Theories and views of Freud
Freud was the first person to come up with the term sexual repression.
He believes that sexual repression is the price humans have to pay for civilization.
In his theory of id, ego, and superego, the id is equivalent to the original impulse, without repressed sexual desire, is also an icon from the depths of the human body and spirit of the original vitality, the impulse to the superego to be regulated by society, depression so that eventually formed a kind of can adapt to the social life of the ego, the self in harmony, Form a civilized society.
He believed that individuals must limit or suppress their own happiness for the good of society. This repression is manifested in two aspects: one is to maintain the social-sexual order; The other is to increase human productivity by sublimating sexual desire and arousal into artistic, commercial, and intellectual pursuits
In the Freudian version of the theory of sexual repression, sublimation theory plays an important role.
He pointed out that all kinds of dissatisfaction accompanying civilization are the inevitable result of the abnormal development of sexual instinct under cultural pressure. But the sexual instinct, once subject to culture, is incapable of achieving total satisfaction, and its unsatisfied elements are sublimated in large quantities, creating the most solemn and wonderful achievements of civilization.
If a man can satisfy his desires in every way, what urges him to divert his sexual energy elsewhere? He will be so preoccupied with happy satisfaction that he will never make progress. (Freud, 143-144)
Theories and views of Marcuse
For Marcuse, the reinvention of sexuality is the main goal of human history. “Identification with multiple sexual orientations and acceptance of lifestyle diversity go hand in hand.” “Normal sex” is just one of many ways people live their lives. The goal of sexual pluralism is to overcome sex’s control over our lives. Marcuse argued that a non-repressive society should be one in which sex is increasingly free of coercion.
Theories and views of Foucault
Is sexual discourse outside power as the repression hypothesis postulates? Is speech a challenge to power? The answer is clearly no. “Since the 18th century,” Foucault points out, “sex has never ceased to excite debate. These sexual discourses never grow out of or in opposition to power, but within and as means of power. There are everywhere machines for hearing and writing, procedures for examining, interrogating, and elaborating.” (Foucault, 1989,32)
In an interview, a reporter said, sexologists, and doctors have a basic point of view, that is, sexual misfortune comes from depression, people want to get happiness, it is necessary to fight for sexual liberation. Foucault said, “Yes, and so they laid a great trap for us. Their argument goes something like this: ‘You have a sexual problem, you’ve suffered a setback in your sexuality, you’re depressed by it, and hypocritical abstinence politics repress it. Come to us, tell us, reveal and confess you are the unhappy secret to us… ‘This type of discourse is really a terrible instrument of power control. As always, it draws on what people say, thinks, and hope. It takes advantage of people’s will: people always believe that in order to be happy, all they have to do is cross the threshold of speech and break some taboo. But, in fact, the effect is to lead to repression and to lead rebel and freedom movements astray.” (Foucault, 1997,39)
Foucault’s (1978) History of sexuality, vol. I is regarded by many as the most influential book within the queer theory (Hegarty and Massey, 2006). In this book, Foucault theorized power as operating through the production of sexuality and sexual categories as much as by their repression.
Theories and views of Butler
In Butler’s view, no gender is the “real” gender, the real basis for other preformation repetitive behaviors. Nor is gender an expression of an innate sexual identity. Heterosexuality itself has been artificially “naturalized” and used as a basis for human sexuality. The dichotomy of sexual identity (that or this, straight or gay) is genetically unstable, and this dichotomy is the result of circular definitions in which each side must take the other as a frame of reference.
Gay is “not” straight and straight is “not” gay. Butler’s thought has been called radical Foucault because of its emphasis on “performance” theory, which is considered a new philosophical theory of behavior in which there is no being, only doing.
For Butler, there is no “proper” or “correct” gender, that is, one that fits one sex or another sex, and no cultural attribute of physical sex at all.
She argues that there is not a proper form of gender, but rather a “illusions of continuity”, which is the result of heterosexuality’s naturalization of itself between sex, gender, and desire.
Theories and views of LI Yinhe
There has never been complete sexual freedom in human society. People’s sexual impulses always have to be repressed in various ways.
At its most severe, this impulse can only be unleashed with a particular person (such as a spouse) in a particular place (such as a bedroom) at a particular time (such as night) in a particular way (such as a missionary) for a particular reason (such as procreation).
In this case, sexual activity outside of a certain person, a certain place, a certain time, a certain way, and for a certain reason is punishable by law, morality, and custom. This is sexual repression.
Human sexual behavior is restricted by various social norms such as laws and customs. Through the socialization of sex, people learn the sexual values and behavior patterns that are suitable for their culture.
Society is not only concerned about how people behave sexually, but its norms creep into the cracks of private life. Sexual values from moral tradition, law, and public opinion serve two functions: behavior guidance and social control.
In addition to the role of internal mechanisms such as guilt and shame, cultural institutions and customs also control people’s behavior in external ways. For example, in most societies, people’s sexual activities are restricted by the institution of marriage.
These rules governing human sexual activity vary from society to culture, some more severe, some laxer.
For example, in some western countries, two people of the same sex can get married and they can be each other’s legal sex objects. In some countries, same-sex relationships are illegal, and sexual relations with people of the same sex are punishable by law or public opinion. In different eras, these rules have varied, sometimes more severe, sometimes more lenient. For example, in China during the Song and Ming dynasties, women were forbidden to remarry after the death of their husbands and had to be faithful. Their sexual needs were severely controlled and suppressed. In modern China, there is less pressure for widows to remarry.
The existence of sexual minorities testifies to the complexity of human sexual behavior patterns.
In heterosexual hegemonic societies, people have become accustomed to heterosexual life and relationship patterns and assume that all people are and should be like this. The existence of atypical sexual orientation makes people steeped in the heterosexual hegemonic mindset realize that they may have made a mistake.
In fact, there is no very clear line between normal and abnormal. How many of the so-called normal people always have a few minutes abnormal, the direction of the change is different, and the original desire of the so-called abnormal people as their own a kind of sexual impulse, with the normal people also do not have what different.