new forms of sexual behaviour developed among the underclass as a reaction to the emotionless libertinage of the bourgeoisie // these new forms embodied a class consciousness of which their bourgeois counterparts were already fully aware // under the dominant discourse sexual relations followed a definite hierarchy which took race, sex, class, geographical location and fetishes into account // libertines while advocating sexual liberation in fact followed strict codes and rituals which governed every facet of sexual behaviour // the underclass deconstructed these codes and rituals transforming them into parody and sincere lust // the authorities were not amused // all deviant forms of expression were outlawed and their practitioners hung from lampposts as totems warning against transgression //