The Process of Subjectively Appropriating Sexual Rights: Notes for Discussion

This article attempts to reflect on the subjective processes through which people recognize & authorize themselves to make use of their bodies, sexuality & reproduction, & manage to demand the social, economic & institutional conditions to enforce these decisions. On the basis of the experience of qualitative research with men & women in various contexts in Mexico & Foucault's work on ethical issues at different times in western societies, the author suggests that decisions regarding one's own reproduction take different subjective paths from those related to the search for sexual pleasure, particularly because of the importance of Catholic morality in the history of Mexico. Moreover, the different meanings of pleasure & reproduction also vary according to gender & men & women's experience of desire & procreation. In order to contribute elements to the debate on the concept of sexual rights, the author analyzes the importance of these cultural & subjective processes in constructing a civic ethics of sexuality, in the sense of promoting political participation in the establishing the conditions for the search for pleasure. 74 References. Adapted from the source document.