A few years ago the world was set buzzing by a naughty and "scintillating" piece of read: 50 Shades of Grey. Christian Grey, handsome, powerful, rich and with a dark and secret appetite for underworld sex, created two equally opinionated camps. The one camp found his brand of sex delightfully rough and enticing and the other camp was quite horrified. Those enticed were seduced by the thrill of the salacious and experiencing something new and the others against made claims Christian Grey was violent and abusive. Which side is right? If one accepted Michel Foucault's arguments in History of Sexuality Volume I, and based their answer on the text then the answer would be both are equally valid. History of Sexuality is about the production and construction …show more content…
These conclusions are then fed back to society – influencing what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Therefore, the example of Christian Grey could be explained in two ways: the first is, one could raise issue with that the dark world of BDSM is perverse, against nature and immoral. Psychoanalysts could even come up with theories why someone would choose to enter that world. On the other hand there is nothing perverse about Christian Grey’s sexual preferences. The only reason they seem seedy and dirty is because modern dialogue dictates it to be so. Prior to the 17th century most probably no-one would have battered an eye-lid. That is all good and well when the engagement is between two consenting adults. But what if one were to cut the belly of underworld sex to expose all its activities? Could one still claim that the only reason it is called perverse is because it does not succumb to the ideal of reproductive heterosexual sex? How does one explain the violent nature of underworld sex? Or kidnapping and trafficking of young women and children? Is an adult violating a child normal and just an expression of …show more content…
Human sex trafficking has become a global threat. Every year millions of men, women and children become victims of human trafficking. The International Labour Organisation estimates 21 million victims are trafficked every year and 4.5 million of them are trafficked for sex. The sex industry is a multi-billion USD industry and the world of underworld sex caters for just about any desires, fetishes or sexual pleasures at the expense of the unwilling. The majority of victims largely tend to be women and young girls, making sex trafficking a gender crime. Women and children are some of the vulnerable groups in society and require protection in our patriarchal societies. If violations against these vulnerable groups such as sex trafficking and forced sex labour are not seen as perversions how then do the victims find justice? How do the demand creators get punished? For without demand, there can be no
As victim count continues to rise, its difficult to see how such great numbers of men, women and children are bought and sold every year. Trafficking can be found in many forms, including: prostitution, slavery, or forced labor (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). It wasn’t until the 1980’s that international human trafficking became globally noticed. With the lack of government intervention and control in several nations, and the free trade market, slavery once again became a profitable industry (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). As previously mentioned, easier movement across nations borders is one of the outcomes of globalization. It is also what makes human trafficking so easy today. It is estimated that about 20.9 million people are victims across the entire globe (United Nations Publications, 2012); trafficking accounts for 32 billion dollars in generated profit globally (Brewer, n.d). 58 percent of all human trafficking was for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and of this 55-60 percent are women (United Nations Publications,
Some governments still don’t have any laws that ban this evil and it is not good for people who suffer from it as it runs rampant in those countries. The places that need the government's help with this the most, have governments that are failing to protect them. The UN Chronicle says that the only way to end sex trafficking and give these victims the closure they deserve is the “prosecution of traffickers and protection of victims”(UN Chronicles). It is not the girls fault and if these traffickers are punished and made an example of, it could discourage others from following this dark path and this will mitigate and eventually end sex trafficking. Some countries don’t persecute the traffickers, or they do very little to punish them and this needs to change to eliminate sex trafficking. When some countries are “lagging behind with no counter-trafficking laws at all”(Jesionka), this prevents people who are held captive from getting the justice they deserve in some parts of the world. If the world worked together to eliminate this, the countries that are exploited for this trade would keep their people safer. The countries need to take on these traffickers if there is going to be any difference in this modern slavery. Not enough is being done to catch and punish these criminals and this is a giant problem. When others can actually see the problem, their governments
In The Introduction to the History of Sexuality, Foucault explains how during the 19th century with the raise of new societies, the discourse or knowledge about sex was not confronted with repulsion but it “put into operation an entire machinery for producing true discourses concerning sex” (Foucault 69). In fact, this spreading of discourse on sexuality itself gives a clear account of how sexuality has been controlled and confined because it was determined in a certain kind of knowledge that carries power within it. Foucault reflects on the general working hypothesis or “repressive hypothesis,” and how this has exercised power to suppress people’s sexuality. It has power on deciding what is normal or abnormal and ethical or unethical about sexuality. Through discourses of life and sexuality, power is exercised because humans learned how to behave in relation to sexuality, which method keep individuals controlled and regulated. This explains why people experience that sense of behaving inappropriate when we talk about sex in a different way than the whole society. Foucault points up how sexuality is not just treated in terms of morality, but it is a matter of knowledge and “truth.” However, these discourses, including sexual discourses are not true or false, but they are just understood to be the truth or falsehood to control society. As a result, sexuality begins to be explored in a scientific way, developing the “truth” science of sex (Foucault 69). For Foucault, he asserts that sexuality has developed as a form of science that keeps us all afraid of such phenomena, which people think to be true, thus this science helps society to discipline and control individuals’ behaviors.
An estimated 20.9 million people are currently being trafficked worldwide (The Polaris Project, 2014). According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, reauthorized in 2013), sex trafficking is defined as, “A commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, and/or in which the person induced to...
Awareness of child sexual trafficking can be viewed as a balanced scale, with one side representing the country’s population that is fully informed of the issue, while the other side is either unaware or unattached to the issue. The public needs to have more involvement with this affair based on multiple concerns; first, the act of child sex trafficking itself is a serious crime that violates human rights (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). Second, various negative health repercussion including transmittable sexual diseases, physical damages, mental disturbance, post traumatic stress disorders, and other illnesses plague many victims (Fong & Cardoso, 2010). Third, sexual trafficking is responsible for generating poverty as a result of obstructing economic, and social development (Reid, 2012). Child sex trafficking proves to be a global dilemma affecting numerous countries
Unlike sex, the history of sexuality is dependant upon society and limited by its language in order to be defined and understood.
Summary: We see that there are many different aspects and types of human trafficking that everyone should be made aware of. As a whole human trafficking is a lucrative industry raking in $150 BILLION globally. The impact that this industry has on its victims is
In the movie, Fifty Shades of Grey, the focus is based on the strange relationship of a powerful business mogul named Christian Grey and a young, innocent looking woman named Anastasia Steele. In the beginning, it is made clear that Ana is not a sexual person and a virgin before meeting Grey who is a lot darker than meets the eye. Grey partakes in a type of sexual intercourse known as BDSM which stands for Bondage Discipline Sadism and Masochism, where he is the dominant in seek of a submissive partner with a no feelings attached mentality, in this case being the inexperienced Ana.
Sex trafficking is essentially systemic rape for profit. Force, fraud and coercion are used to control the victim’s behavior which may secure the appearance of consent to please the buyer (or john). Behind every transaction is violence or the threat of violence (Axtell par. 4). Just a decade ago, only a third of the countries studied by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had legislation against human trafficking. (Darker Side, par.1) Women, children, and even men are taken from their homes, and off of the streets and are brought into a life that is almost impossible to get out of. This life is not one of choice, it is in most times by force. UNODC estimates that the total international human trafficking is a $32-billion-per-year business, and that 79% of this activity comprises sexual exploitation. As many as 2 million children a year are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, according the the U.S. State Department.-- Cynthia G. Wagner. (Darker Side, par. 4) The words prostitute, pimp, escort, and stripper tend to be way too common in the American everyday vocabulary. People use these words in a joking manner, but sex trafficking is far from a joke. Everyday, from all different countries, people are bought and sold either by force or false promises. Some are kidnapped and others come to America with dreams of a dream life and job. The buyers involved in the trade will do anything to purchase an innocent life just to sell for their own selfish profit. Many people wouldn’t think of a human body to be something you can buy in the back room of a business or even online. But those plus the streets are where people are sold most often. There are many reasons and causes for sex trafficking. The factors behind sex traffic...
In the book History of Sexuality: An introduction, Volume 1 by Michel Foucault, he discusses the “repressive hypothesis” which he had developed. Sexual repression was due to the rise of the bourgeois. He suggests that the repressive hypothesis is important for discourse on the revolution of sexuality. Foucault has recognized the repressive hypothesis as a form of discourse. The repressive hypothesis has power to repress the debate of sexuality. Foucault mentions that society has created control over how people talk about sex over time. In the 17th century with the rise of the bourgeoisie, there had been control on the discourse of sex. In the 18th century, sex was studied for the means of regulating the demographic of the population. Sex lives
Sex trafficking is a world wide epidemic. It targets unknowing victims such as women and children enslaving them and exploiting their innocence. Human trafficking is becoming one of the biggest money making organized crimes in the world. The sex trade is one of the most profitable of all current slave trades. Through the age, gender, class, and race many are trapped in a never-ending cycle of coercion and abuse in order to survive in the corrupt society around them. In order to stop this monstrosity in the world, we need to start at the root of the problem. We must bridge the barriers between gender, class, and race in order to respect one another and live in harmony
Christianity and its many sects has a colorful rainbow of different ideals towards sexuality as a whole that all stem from the same central ideal of preserving one’s sexual sanctity. The Bible has stated many varying rules that applies to sex throughout the old and new testament, which can be seen as the reason for these splintering ideals, along with the many different interpretations of these rules. The Christian Religion’s central ideals toward human sexuality was determined by the Catholic Church millennia ago, with the effects of these teachings still seen today.
Foucault begins by iterating how the modern age supposedly imposed silence about sex. If examined closely, however, we find that there is actually an explosion of discourse regarding sex. There were still restrictions on where, when and among whom such things could be said. While language was more discrete, the effects and correlations of sex were pursued in every detail: everything had to be told. Desire rather than the act became the primary evil.
The issues of sexual ethics in relation to morality and perversion have been addressed in depth by each of the gentleman at this table. Sexual activity as described by Solomon and Nagle is comprised of a moral standard and ‘naturalness’ aspect. So, in claiming an act is perverted we must first examine it through a moral framework and understand how this interacts with the ‘naturalness’ of a particular act. Solomon makes the distinction as follows “Perversion is an insidious concept…To describe an activity as perverse is not yet a full blown moral condemnation, for it need not entail that one ought not to indulge in such activities.” Along with the examination of the nature of an act, there must be clear justification as to why sexual acts deserve special separate ethical principles. The question arises: does an act simply due to its sexual nature deserve a separate form of moral inquisition than other acts that occur in nature? In this essay I shall argue that perversion and immorality are not mutually exclusive. By this I mean that a sexual act that is, by my definition, immoral must also be perverted. It is also my contention that if an act is perverted we must also define it as immoral. This second part of the argument is contrary to what many of you have claimed. At the outset of this paper I would also like to state my support of Thomas Nagel’s argument holding that the connection between sex and reproduction has no bearing on sexual perversion. (Nagel 105)
Fifty Shades of Grey does not depict that as it should, a movie full