Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 21:42:03 +0200
Subject: Re: [BOU:] Sexual = Social Libido?


Michael Franklin schreef:

> In Practical Reason (1998) on pages 78-79, Bourdieu briefly answers  
> your question.  He defines the biological libido as an 
> undifferentiated  impulse and a specific social libido as the 
> differentiated, socialized  impulse of a specific field.  "There are 
> in effect as many kinds of  libido as there are fields," he writes.
>
> I'm taking a class on feminist theory, and your question brings into  
> focus a question of my own.  The work of socializing the 'biological'  
> libido, according to Bourdieu, is often talked about in terms of a  
> specific field.  In feminist theory, however, the work of 
> socialization  is diffuse and spread out across social space.  The 
> socialization of  masculine and feminine identities occurs throughout 
> social space, not  just in a specific field.  In your question, you 
> ask if sexual desire  is only institutionally mediated.  We might also 
> ask if it is  culturally mediated, and this might help us explain 
> social action that  isn't explained by the economic interests defined 
> by the logic of a  specific field.
>
> michael
>
The diaries of Jean-Jacques Rousseau are a rich field of study on this 
subject. His dealings with rich madames on which he was financially 
dependend and the idyllic(?) marriage with the poor and simple Therèse 
make an interesting case.


erik
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