Blood, Sex, and Power

            Prior to reading this article I had never deeply considered the role of sex and sexuality as a means of exerting power. On the other hand, blood as a mechanism of defining and enforcing power is a theme that has commonly come up in history lessons, as birthright is a major component of monarchies. The juxtaposition of these two concepts—sex and blood—has led me to consider the ways in which the two work together to confer power.

            Foucault’s argument separates sex and blood and contrasts our present day focus on sex with that of antiquity when “power spoke through blood” (147). I agree with his assertion that modern day society is more concerned with the “management of life rather than the menace of death,” (ibid) but I’d argue that blood is as much a symbol of life as is sex. In fact, when considering sex and sexuality, blood is very much connected to the physical signs of such (being flushed with blood as an indication of sexual desire). Additionally, the idea that blood can be mixed and/or corrupted is directly linked to sex. One salient modern day example of the idea of tainted blood conferred through sex is the fact that despite the ability to screen blood for diseases, homosexual men (or MSMs as they are called by the government) are still banned from donating blood in the United States. This example further ties into the idea of governmental power since the restrictions operate to preserve the life of the majority by repressing the sexuality of the minority.

              Sex and sexuality continue to play important roles in political power and are frequently the topics of political debate. From a woman’s right to have sovereignty over her body to her right to have sovereignty over the life (?) of her fetus to her [imaginary] ability to spontaneously abort fetuses in the case of legitimate rape, sex has continued to be a hot topic in the pursuit of power. The issue of abortion in particular is an interesting example of the interplay of sex and preservation of life in modern day mechanisms of power. It will be intriguing to see what how we interpret political discourse with Foucault’s framework in mind.