Scientia sexualis and ars erotica: Indonesian young people resisting the discourse of sexual desire

Abstract

Based on a qualitative study conducted with Indonesian young people, this article explores the ways in which the discourse of sexual desirethat constitutes sexual self as categorisable into LGBT+ identitiesmay be contested in the participants' sexual becoming. Employing Michel Foucault's comparison of scientia sexualis (science of sex) and ars erotica (erotic art), participants' narratives are analysed to explore new possibilities of sexual subjectivity without both categorising into or rejecting LGBT+ subject positions. The findings show that participants have taken up a subject position offered by the discourse of sexual desire, but they simultaneously resisted its scientia sexualis mechanisms by positioning the art of sexual pleasure, rather than specification of desires, at the centre of their becoming sexual subjects.

Envisaging a Critical Sexuality Education in Indonesia: A Poststructuralist Offer

“…Nevertheless, some narratives might resonate with the experience of other Indonesian young people and therefore may offer a degree of relevance and transferability. While parts of the thesis have been published elsewhere (Wijaya Mulya, 2018a, 2018b, 2019, 2020, the current chapter specifically focuses on the insights the data may offer for sexuality education practices in Indonesia.…”

“…However, participants' narratives also exhibited forms of resistance to this discourse, where their ways of becoming sexual subjects indicated alternative creative possibilities of understanding sexual identity, pleasure, and relationship beyond the containment of sexual desires into categorizations of LGBT+ sexualities. These include a sense of (sexual) identity in being a gay-themed comic fan, a "sexualized" engagement with skin cutting, and a new approach to intimate relationship through the label of "relationship without status" (Wijaya Mulya, 2020).…”

“…Since sexuality is a battleground of various social-political-religious ideologies, envisioning a form of sexuality education has always been a contention, including in Indonesia. Based on my research on Indonesian young people's sexual subjectivity (Wijaya Mulya, 2017, 2018a, 2018b, 2019, 2020, this chapter proposes a sexuality education approach that might be connected with the ways contemporary Indonesian young people understand themselves as sexual being.…”