Language, Power and Discourse of Sexuality The case of...

Language, Power and Discourse of Sexuality Foucault asks What are the links between these discourses, these effects of power, and the pleasures that were invested by them? (Foucault, 11). In the case of New Jersey governor it seems clear that power, language and pleasure were very much related in his speech on August 13, 2004, in which he announced his resignation, that he had had an affair with a man, and that he was a gay American. A man in a position of power was both given power and gave power to the general public with his announcement. Consequently he opened up a multiplicity of discourses on the matter ranging from the true reason for his resignation, to the true meaning of the word Gay, to the effects that his coming out†¦show more content†¦Amidst current discussion of Gay issues in American politics McGreevey was playing to an issue that most Americans feel strongly about in one way or another. Thus ...McGreevey has made his story both unusual and important by casting it as the tale of a secretly gay public official - someone who masqueraded as heterosexual for his whole adult life - who was undone less by his obvious ethical lapses, than by the necessity of hiding his true sexual identity. (Lazarus). Through language he finds Ways of rendering it [his actions] morally acceptable and technically useful (Foucault, 21). It is with this beginning to the speech that he announces his affair and resignation. His speech is ...calculated to drown out the much less forgivable lapse of putting his almost comically unqualified boyfriend, Golan Cipel, on the state payroll...(Brown). McGreeveys failure to mention anything regarding placing Golan Cipel on the payroll is one of the many things that give the media and public power. There is not one but many silences, and they are an integral part of the strategies that underlie and permeate discourses (Foucault, 27). This silence was calculated by McGreevey but acted to work against him. The things that are excluded from the speech give others power. The media and the public are then given the power to scrutinize. Delany says, We must always reserve a margin to deal with what is excluded from our