Sexual Desire

http://gayswithoutborders.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/vatican-opposes-un-resolution-on-universal-decriminalisation-of-homosexuality/

The above religious painting was taken from a site titled “Gays Without Borders”, which is “an informal network of international GLBT grassroots activists working to make the world a safer place for GLBT people, and for full GLBT equality in all aspects of legal and social life”. The painting was added to this site as “a declaration against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity”.

Homosexuality has been a controversial topic researched and discussed for hundreds of years. Jennifer Terry’s article, “Medicalizing Homosexuality”, explores how theories through time were developed as to how and why certain individuals become homosexual. Offense towards the homosexual community dates back to the Judeo-Christian times, as Terry’s article states, “For several centuries, official disapproval of homosexual acts stemmed primarily from Judeo-Christian religious doctrine upon which secular laws proscribing ‘offenses against nature’ were based” (Terry 40). In earlier times, homosexuals were punished for the ways in which they behaved; they were put in jail, psychiatric hospitals, or executed. As seen in the religious painting above, the act of homosexuality is something that is not accepted or presented freely, rather, it is represented as something that is evil or demonic, and looked down upon. Judeo-Christian religions view homosexuality as a sin and disapprove of homosexuals, which in some cases, these considerations still hold true and exist today.

Many thought homosexuality was a problem in society that needed to be removed, in order to protect and sustain societal and cultural values. Fear of the unknown was prompted from lack of knowledge on the concept of homosexuality. In turn, this lead to the medicalization of homosexuality, where people, not only suppressed their concerns regarding homosexuality, but also, turned to doctors for help in how to deal with their sexual desires. Terry affirms these ideas by stating, “But faith in the healing power of medicine was certainly not limited to this group. Many who opposed homosexuality thought modern medicine would yield the most reliable knowledge, and in so doing, be useful in riding modern society of the problem. The growing trust in medicine, held by a wide range of people, was tied to the belief that its practitioners were rational, truthful, and objective, while also caring and compassionate”(Terry 42). In this case, homosexuality was thought to be a sickness and a disease.

Due to these concerns presented by society, medical interpretations were developed to describe homosexuality. The first, “interpreted homosexuality in a naturalistic manner. The naturalists perceived homosexuality to be a benign but inborn anomaly, linked to organic congenital predisposition or to other evolutionary factors. Homosexuality, to them, was a condition of inborn sexual inversion, which caused homosexuals to be neither truly male nor truly female but to have characteristics of the opposite sex” (Terry, 43). The second, “consisted of degenerationists” who “considered homosexuals to suffer from an inborn constitutional defect that manifested itself in sex inverted characteristics and in overall degeneracy” (Terry, 43). Both naturalists and degenerationists “believed one’s constitution was comprised of what we would distinguish as biological and psychological attributes, including moral and intellectual qualities” (Terry, 43). Later, naturalists and degenerationists were contrasted by Sigmund Freud and his psychogenists, who were “regarding homosexuality as a psychogenically caused outcome of early childhood experiences. They considered homosexuality to be a perversion of the sex drive away from the normal object of desire” (Terry, 43).

From the beginning of the 19th century to contemporary times, the acceptance of homosexuality has changed. Scientists and researchers have examined the causes and formed theories regarding homosexuality. In present time, homosexuality appears to be more accepted among cultures and society. In addition, our cultural and societal views and discussions of sex have shifted over the years. Shows such as “Sex and The City” have displayed women speaking freely of their sexual experiences and desires. Set in New York City, the show focused on four white American women and social issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, safe sex, and promiscuity. It specifically examined the lives of women and how they are affected by changing roles and expectations for women.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn_WHLTK3qI

Here is a description by the author of the above video:

“The FIRST chapter in the QueerCarrie remix narrative.

This is the first of THREE remixes in the Sex and the Remix series. Each season of the original SATC will be remixed to build upon the story established in the previous work. The queering of on-screen relationships are especially important for LGBTQ fans and allies who have so few options of characters to identify with in popular culture.

Due to their constant dissatisfaction with the opposite sex, the women of Sex and the City question their desire, will and strength to continue following the expectations of conventional heterosexuality. They're here. They're queer.

The original show appropriated the language of radical feminist politics only to retell old patriarchal fairy tales.

Why are these women, in all their sexual candor and sexual frankness, abandoning their post-feminist thinking? Or, why is it so easy to use the language of radical feminism but so hard to give up on those patriarchal fantasies?

By editing out existing heterosexual innuendo and male characters, I seamlessly create an alternative narrative not typically associated with the original source material”.

Our society today has become more open to talking about taboo subjects, such as sexuality. In this era of “Sex in The City”, sex scandals, and new sexual enhancement technologies, the critique of sexology is important. Janice M. Irvine’s article, “Regulated Passions”, examines the diagnosis of “sex addiction” and the invention of “inhibited sexual desire” and its social and political implications. The article provides a comprehensive understanding on the construction of these two conditions, as Terry traces the history of our cultural discourses on sex and gender and the hidden power within them. Terry states: "The power of medical ideology in the construction of sexual desire derives from its expansion, its authoritative voice. There must be cultural recognition that desire problems are diseases, with a subsequent adoption of the language and concepts of dysfunction" (327). The medicalization of desire reflects cultural values, which "In our culture, both disease and desire are medical events, individual experiences, and social signifiers. There is no linear relationship between medical ideology and individual behavior" (Irvine, 326). Furthermore, Irvine states, “the existence of inhibited sexual desire and sexual addiction as medical diagnoses ensures that proposed solutions will be individual and structural and cultural.” (Irvine 328) While it is apparent that there are biological causes of disease, it is also important to examine cultural causes and other influences when viewing disease. This is addressed in the article as Irvine states, "The content of medical diagnoses is shaped by social, economic, and political factors" (326).

Overall, I think it is important to recognize these approaches to and regulations on sexual desire. Both of these articles discuss the regulation of desire; Terry’s article discusses homosexuality as it moves through the medical lens, and Irvine’s article presents the construction of ‘hyper’ and ‘hypo’ sexuality in contemporary times. Both articles consider the social production and regulation of desire and analyze the ideologies of desire and how they are constructed. I think it is important to analyze desire in how it is shaped by social, economic, and political factors. The regulation of desire often includes viewing deviant forms of desire as wrong and different from what is constructed as the cultural “norm”. If we are to analyze desire by looking at many influential factors, we would be able to see how desires are culturally constructed and socially produced. Our views need to shift from viewing these desires as disease or deviant from the cultural “norm”, and instead, consider the construction of these ideologies of desire.

Works Cited:

“Regulated Passions: The Invention of Inhibited Sexual Desire and Sexual Addiction”. Janice M. Irvine. In Terry, Jennifer, and Jacqueline Urla. Deviant Bodies: Critical Perspectives on Difference in Science and Popular Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995. Print.

“Medicalizing Homosexuality”. Terry. In American Obessesion: Science, Medicine, and Homosexuality in Modern Sociecty. 1999. University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London.