ABSTRACT
Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality Vol. 1: The Will to Knowledge is a study of the evolution of cultural ideas about sex. It examines how the idea of sexuality was used to regulate, control, and rule. Foucault argues that, since the end of the seventeenth century, the discussion of sex in Western culture grew across different branches of science, such as biology, psychiatry, and pedagogy. Foucault openly stated that his books were not only influenced by the scholars he studied, but also by his personal experiences. At the time Foucault was writing Sexuality Vol. 1, he had already been appointed as a professor at the highly respected College de France, holding one of the highest academic positions in the country. The year following publication, he was invited to consult with the French government on changes to the laws dealing with rape. Foucault was also politically active in left-wing movements throughout the 1970s.
