Never having seen that quotation before; I can't speak to
it--nevertheless, it doesnt' sound all that out of character for
Foucautl of that period, when he was still somewhat interested in
Maoist concepts of popular justice. However, you can try to compare
with a quotation from an interview in 1982:
"As for the political goals of the homosexual movement, two points
can be made. First, there is the question of freedom of sexual
choice that must be faced. I say freedom of sexual choice and not
freedom of sexual acts becuase there are sexual acts like rape which
should not be permitted whether they involve a man and a woman or two
men. I don't think we should have as our objective some sort of
absolute freedom or total liberty of sexual action. However, where
freedom of sexual choice is concerned one has to be absolutely
intrasigent. This includes the liberty to manifest that choice or
not to manifest it. "
--Foucault Life, "Sexual Choice, Sexual Act,", pg. 215
Also, c.f. a few interviews from that period where he describes the
sort of asymmetrical power relationships charactaristic of Greek
man/boy relationships as "quite disgusting." (Foucault Reader, "On
The Genealogy of Ethics," pg. 346
///Connor
> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 16:24:33 -0500
> To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From: rmbayi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mbayiha cyuma)
> Subject: rape
> Reply-to: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Does any1 share de Lauretis'(1987) opinion that ...
>
> --------
> QUOTE ON
> --------
> "(...) there may be some discrepancy between Foucault's theory and radical
> politics (...)In Foucault, the effect of that discrepancy (...)has prompted
> charges of "paradoxical conservatism".
>
> For example, his political stance on the issue of rape, in the context of
> the reform of criminal law in France, has been criticized by French
> feminists as more subtly pernicious than the traditional, "naturalist"
> ideology. Arguing for the decriminalization (and the desexualization) of
> rape, in a volume published in 1977 by the Change collective with the title
> "La folie encerclee" Foucault proposed that rape should be treated as an
> act of violence like any other, an act of aggression rather than a sexual
> act."
>
> --------
> QUOTE OFF
> --------
> (1987, 36-7)
>
> i have checked and found out, EN EFFET, that Foucault said:
>
> --------
> QUOTE ON
> --------
>
> "on peut toujours tenir le discours theorique qui consiste a dire: de toute
> facon la sexualite ne peut en aucun cas etre objet de punition. Et quand on
> punit le viol on doit punir exclusivement la violence physique. Et dire que
> ce n'est rien de plus qu'une agression, et rien d'autre: que l'on foute son
> coup
> de poing dans la gueule de quelqu'un, ou son penis dans le sexe, cela
> n'appelle pas de difference...Mais primo ((my comment:site of ambiguity)):
> je ne suis pas sur que les femmes seraient d'accord...
>
> --------
> QUOTE OFF
> --------
>
> Should we define rape as a sexual offense or as a criminal assault?
>
> cyuma.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________
E.M. Connor Durflinger Philosopher for Hire
"Have Forestructures, Will Travel"
Reverend, Universal Life Church
bc05319@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx PIC Program at B.U.
_________________________________________________________
it--nevertheless, it doesnt' sound all that out of character for
Foucautl of that period, when he was still somewhat interested in
Maoist concepts of popular justice. However, you can try to compare
with a quotation from an interview in 1982:
"As for the political goals of the homosexual movement, two points
can be made. First, there is the question of freedom of sexual
choice that must be faced. I say freedom of sexual choice and not
freedom of sexual acts becuase there are sexual acts like rape which
should not be permitted whether they involve a man and a woman or two
men. I don't think we should have as our objective some sort of
absolute freedom or total liberty of sexual action. However, where
freedom of sexual choice is concerned one has to be absolutely
intrasigent. This includes the liberty to manifest that choice or
not to manifest it. "
--Foucault Life, "Sexual Choice, Sexual Act,", pg. 215
Also, c.f. a few interviews from that period where he describes the
sort of asymmetrical power relationships charactaristic of Greek
man/boy relationships as "quite disgusting." (Foucault Reader, "On
The Genealogy of Ethics," pg. 346
///Connor
> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 16:24:33 -0500
> To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From: rmbayi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mbayiha cyuma)
> Subject: rape
> Reply-to: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Does any1 share de Lauretis'(1987) opinion that ...
>
> --------
> QUOTE ON
> --------
> "(...) there may be some discrepancy between Foucault's theory and radical
> politics (...)In Foucault, the effect of that discrepancy (...)has prompted
> charges of "paradoxical conservatism".
>
> For example, his political stance on the issue of rape, in the context of
> the reform of criminal law in France, has been criticized by French
> feminists as more subtly pernicious than the traditional, "naturalist"
> ideology. Arguing for the decriminalization (and the desexualization) of
> rape, in a volume published in 1977 by the Change collective with the title
> "La folie encerclee" Foucault proposed that rape should be treated as an
> act of violence like any other, an act of aggression rather than a sexual
> act."
>
> --------
> QUOTE OFF
> --------
> (1987, 36-7)
>
> i have checked and found out, EN EFFET, that Foucault said:
>
> --------
> QUOTE ON
> --------
>
> "on peut toujours tenir le discours theorique qui consiste a dire: de toute
> facon la sexualite ne peut en aucun cas etre objet de punition. Et quand on
> punit le viol on doit punir exclusivement la violence physique. Et dire que
> ce n'est rien de plus qu'une agression, et rien d'autre: que l'on foute son
> coup
> de poing dans la gueule de quelqu'un, ou son penis dans le sexe, cela
> n'appelle pas de difference...Mais primo ((my comment:site of ambiguity)):
> je ne suis pas sur que les femmes seraient d'accord...
>
> --------
> QUOTE OFF
> --------
>
> Should we define rape as a sexual offense or as a criminal assault?
>
> cyuma.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________
E.M. Connor Durflinger Philosopher for Hire
"Have Forestructures, Will Travel"
Reverend, Universal Life Church
bc05319@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx PIC Program at B.U.
_________________________________________________________