foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Notes to Pages 147-1 54 291<br />
14. James Davidson has suggested that, especially in his later writings, Dover was<br />
influenced by contemporary homosexual practices in European <strong>and</strong> Mediterranean<br />
societies, which he <strong>the</strong>n read back into Greek society (2001, 29; see also Davidson 1997).<br />
15. Aristotle describes a king who was overthrown by two of his young male lovers,<br />
after <strong>the</strong> king broke his promises to allow one of <strong>the</strong>m to marry his daughter '<strong>and</strong> to<br />
support <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r's return to power in his city of origin. To Aristotle, <strong>the</strong> king's political<br />
error lay not in <strong>the</strong> relationships <strong>the</strong>mselves, but in his flouting of <strong>the</strong> rule of reciprocity,<br />
which humiliated <strong>the</strong> young men. This lack of moderation <strong>and</strong> reciprocity in pursuing<br />
one's desires was attributed to hubris (Politics 1311a39).<br />
16. Foucault discusses Aristophanes, but only to show that he regarded same-sex<br />
relations as normal. For Aristophanes as viewed by Plato, see his Symposium (lines 189-93).<br />
17. These statements by Aristotle on gender are part of an attack on <strong>the</strong> greater gender<br />
equality within <strong>the</strong> elite, as proposed in Plato's Republic. For some recent discussions of<br />
Plato <strong>and</strong> gender, see <strong>the</strong> essays in Tuana 1994.<br />
18. This "life-giving" quality of <strong>the</strong> semen defined <strong>the</strong> relationship between <strong>the</strong><br />
erastes <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> paidika as well. The erastes not only had sex with <strong>the</strong> paidika, but<br />
he also transmitted <strong>the</strong> phallus (i.e., virility <strong>and</strong> authority) to <strong>the</strong> paidika through<br />
his semen, although this was not openly acknowledged. This old archetype whereby<br />
authorityJlifeJpowerJvirility is transferred from <strong>the</strong> active to <strong>the</strong> passive partner appears<br />
in <strong>the</strong> ancient myths of many cultures. We thank Houman Sarshar for pointing out this<br />
connection.<br />
19. As Suzanne Pharr has argued, a great deal of opposition to homosexuality stems<br />
from misogyny: Misogyny gets transferred to gay men with a vengeance through <strong>the</strong> fear<br />
that <strong>the</strong>ir "feminine" sexual identity <strong>and</strong> behavior could bring down <strong>the</strong> entire system of<br />
male dominance <strong>and</strong> compulsory heterosexuality (Pharr 2001, 148).<br />
20. Here Foucault skips a few centuries <strong>and</strong> looks at <strong>the</strong> changes that took place<br />
during <strong>the</strong> first two centuries CE within <strong>the</strong> Roman context, when a growing sexual austerity<br />
(for men) became more normative. Even more than in <strong>the</strong> classical Greek period, <strong>the</strong>re was<br />
a concern in medical texts about health risks involved with sex; hence <strong>the</strong> title of Foucault's<br />
book, The Care of <strong>the</strong> Self. Fidelity to one's wife became a more highly regarded attribute,<br />
<strong>and</strong> love of boys came to be seen as less dignified. Still, Foucault makes a distinction<br />
between this Roman period <strong>and</strong> later Christianity, because once more, he argues, <strong>the</strong> new<br />
limitations on sex in <strong>the</strong> Roman era were self-imposed.<br />
21. The early twentieth-century German feminist Marianne Weber made an argument<br />
that differed sharply from Foucault's on this point (1998, 215).<br />
22. Plutarch (1957) assumed that consent always existed in marriage, but not in<br />
relations between men <strong>and</strong> boys.<br />
23. Rabinow objects to this <strong>and</strong> asks, "Why does sex have to be virile? Why couldn't<br />
women's pleasure <strong>and</strong> boys' pleasure be taken account of without any big changes to <strong>the</strong><br />
general framework? Or is it that it's not just a little problem, because if you try to bring in<br />
<strong>the</strong> pleasure of <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> whole hierarchical. ethical system would break down?' At<br />
this point, Foucault finally admits that this is in fact <strong>the</strong> case (1983, 346).