Choose one of the following, or take one or more as the basis and come up with your own. Or fashion one of your own entirely. Just remember the topic should be "sex" or "sexuality." It should be narrow enough in focus so you can say something useful in two pages. Avoid generalizations. Specifics, concrete examples, and solid arguments are required.  Make a statement at the top of the paper (eg. copy your chosen topic or state your own) and then respond to it in the following two pages.

These topics focus mostly on Foucault and Madonna–but you can also use any of the other articles as the basis (Wolf, Paglia, hooks, Gerhard, Doyle.) You can use additional sources in your argument.

1. Foucault’s argument is persuasive because of the rhetorical techniques he uses (eg. he begins as if he’s telling a "once upon a time story": "For a long time, the story goes....") If it weren’t for his mastery of writing, his argument wouldn’t be as convincing.

2. Foucault’s work should be rejected by feminists because he does not address gender concerns regarding the issue of sexuality. It is not just that these issues are absent from the work--the "curdled milk" example (p312-313) demonstrates a blindness and insensitivity to such issues.

3. Foucault writes that he wants "to account for the fact that it [sex] is spoken about, to discover who does the speaking, the positions and viewpoints from which they speak, the institutions which prompt people to speak about it and which store and distribute the things that are said" (299). This is why Madonna is important–for once it is a woman who is doing the speaking.

4. Foucault writes that he wants "to account for the fact that it [sex] is spoken about, to discover who does the speaking, the positions and viewpoints from which they speak, the institutions which prompt people to speak about it and which store and distribute the things that are said" (299). Madonna speaks about sex from within a particular institution--the music industry–where representations of this kind of sexuality aren’t subversive–they’re a matter of course.

5. Madonna may represent conflicting representations of sexuality throughout her career and in different songs, but it is not enough to look at the lyrics for what she is doing in this area. As the video queen her most important contributions lie in the visual representations in her videos. (as in every answer, use concrete examples).

6. In Human Nature Madonna sings "Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didn’t know I couldn’t talk about sex...Oops, I didn’t know I couldn’t speak my mind." Is she right?

7. Truth or Dare is a perfect dramatization of a number of Foucault’s claims. Focus on one (or if you want, find another quotation):

-"If sex is repressed, that is, condemned to prohibition, non-existence, and silence, then the mere fact that one is speaking about it has the appearance of a deliberate transgression. (295)

-"we are conscious of defying established power, our tone of voice shows that we know we are being subversive." (295)

-"Today it is sex that serves as a support of the ancient form–so familiar and important in the West--of preaching." (296)