Erotic Shame is an internalized feeling that individuals experience when they perceive their sexual desires, actions, or identities to be abnormal or deviant from socially accepted norms. This feeling can lead to feelings of guilt, embarrassment, and anxiety about one's sexual identity. Erotic shame operates as a tool of political obedience by promoting self-surveillance and conformity with societal norms. In this article, I will discuss how erotic shame contributes to social control through self-policing and regulation.
How does erotic shame operate as a tool of political obedience?
Erotic shame acts as a powerful mechanism for maintaining social order by forcing individuals to adhere to socially acceptable sexual behaviors and preferences. By making individuals feel ashamed of their desires, it creates a sense of fear and insecurity, which leads them to avoid expressing their true selves and hide behind socially acceptable masks. This compliance with socially constructed norms prevents people from challenging dominant ideologies and power structures.
Erotic shame can reinforce heteronormativity, which normalizes cisgender, able-bodied, white, and heterosexual identities while marginalizing others.
Self-Surveillance and Conformity
Erotic shame encourages self-surveillance by inducing fear and paranoia about being discovered for engaging in non-conventional sexual behavior. Self-surveillance is the constant monitoring of oneself to ensure that one's actions align with societal expectations. It often involves internalized policing and self-censorship, where individuals police themselves and monitor their thoughts and actions to ensure they are not seen as deviant. Self-surveillance makes it difficult for individuals to explore their sexuality freely without feeling judged or ostracized.
Erotic shame operates as a tool of political obedience through promoting self-surveillance and conformity with societal norms. It encourages individuals to conform to dominant ideologies and suppresses alternative forms of expression. The impact of erotic shame on individual identity and relationships should not be underestimated, and its effects must be addressed through education and destigmatization.
How does erotic shame operate as a tool of political obedience, promoting self-surveillance and conformity with societal norms?
Erotic shame can be seen as a tool of political obedience because it serves to reinforce social norms and expectations around sexuality, gender, and relationships. It is often used to police individual behavior and to maintain power hierarchies within society. By creating feelings of embarrassment and humiliation when someone's actions deviate from what is considered acceptable, those in positions of authority can assert control over individuals and maintain their dominance.