position to make her point, surely we can imagine a more moderate application of the underlying principle, that is, that keeping something hidden can boost eroticism, while letting it all hang out can murder it.

How anyone applies this in their own erotic lives is, of course, their own business.

Wolf addressed it on a societal level, though, as a general syndrome of letting it all hang out. For myself, I've already said I sympathize with her observation, but have no delusions about the simpler, cleaner days of an imaginary Rousseauian past. Whatever it is that's going on, the only way is forward.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

I have no illusions about burkas, but I can certainly see Wolf's point of view in terms of the kind of comparison she is making in the article.

My preferences vary so much, but I do often find myself intrigued by those who juxtapose an outer appearance of conservativism with an inner sensuality.

 

[Pure]

some available online texts of foucault

master list, of foucault texts online at

http://www.foucault.info/documents/
----
these interviews are among the most readable.

interview ca 1975

http://www.thefoucauldian.co.uk/bodypower.htm

----

interview, 1982

http://www.thefoucauldian.co.uk/techne.htm

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section of 'discipline and punish', 1975


http://foucault.info/documents/disciplineAndPunish/foucault.disciplineAndPunish.panOpticism.html

-----


intro to archaelogy of knowledge 1969


http://foucault.info/documents/archaeologyOfKnowledge/foucault.archaeologyOfKnowledge.00_intro.html

 

[Stella_Omega]

Pure, i don't have time to read all that-- I have porn to write!

 

[Huckleman2000]

Sex Art trailer
Here's a trailer for a documentary that looks like it would be really interesting, at least to others who found this thread interesting.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I had to wait till I got home before I could check that out!