Les significations sociales des actes sexuels

Abstract

On the social meanings of sexual acts In the realm of human sexuality, bodily activity is never a matter of instinct, it is learned socially. Yet the relationship between sexual acts and the meanings they take on is rarely analyzed, first of all because physical sexuality is largely unseen and then because of the difficulties or resistance subjects have in naming their sexual practices. At no time in history and in no culture has sexual activity ever been displayed, even if it is true that the dissimulation of sexuality has been decisively reinforced with the progressive construction of Western interiority. While physical sexuality is easy to suggest metaphorically, it is difficult for the actors to put into words and to name, even in the surveys on sexual behaviors. In spite of its secret nature, sexual activity has always been the object of prescriptions, recommendations and public discourse. The classification and censure of sexual acts has long been one method of controlling the social relations they entailed. With the emerging autonomy of the sexual sphere in the 19th century, a "scientific" descriptive language appeared that enabled individuals to situate themselves as subjects with respect to their acts and accompanied the psychologization of their behaviors. Even if the rules for classifying sexual acts have changed, the perception of physical sexuality, which can be read in the metaphors used to describe the basic acts, is still structured by gender domination. In addition, the contemporary evolution, which has valorized and democratized the notion of sexual play, has not obliterated that of transgression, as the dangerous zone beyond sexual normalcy. Ultimately, dissimulation of the sexual act is no doubt connected with the fact that is perceived both as a ritual that is fragile and unstable and as one whose importance is fondamental because it "magically" materializes male domination.

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