Foucault

[lionheart]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/french-philosopher-michel-foucault-abused-boys-in-tunisia-6t5sj7jvw

And a great response from Allison Bailey.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1262487938073493512.html

“What chilled me to the bone & does to this day, was how many of the people who I respected & admired brought into this bull about peadophilia (none of the names mentioned in this thread save for PC). A whole language sprung up, seemingly overnight: it was a rights issue...”

How relevant and we see it all around us now.

Be clear headed, rational & compassionate. If you are, you will understand that the only sexual liberation & autonomy that children need is to be left to grow into young adulthood unmolested.

Hear, hear, Allison.

Why is there not more written on the very unsavoury aspects of 'queer' theory?

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest having been studying him recently

Plain sight.

Quoting a recent article in the critic about a 1978 interview with Foucault:

^There he argued that it was “quite unacceptable” and an “abuse” to assume “that a child is incapable of explaining what happened and was incapable of giving his consent” to sex with an adult. (Note that Foucault takes it for granted that the child will be a boy.)
It is a matter of public record...that Foucault signed a petition to the Assemblée Nationale in 1977 calling for the decriminalisation of all “consensual” sexual relations between adults and children^

From The Times article:

"They were eight, nine, ten years old, he was throwing money at them and would say ‘let’s meet at 10pm at the usual place’.” This, it turned out, was the local cemetery: “He would make love there on the gravestones with young boys. The question of consent wasn’t even raised.”

Thanks for the links OP.

Ewww.

Whenever I've read about his ideas I've always had the feeling of wanting something to rinse off all the dense self-important prose. It seems like some kind of mental masturbation.

Now I see why.

Ginsberg was literally a card-carrying member of NAMBLA ostensibly as a defender of free speech:

www.nambla.org/rubbing_out_allen_ginsberg.html

Less controversial link mentioning Ginsberg that made me very sad about a number of novelists: listverse.com/2018/05/18/10-authors-you-read-in-school-who-were-secretly-terrible-people/

Can anyone post a share token for the article?

Thanks for the thread OP. It is really disturbing, but we need to know these things.

Archive version

Allison Bailey is amazing.

"They were eight, nine, ten years old, he was throwing money at them and would say ‘let’s meet at 10pm at the usual place’.” This, it turned out, was the local cemetery: “He would make love there on the gravestones with young boys. The question of consent wasn’t even raised.”

Make love? Make LOVE? What a new and novel way to describe child abuse.

Thanks NecessaryScene1.

I fear that as a species we don’t learn or progress in our behaviour towards one another.
We keep on failing to protect our children and we keep on celebrating abusers.

@Wrongsideofhistorymyarse

"They were eight, nine, ten years old, he was throwing money at them and would say ‘let’s meet at 10pm at the usual place’.” This, it turned out, was the local cemetery: “He would make love there on the gravestones with young boys. The question of consent wasn’t even raised.”

Make love? Make LOVE? What a new and novel way to describe child abuse.

I read the article last night. Readers are picking up on that phrase 🤮 in the comments.

Thank you for the archive version. I will post it to the break it down thread unless it is already there.

I find it really disheartening that the situation with the men and women who were victims of Foucault and the other proponents of ‘sexual freedom’ for children seemed to be the victim of the 24 hour news cycle recently.

It need so much sunlight. To ensure all those affected have their voices heard. Including those victims of the negligence bred into the system for dealing with rape, incest and assault. Such as the thousands of university students (past and present) etc.

It also shows exactly the repercussions of lowering boundaries.

I do want to point out though, it was on FWR that I learned about Foucault’s background 18 months ago. I remember telling my friends about how problematic queer theory was because of it.

I always felt concerned about the disruption of boundaries for disruption's sake. Some boundaries are important.

Yes I couldn't get over the phrase "there he would make love"
FFS it's rape

@Mumofgirlswholiketoplaywithmud

I always felt concerned about the disruption of boundaries for disruption's sake. Some boundaries are important.

Yes, and demolishing the boundaries of other, less powerful people than yourself is particularly problematic.

Yes, I remember when Foucault was all the rage. His crossing of sexual boundaries and 'flirtation' with risk (HIV unprotected sex) was embraced. This is on another level.

Great thread from Allison but isn't it from last May? The date suggests so?
So not a direct response if i understand correctly?

Oscar Wilde and Andre Gide also abused boys in (?Tunisia). Gide wrote openly about it.

@CardinalLolzy

Great thread from Allison but isn't it from last May? The date suggests so? So not a direct response if i understand correctly?

True. Fairly prescient in her observations.

Tunisia and Morocco have long been favoured by those with designs on children.

Tunisia and Morocco have long been favoured by those with designs on children: www.vice.com/en/article/dpwg9w/is-morocco-replacing-southeast-asia-as-a-haven-for-european-paedophiles