Foucault and Dr. Ruth

This essay is an expansion of Foucault's genealogy of the modern subject and morals, particularly as found in The History of Sexuality. It focuses on the contemporary sex therapist Dr. Ruth. The phenomenon of Dr. Ruth is located within the matrix of power/knowledge and the political technology of the body, especially its specific apparatus of sexuality. Dr. Ruth is displayed as one who perpetuates the “repressive hypothesis” which ironically spreads biotechnical power and domination in the name of liberating individuals. Particular attention is given to the technology of confession, the techniques of self, and the ways in which the medium of television extends the purview of biopower.