The history of sexuality
By: by Michel Foucault ; translated from the French by Robert Hurley.
Publisher: Vintage Books
Published: 1980
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 304
ISBN-13: 9780394740263; 9780394751221
Subjects: Sex customs -- History
Work titles: Histoire de la sexualité.
Description: Michel Foucault's 'The History of Sexuality' pioneered queer theory. In it he builds an argument grounded in a historical analysis of the word "sexuality" against the common thesis that sexuality always has been repressed in Western society. Quite the contrary: since the 17th century, there has been a fixation with sexuality creating a discourse around sexuality. It is this discourse that has created sexual minorities. In 'The History of Sexuality', Foucault attempts to disprove the thesis that Western society has seen a repression of sexuality since the 17th century and that sexuality has been unmentionable, something impossible to speak about. In the 70s, when the book was written, the sexual revolution was a fact. The ideas of the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, saying that to conserve your mental health you needed to liberate your sexual energy, were popular. The past was seen as a dark age where sexuality had been something forbidden.
Notes: Translation of Histoire de la sexualité.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: v. 1. An; title: introduction -- -- v. 2. The; title: use of pleasure -- -- v. 3. The; title: care of the self.