ABSTRACT
Ann Ferguson offers a useful sketch of the two paradigms of sexual freedom that inform the sexuality debates. According to Ferguson, radical feminists assert that Sexual freedom requires the sexual equality of partners and their equal respect for one another as both subject and body. Indeed, a more careful look reveals two distinct versions of repression, which author will refer to as the traditional repressive hypothesis and the social constructionist repressive hypothesis. The primary obstacle to sexual freedom, according to this view, is the existence of normative hierarchies of sexual expression that inhibit the release of an inherently liberatory (or benign) sexual energy. The difficulties with the traditional repressive hypothesis and its concomitant versions of sexual freedom have often been pointed out. It is essential to clarify the nature of Foucault's misgivings concerning liberation struggles rooted in identity politics in order to avoid misunderstanding.
