Mahima Sharma Week 4

In the article, Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality, Gayle S. Rubin talks about the history of sexual liberation. The rights that we enjoy today regarding our sexual orientation was extremely suppressed by laws and governments of the past. Even the basic right to pleasure oneself was looked down upon if not punished. The government was ruthless towards homosexuals. The political hate against homosexuality even trickled down to the common man to an extent where young straight men considered it a sport to hunt and attack homosexual men. The state became these men’s number one enemy, from raiding gay baths and bars to imprisoning suspected homosexuals, the then governments made life for gays a living hell. Even though the violent persecution of homosexuals has been reduced or abolished by many countries the discriminatory attitudes toward them still exist. Gayle S. Rubin also talks about the prosecution men, who sexualized young boys, had to face. Pedophilia is still considered a crime by almost all countries which I am not against. Finally, she talks about sexual essentialism which means that sex is a basic instinct of humans and isn’t affected by society so the government or the society shouldn’t have the power to prohibit or vilify it.