THE PROCESS OF COURTSHIP.   Term Paper ID:29321 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: How it transformed as society transformed. Changes in terms of economics, power and control. Historical struggle between the sexes. Struggles over meanings and sex and gender. Increased freedom for men and women in modern gender relations. Ideas of Michel Foucault and Beth Bailey regarding sexuality and sexual conduct. Paper Introduction: Sexuality & Gender Bailey & Foucault In The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault argues that sexuality and sexual conduct are not natural categories. In other words, they have no basis in reality. Instead, these categories are a product of social construction. They only come into being in the context of a social setting (i.e. society). Sexuality and sexual conduct, being formed by social construct, are to a significant degree influenced by social control: “Between the state and individual, sex became an issue, and a public issue no less; a whole web of discourses, special knowledges, analyses, and injunctions settled upon it” (Foucault, 1978, 26). Power relations are instrumental to Foucault’s analysis, and in the so Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. (Vol. The process of calling, as we shall see in the process of dating,manifested various power structures among men, women and the parents ofwomen, particularly the mother. (1989). Toreplace sex controls typical in the home (i.e. More freedom for women, moremobility due to the automobile, and the anonymity of the public spherereshaped sexuality and sexual conduct: "New sexual norms were emerging withthese changes...Sex became the central public symbol of youth culture, afundamental part of the definition that separated youth from age" (Bailey,1989, 8 ). The upper classes could afford to organize callingwithin the private sphere and thereby shield themselves to some degree fromurban-industrial change and chaos. While calling had been the upperclasses reaction to urban-industrial America, dating was the response ofthe lower-classes. In other words, they haveno basis in reality. This is because instead of free refreshments and anevening of polite social discourse as in the calling era, men now tookwomen out into the public sphere and were expected to pay to show the datea good time. They only come into being in the context of a social setting(i.e. Women controlled thedays they would be accessible to callers. These changes wrought changes in thecourting process that not only involved economic change but also changes interms of power and control. Sexuality & Gender Bailey & Foucault In The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault argues that sexualityand sexual conduct are not natural categories. It is this discourse that shapes such roles and power relations withrespect to the social constructs of sexuality and sexual conduct. Aside from changing socioeconomic structures within gender-relations, the change from calling to dating signified a new form of life.Urban-industrial America created a mobility and wealth that was enjoyed bymillions who formerly worked and lived in rural areas. John Hopkins Univ. It is this focus of Foucault's that is most in evident in Beth Bailey'sFrom Front Porch to Back Seat. Courtship in this era occurred in theprivate sphere, typically the home of the female. Sexuality and sexual conduct, being formed by socialconstruct, are to a significant degree influenced by social control:"Between the state and individual, sex became an issue, and a public issueno less; a whole web of discourses, special knowledges, analyses, andinjunctions settled upon it" (Foucault, 1978, 26). The actual call was comprised of a variety of activities, but therewere complicated and elaborate rules that were designed to structure theentire call. society). The first was that dating became aneconomic phenomenon. Instead, these categories are a product of socialconstruction. The female in this era had control of the courtship processbecause the social domain was controlled by females. As controls, theserules were effective only because they made sex logistically difficult"(Bailey, 1989, 87). Bailey's work illustrates the changingmodes of gender-relations in courting (i.e. It is Foucault's contention that in contrast tooppression, the fixation on sexuality in society creates a discourse aroundit. Gentlemen callers would presentthemselves with a card, and then be welcomed in or rejected by the familymaid. Bailey argues a desireto return to an older era where rules and roles were defined is naïve andthe changes wrought by economy and revolution were positive: "Thestruggles between the sexes, the struggles over the meaning of sex andgender, took place in so many spheres - economic, familial, personal,political - the boundaries blur. The men had to pay but the women had nocontrol. From Front Porch to Back Seat. social) structures thatdeveloped over the past century. I). The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. In conclusion, we can see that the process of courtship transformedas society transformed. parental supervision),authorities and institutions began to control sexuality and sexual conductin a logistical manner: "The elaborate system of rules did not control sexitself, but instead regulated the times and places and circumstances inwhich young people could express their sexual desires. (1978). Thus, courtship became a publicphenomenon where little parental supervision or control played a role. It is such authorities and institutions that Foucault(1978) argues are responsible for shaping sexuality and sexual conduct:"There also appeared those systematic campaigns which...tried to transformthe sexual conduct of couples into a concerted economic and politicalbehavior" (26). However, by moving the process of courtship into the public sphere,two other highly significant changes occurred in the socioeconomicstructure of gender-relations. Prior to the early 19 s, dating as it is now known was known ascalling. Those among the lower classes who couldnot isolate themselves from these pressures adapted to new times readily.Slowly but surely the dating process began to emerge into the publicsphere. On the other hand, thiseconomization of the courtship process moved the locus of power and controlto the female and her mother to the male. We became a more material, more fast-paced andmore mobile society of individuals. Press.Foucault, M. However, the woman wasnot allowed to be the aggressor in the courtship process known as dating.A sexual economy equated value with woman's virtue: "Though a woman mightget short term gains through sex, 'free' kisses and sex were 'cheap' andmen did not value them highly. These helped shape the power relations of this era's sexualconduct, "Nineteenth century Americans had participated in the creation ofa public discourse on sex...But this discourse was not a discourse ofyouth" (Bailey, 1989, 77). Bailey argues that different socialconstructs of courting over the past century have evolve from a graciousritual wherein men's and women's roles were clearly defined into a systemof exchange that is akin to outright economic exchange. Dance halls, movie theaters, soda shops and other venues becamelegitimate and respectable for dating. Thesocial interaction had a firm set of guidelines and established codes ofconduct. Power relations areinstrumental to Foucault's analysis, and in the social control and socialconstruct of sexuality and sexual conduct different power relations emerge. The results, I believe, were increasedfreedom for both men and women" (Bailey, 1989, 143). At the start of the 2 th century, a new form of courtship known asdating began to evolve in America. Vintage Books. In today's courtship realm we have evolved past the point wherethe man always pays and the women is considered unworthy if she actsaggressively in fulfilling her relationship needs. On the other hand, if a woman maintainedher virtue her value to men would rise, and she would realize a long-termgain greatly exceeding her 'cheap' sisters' one-time bonanza" (Bailey,1989, 94). Incontrast to notions of repressed and silence about sexuality, Foucault(1978) argues that "Western man has been drawn for three centuries to thetask of telling everything concerning his sex; that since the classical agethere has been a constant optimization and an increasing valorization ofthe discourse on sex, and that this carefully analytical discourse wasmeant to yield multiple effects of displacement, intensification,reorientation, and modification of desire itself" (23). Calling was a socialinteraction under close parental supervision of a male and female. This evolutionalso transferred power-relations in courting from women to men, changed thecourting sphere from the private to the public, and increased the chancesof sex on first meeting. On the one hand, men who had little money to spend often failed tohave access to the dating process because they could not afford to treat adate to a good time in the public sphere. Despite Bailey'spositive outlook, these socioeconomic spheres still continue to form thebasis of the power structures involved in modern gender-relations withplenty of room for exploitation.ReferencesBailey, B. This economization of the courtship process had a twofoldeffect. Dating was a muchmore direct manner of gender-relations and because it reinforced malesupremacy via economics it also reinforced the inferiority of the female.Women basically became prostitutes, selling their charms and time to maleswho would treat them to dinner, drinks and a movie. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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