The Biopolitics of the Penis

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The Biopolitics of the Penis

• Stephen Maddison
• UEL
• s.maddison_at_uel.ac.uk
• www.opengender.org.uk

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Dr Giles Brindley, Las Vegas 1983

• the most memorable public moment in all of
  modern medicine
• Birth of the second sexual revolution
• On-demand erection by intracavernous injection of
  Phenoxybenzamine
• Pfizers Viagra 1.7billion in 2006

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1. The Biomedical Penis

• Katz Marshall the functional effect of the
  drug, and not the disorder, defines the bodily
  condition There is no pretence of a natural body
  here, other than that which is waiting to be
  technically materialized by the interests of the
  medical and pharmaceutical industries

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1. The Biomedical Penis

• Arbitrary emphasis on impotence
• Shift from patients to consumers
• Functional penis homosocial fantasy
• Female sexual function viability of the vagina
  for receiving the erect penis
• Penis neo-liberalist mechanism

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2. The Pornographic Penis

• No soft cocks
• No Kinseyian narrative of sexual physiology
• grotesque degradation
• Industrialised bodies with specialised capacities

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The Biopolitics of the Penis

• Subjectification of the individual
• Biomedical science ? Pornographic homosocial
  fantasy
• Reproduction drawn back into sphere of sexuality
• Privatisation of life resources new biomedical
  forms of labour exploitation of women
• Choices/freedoms neo-liberal responsibilities
  and imperatives