Judith pamela butler born february 24, 1956 is an american philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third. I did not know that the text would have as wide an audience as it has had. One of the most talkedabout scholarly works of the past fifty years, judith butlers gender trouble is as celebrated as it is controversial arguing that traditional feminism is wrong to look to a natural, essential notion of the female, or indeed of sex or gender, butler starts by questioning the category woman and continues in this vein with examinations of the masculine and the. From undoing gender by jubith butler by shelby priddy on prezi. Regardless of what gender people associate themselves with we all need to treat others with respect and dignity. Undoing gender constitutes judith butlers recent reflections on gender and sexuality, focusing. That would likely be the nonacademic individuals response to either of. Allinall it is the nature of how their life played out, not their choice. Undoing gender is essentially a revision of butlers groundbreaking book entitled gender trouble, which was originally published in 1990. She reminds us that our theories, and the categories they deploy, construct and constrict us. Oct 08, 2009 in undoing gender, judith butler develops upon her earlier work in gender and queer theory. It seemed to me, and continues to seem, that feminism ought to be careful not to idealize certain expressions of gender that, in turn, produce new forms of hierarchy and exclusion. Undoing gender by judith butler, 2004 online research. In chapter 2 of undoing gender 2004, butler mentions that there are.
What do you think some of these norms and practices may be. Butler, subjectivity, sexgender, and a postmodern theory of. To what extent does judith butlers view that gender is performative, exclude a stable. In the psychic life of power 1997a, butler writes about gender not only to deconstruct other modern theories of gender. In her most recent work, judith butler asks how we can undo the restrictive norms. Judith butler born february 24, 1956 is an american poststructuralist philosopher, who has contributed to the fields of feminism, queer theory, political philosophy, and ethics. Judith butler is an american gender theorist whose writing has influenced our understanding of feminism and gender identity. List of books and articles about judith butler online. Undoing gender butler flashcards and study sets quizlet. Gender trouble chap 1 subjects of sex gender and desire judith butherpresentation made by. Undoing gender constitutes judith butler s recent reflections on gender and sexuality, focusing on new kinship, psychoanalysis and the incest taboo, transgender, intersex, diagnostic categories, social violence, and the tasks of social transformation. She explained in gender trouble that sexual difference is. Drawing on the work of judith butler, and informed by a critical or hermeneutic structuralism, we are concerned here to think through the relationship between performativity and.
In gender trouble butler talks about how gender is socially. This chapter offers an introduction to the american philosopher judith butler based on her work in a systematic perspective. Judith butlers voice, i would argue, is indispensable for feminist theory at this historical juncture. And so when we speak about my sexuality or my gender, as we do and as we must, we mean something complicated by it.
Undoing gender judith butler, judith university of. In undoing gender, butler not only adds more nuance. People are searching for their own happiness just like the rest of us. Judith pamela butler born february 24, 1956 is an american philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of thirdwave feminist, queer, and literary theory. Judith butlers most popular book is gender trouble. Mellon center for curricular and faculty development, the office of. On the contrary, their core thesis, similarly to butler, is that gender is performed and that society prescribes how each of us should do gender a phrase that is used dozens of times in their paper under pain of social consequences. Choose from 28 different sets of undoing gender butler flashcards on quizlet. The work is influential in feminism, womens studies, and lesbian and gay studies, and has also enjoyed widespread popularity outside of traditional academic circles. At the same time, it also seeks to dissolve our notions towards gender, thereby preempting us from taking the first step towards gender enlightenment. West and zimmerman dont seem at all to be saying that gender is an internal trait that someone has.
Butler, a professor in rhetoric, comparative literature, and womens studies at the university of california, berkeley, is best known for her groundbreaking book gender trouble, in which she outlined her theory of gender performativity and the construction of sexuality. In the collection of essays undoing gender 2004, judith butler suggests that. Undoing gender and the aesthetics of organizational. She is the maxine elliot professor in the departments of rhetoric and comparative literature at the university of california, berkeley and the present chair of the rhetoric department. An essay in phenomenology and feminist theory judith butler philosophers rarely think about acting in the theatrical sense, but they do have a discourse of acts that maintains associative semantic meanings with theories of performance and acting. In doing so, we are following four central trajectories in butlers thinking a impacts on gender and queer theory. Front cover of judith butlers undoing gender 2004 reading butler is truly a worthwhile exercise for the mind interested in gender, queer theory, and human life in general. In this lesson, we will define feminism and discuss butlers perspectives. Butler on freud and gender identity anna gullickson 00 illinois wesleyan university this article is brought to you for free and open access by the ames library, the andrew w. In terms that draw from feminist and queer theory, butler considers the norms that governand fail to governgender and. Gender trouble enacts the playful and exciting possibility that criticism can be disruptive, incisive and affirmative. In this paper i will critique judith butlers recent views on gender, which i will argue, fail to be a convincing synthesis of freudian and foucauldian views.
A critique of judith butler dr geoff boucher judith butlers celebrated concept of performativity is designed to expose hegemonic conceptions of identity as fictions. Preface 1999 ten years ago i completed the manuscript of gender trouble and sent it to routledge for publication. Focusing on the case of david reimer who was medically reassigned from male to female after a botched circumcision, butler reexamines the theory of. Feminism and the subversion of identity by judith butler.
Judith butler is an assistant professor of philosophy at george washington. Undoing gender 1st edition judith butler routledge book. It is always brave to insist on undergoing transformations that feel necessary and right even when there are so many obstructions to doing so, including people and institutions whos seek to pathologize or criminalize such important acts of selfdefinition. I know that for some feels less brave than necessary, but we all have to. Widely taught, and widely debated, gender trouble continues to offer a powerful critique of heteronormativity and of the function of gender in the modern world. Undoing gender constitutes judith butlers recent reflections on gender and sexuality, focusing on new kinship, psychoanalysis and the incest taboo, transgender, intersex, diagnostic categories, social violence, and the tasks of social transformation. Undoing gender is a 2004 book by the philosopher judith butler. Questionable relationship between political and linguistics representation. Judith butler s voice, i would argue, is indispensable for feminist theory at this historical juncture. Whats the difference between doing gender and butlers.
This formulation judith butler is an assistant professor of philosophy at george washington university. Jun 30, 2004 undoing gender constitutes judith butler s recent reflections on gender and sexuality, focusing on new kinship, psychoanalysis and the incest taboo, transgender, intersex, diagnostic categories, social violence, and the tasks of social transformation. In undoing gender, judith butler develops upon her earlier work in gender and queer theory. Published in great britain by routledge 2 park square milton park abington, oxfordshire, ox14 4rn, uk uk. The book gender trouble by judith butler addresses the controversial topic of sex and gender and potential problems with these concepts. In excitable speech butler is concerned with performative speech, which covers among other things speech that performs violence on other people hate speech and speech that creates gender which could be considered a form of violence, but i dont recall butler actually drawing that conclusion in the works that ive read. Butler, subjectivity, sexgender, and a postmodern theory.
In her most recent work, judith butler asks how we can undo the restrictive norms of gender. Like what is most important is to cease legislating for all lives what is liveable only for. In some senses the rest of this chapter outlines what the book is not about or, to put it more positively, why i focus on the issues that appear in the book and not on facts about inequalities or on media images of gender. Judith butler gender performativity explained imitation and gender insubordination queer theory duration. It thereby seeks to contribute to a leftwing cultural politics, based on the strategy of the marginal subversion of the reigning cultural. In terms that draw from feminist and queer theory, butler considers the norms that governand. One subjects of sexgenderdesire 3 i women as the subject of feminism 3 ii the compulsory order of sex genderdesire 9 iii gender. Using your own examples, explain judith butlers idea of gender as performance.
Sep 16, 2004 undoing gender constitutes judith butler s recent reflections on gender and sexuality, focusing on new kinship, psychoanalysis and the incest taboo, transgender, intersex, diagnostic categories, social violence, and the tasks of social transformation. Judith butler s new preface situates gender trouble within the past decade of work on gender, and counters some common misconceptions about the book and its aims. Judith butler free download as powerpoint presentation. Published in 2004 by routledge 270 madison avenue new york, ny 10016. Judith butler born february 24, 1956 is an american poststructuralist philosopher who has contributed to the fields of feminism, queer theory, political philosophy, and ethics. Butler points out that the intelligibility of the human being, how we understand who we are, relates to conditions of intelligibility composed of norms, of practices that have become presuppositional. Neither of these is precisely a possession, but both are to be understood as modes of being dispossessed, ways of being for another, or, indeed, by virtue of another. Learn undoing gender butler with free interactive flashcards. It will be easier to do justice to butlers argument if we first consider a crucial. Judith butler on diane arbus by butler, judith artforum international, vol. In this lesson, we will define feminism and discuss butler s perspectives. In 1993, she began teaching at the university of california, berkeley, where she has served, beginning in 1998, as the maxine. She is the maxine elliot professor in the departments of rhetoric and comparative literature at the university of california, berkeley.
Browse 28 sets of undoing gender butler flashcards. In summary, subjects of sexgenderdesire, the first of three sections that comprise the book, problematizes woman as a stable identification and discusses the ways in which the category has been used to reify systems of power and reproduces false notions about the static nature of identity. Judith butler has 146 books on goodreads with 100602 ratings. Feminist theorypolitics and representationpolitics. Butler examines gender, sex, psychoanalysis and the way medicine and the law treat intersex and transgender people.
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