NEWS: Shifting Out of Sexuality and Defunding Sex Research

CULTURE: Shifting Out of Sexuality and Defunding Sex Research

In The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault writes that our western culture lacks “ars erotica”, or a private cultural exchange of sexual knowledge. Instead, our culture has created sexuality, the discourse of sex with pleasure, the Self, and the power structures of sexuality as the subject. In an article at Nerve.com, Justin Clark examines the repercussions and reaction into the defunding of sex research by the political rightwing.

Clark uses Foucault to posit that our “yearning” for ars erotica is displacing our scientific exploration of sexuality, and of course the sex survey.

Defunding university studies into sex and shifting most the basic research to drug companies that create pills to "solve" erectile dysfunction doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, especially when those same right wing advocates condeming studies into sexuality also participate in its privatization and sale.

Foucault. *yawn*

Suffice to say, Bush's reactionary moral tendencies on a whole number of fronts are scary.

This has more to do with Bush. This is the systematic 'delegitimization' of science for the sake of moral agendas.

Heretics.

L Ron Hubbard?

look at wilhelm reich
his research was outlawed and he was hounded
mixing science and sex is still taboo
be as kinky and explore fetishes as you will, but involve the scientific method and you will be exposed as a freak and a charlatan

arg. i wish i didn't come across articles like this when i'm supposed to be studying.

Sex studies have been difficult to fund since Kinsey and Masters & Johnson for many reasons. Not the least of which is that, with new research requirements and most reputable universities having fairly stringent IRB requirements, it's difficult to demonstrate societal gain as being greater than potential negative affect to participants. Not that I agree, but that's the way research funding has been heading for quite a while.