Jamie+&+Raymond

Jamie & Raymond

Thomas Kuhn is a philosopher of the history of science, who claims we should understand how what is now seen as prejudice could be accepted as science. With enlightenment, the view of sexuality as something sinful to be confessed mutated. It was adapted to modern demands of rationality by turning itself into a science. Foucault makes a strong distinction between what we would still today call science and a prejudicial doctrine on human procreation. "Comparing these discourses on human sexuality to those from the same epoch on animal and vegetal reproduction, the difference is surprising. Their weak tenability - I won't even say in scientificity, but in elementary logic, places them apart in the history of knowledge." The doctrines on sexuality postulated several "unnatural" sexual behaviors. In the 16th century, the focus was on regulating the sexuality of the married couple, ignoring other forms of sexual relations, but now other groups were identified: the sexuality of children, criminals, mentally ill and gays. "The perverse" became a group, instead of an attribute. Sexuality became seen as the core of some peoples' identity. Homosexual relations had been seen as a sin that could be committed from time to time, but now a group of "homosexuals" emerged. Foucault writes: "The sodomite was a recidivist, but the homosexual is now a species." "The homosexual of the 19th century became a person: a"past, a history and an adolescence, a personality, a life style; also a morphology, with an indiscreet anatomy and possibly a mystical physiology. Nothing of his full personality escapes his sexuality." Seeing gays as a group is now taken for granted, but before the 18th century the idea would never had occurred to ask the question whether homosexuality is a function of heredity or of upbringing. It was simply not seen as being a fundamental part of the person, but instead as an action, something s/he did.  But homosexuality was not the only object of study for the medical "science". Foucault identifies four reoccurring themes:
 * [[image:https://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/_themes/expeditn/expbul1a.gif width="14" height="14"]] || The body of women became sexualized because of its role as a child bearer. The concept "hysteria" was invented and seen as a result of sexual problems. ||
 * [[image:https://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/_themes/expeditn/expbul1a.gif width="15" height="15"]] || The pedagogization of the sexuality of children. Children should at all costs be protected from the dangers inherent in masturbation and other sexuality. ||
 * [[image:https://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/_themes/expeditn/expbul1a.gif width="15" height="15"]] || The socialization of reproduction. The importance of sexuality for reproduction is recognized and put into context in the study of population growth. ||
 * [[image:https://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/_themes/expeditn/expbul1a.gif width="15" height="15"]] || The sexuality of adults becomes an object of study and all forms of "perverse" aberrations are seen as dangers. ||

Foucault emphasizes that the aim of these new moral codes was not to abolish all forms of sexuality, but instead to preserve health and procreation. Many forms of sexuality were seen as harmful and they wanted to protect health and the purity of the race. A mixture of ideas on population growth, venereal diseases and heredity ("degeneration" was to be avoided) created the idea that many forms of sexual conduct where dangerous. With the age of enlightenment, bestiality became subsumed into sodomy and a civil rather than religious offence. The Enlightenment encouraged an atmosphere of frankness. Thus, the eighteenth century witnessed the production of numerous pornographic publications and works of erotic art. Notably, the most famous pornographic work of the period, John Cleland's //Fanny Hill// (1749), features graphic descriptions of both male and female homosexuality. Sex was also introduced into other genres as well: Casanova's memoirs (written in the 1790s but only published in a complete, unexpurgated edition in 1960-62) set a new standard for openness in sexual matters. Moreover, in the rapidly growing cities of Europe during the Enlightenment, homoerotic ideals could be acted upon. In London and Paris networks of male prostitution prospered. The 1729 anonymous work, //Hell upon Earth: or the Town in an Uproar//, described public cruising, such as occurred at Upper Moorfields in England.

Another work of the same year, //Satan's Harvest Home: Reasons for the Growth of Sodomy in England// alerted readers to a new social menace, while, in tabloid fashion, providing salacious details. Similarly, the novels of Tobias Smollett offer realistic descriptions of sodomites

In //Roderick Random// (1747), the protagonist is almost taken in by the homosexual Earl Strutwell.

In addition, transvestism had not been so common since ancient Rome. The most famous transvestite of this era was the Chevalier d'Éon (1728-1810), whose life demonstrates the instability of gender boundaries in the eighteenth century.

Lesbianism was also documented, but primarily in pornographic and anti-clerical works, such as Diderot's //La Réligieuse// (1796)//.// However, there were actual individuals who informed the stereotypes. Marie Antoinette Josèphe Françoise Saucerotte, known as "Raucourt," (1756-1815) was among the greatest actresses in the Comédie Française. She survived the Reign of Terror to settle down with a woman whom she met in prison. However, there is no truth to the rumors that Catherine II of Russia and Marie Antoinette of France were lesbians.