The History of Sexuality: Volume 1

Foucault opens The History of Sexuality by dissecting the repressive hypothesis. This theory suggests that the Victorian age brought a new period of restriction. The repressive hypothesis is defined by five principles: power holds a negative relation to sex, power establishes laws that categorize sex and sexuality, power reproduces itself throughout the hierarchical structure, power uses censorship to ensure repression, and power works through prohibition. Seen through this lens, power works to repress and exclude various forms of sex and sexuality from the sphere of human experience. Religious prohibitions and the needs of capitalism conspired to make sex between a married man and woman the only acceptable ideal. All forms of sexual expression outside this heteronormative standard were considered perversions. Any other type of sex was something to be absolved, forgiven, or treated. In his work, Foucault argues against the repressive hypothesis. While repression was certainly the motive of many during and after the Victorian age, repression was not the outcome.

Foucault argues that power always produces; it never destroys. Whatever the aim of power, multiplicity will be the outcome. Reverse psychology acts as an interesting example of how this works. Those who use reverse psychology understand that by telling someone to do one thing, they give them a powerful psychological incentive to do the opposite. For instance, an artist may feel driven to create and succeed if someone claims that the artist will never “make it.” This example shows how a repressive force may result in production rather than prohibition. Foucault offers the example of the Catholic confession. The purpose of the confessional was to drive out sin—to eradicate sexual perversion. This was done by asking the individual to describe in detail every sexual act and thought. The result of the confession was the expansion of sexual discourse.

After the Victorian age, all realms of Western society were centered on the uncovering of knowledge about sex. Confessionals made room for the medical field to swoop in, eager to rationalize and justify biases reflected in societal norms. The scientific community divided and categorized sexualities, placing what religious groups had deemed unacceptable sexual perversions under the classification of unhealthy sexual behaviors. In this way, Foucault argues that the modern era invented the concept of sexuality. In the past, people were able to engage in sexual activity with whom they chose without being associated with a specific sexual identity. The expansion of discourse created by the relationship between sex and power created the need for classification.

In Part 4, Foucault outlines the key features of the “juridico-discursive” model of power—his term for the structuralist theory that undergirds the repressive hypothesis. One principle of this model is the assumption of a negative connection between sex and power. In this view, power can never say yes or offer pleasure; it is only ever associated with repression and oppression. Once more, Foucault presents a different version of power—one that offers certain freedoms rather than restrictions. Because power developed the concept of sexual identities, it offered the 20th century the handbook for sexual revolution. This is why Foucault asserts that the repressive culture of the Victorian age and apparent permissiveness of the sexual liberation movement are both a part of the same expression of power.