Michel Foucault argues in his essay ‘The History of Sexuality,’ it was much easier to talk about sex openly, publicly during the 17th century unlike the following years, it has changed the way people talked about it. According to Foucault the word sex has become more of a form of knowledge and less of the pleasure and fun. It instead turned into something that should be kept composed and in control. Instead of the fun and passionate idea of sex, it became something scientist then studied in psychologically. The stimulation to speak about sex in a serious conversation seemed to be kept down through force or power, by the Bourgeoisie society that suppressed the population. But Foucault explains that the controlling power was also used to increase the analysis of sex.
Common sense tells us that during the Victorian Era we repress our sexuality. No power without knowledge, no knowledge without power (the power of knowledge). The sign of discipline sexuality creates a new pleasure where Foucault argues that “they” took something private and brought it out into the public, into something more like a course to collect data based on other people’s sexual pleasures.
The discourse on sex was for religious confessions that eventually lead to a public interest as in something to study logically and to be observed. Foucault uses an example about expanding the discourse on sex with children sexuality during the 18th century. This was intended and regulated as a course to prevent sexual conducts among the students. As a result, the boys and girls were separated into different schools; curfews were put into place and were taught to speak about sex in a very respectable manner that showed their awareness of sex. This was eventually silence, as Foucault disagrees with the theory regarding how and why this open sexuality was suppressed. Foucault sees this silencing as being an essential result of an urging motivation towards knowledge when it comes to sex. Sex became such an important subject of study when the government became curious, for example Foucault explains about a villager who ‘obtained a few caresses from a little girl,’ was seen an opportunity to be studied, examined and analyzed his behavior because of his choice of young girls. It was an open window to get a better understanding, ‘concerning his thoughts, inclinations, habits, sensations and opinions.’ It seems as though the discourse of the sexual acts were socially constructed among the rising Bourgeoisies society then. People were encouraged to (explosion of discourse) induce to speak about all the sexual acts into a public round, which is sort of private. According to Foucault, ‘it was essential that the state know what was happening with his citizens’ sex, and the use they made of it, but also that each individual be capable of controlling the use he made of it,’ it’s almost as though there were no privacy among people.