Gender Subjectivity, By Judith Butler - 841 Words

Gender subjectivity is another important aspect of the debate around gender because it focuses on a move away from the idea of innate sexual identity characteristics that divide human beings into male and female (Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology, 2014). This type of view challenges the essentialism of sexual difference into something more then a binary between male vs. female, heterosexual vs. homosexual, etc., as it recognizes that these dichotomies are problematic because the term of gender encompasses a whole range of identities across a spectrum. In particular ideas like what does it mean to be equal? (Butler) and seeing division of gender into binary conceptions of identity can be seen as a process of ‘othering’ (de Beauvoir) are some of the areas that this topic examines. Undoing Gender by Judith Butler This book features a collection of Judith Butler’s essays and her primary intention with this collection is to â€Å"focus on the question of what it might mean to undo restrictive normative conceptions of sexual and gendered life† (12). These essays look at the construction of gender and the way certain conceptions of it are normalized and reproduced in potentially harmful and limiting ways. Butler uses a feminist poststructural framework to critique the normalizing/marginalizing views of gender that exist because the â€Å"terms that make up one’s own gender are, from the start, out-side oneself, beyond oneself in a sociality that has no single author (and that radicallyShow MoreRelatedJudith Butler on Gender Trouble, Sex and Identity717 Words   |  3 Pagesof subjectivity. In Judith Butlers gender/sex/desired gender trouble, identities are defined as subjects created through discourse and have no axiomatic definition. Butler attempts to show the reader that identities formed to gender and sex are singular forms of linguistic categories that are subjective to change. Gender for instance, rephrase to the socially constructed characteristics of masculinity and femininity. Inasmuch as identity is assumed to the stabilizing concept of sex, gender, andRead MoreCultural Studies: What is Subjectivity? Essays1126 Words   |  5 PagesSubjectivity is a major aspect in every day life. It happens every second of the day, people are subjective and they have no idea that they are being that way. It comes naturally from people’s influences because it is the world we live in today. Subjectivity is culturally constructed rather that innate and naturally occurring, this will be discussed in depth through examples within performance/performativity and the examples used throughout the discussion of the importance of habitus. In the worldRead MoreThe Role Of Subjectivity And Its Impact On Identity1847 Words   |  8 Pagessocial identity and therefore subjectivity. Theorists such as, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler are a minor fraction of academics that believe that subjectivity is not inherent and naturally occurring but dynamic and adaptable according to society and our ever-changing culture. It is through the concepts of performativity and habitus that the ideas surrounding subjectivity being dynamic and fluid are presented. Subjectivity â€Å"We think about subjectivities as actors’ thoughts, sentimentsRead MoreBodies That Matter By Judith Butler1341 Words   |  6 Pages In her book Bodies That Matter, Judith Butler discusses how reality is constructed by language, writing specifically about gender and sex. While there are biological facts, she points out the ramifications of affirming those facts. By forcing bodies into two categories, and then assigning certain traits to those two categories, bodies that do not fit into the defined binary become neglected and possibly hurt. In the film Boys Don’t Cry, the main character Brandon does not fit into this defined binaryRead MoreThe Fact Of Blackness By Frantz Fanon1223 Words   |  5 Pagesfrom Black Skin, White Masks describes the anxiety felt while held in the gaze of the colonizer. A reading of Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble in conjunction with Fanon’s work raises questions and possible strategies on how to reject neocolonialism and c ontemporary white supremacy. Fanon’s idea of blackness is performative but not for the gain of the black man, rather for the white man. Butler suggests that regaining control of the black man’s fate comes from interpellation, the act, of interruptingRead MoreFrom Undoing Gender By Judith Butler960 Words   |  4 PagesJudith Butler’s approach in â€Å"From Undoing Gender† lets the audience see a different side of opinions regarding gender. Judith’s presence and way of speaking lets us look at things in a way we never had before. She demonstrates her way of thinking, acknowledges other peoples ways of thinking and also goes outside the box in creating her own definition of undergoing gender. When we look up gender in the dictionary it states â€Å"Although it is possible to define  gender  as â€Å"sex,† indicating that theRead MoreAn Analysis Of Haraway s Manifesto Manifesto Essay1375 Words   |  6 Pagesmarriage equality, the conversion of oppositional consciousness into fashion trends and franchises). Perhaps this is why the transgender/genderqueer/non-binary communities, long transparent about their advocacy of fluid Selfs and liminal-based subjectivities, find such fierce resistance in response. In a culture that has come to rely on particular dichotomies to halt language slippage and stabilize itself, legal maneuvers such as North Carolina’s House Bills #2 and other similar legal maneuvers becomeRead MoreFilm, Paris, Burning, By Jennie Livingston, Director Of The 1990 Documentary Film2760 Words   |  12 Pages1990 documentary film, Paris is Burning, challenges the public to revisit their judgments on race, gender, and sexuality as she prov ocatively attempts to unravel the dynamic world of â€Å"ball culture† in New York City â€Å"and the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities involved in it† (Livingston). It was Livingston’s investigation that affirmed the link I was uncovering between the gender performance popularly described as drag and spirit possession. The act of men embodying women throughRead MoreThe Queer Of Queer Youth889 Words   |  4 Pagesof additional resources. Purpose Statement I am interested in identifying specific discursive moves that sustain, interrogate, complicate, or upset the hegemonic imposition of particular types of performances (Butler, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2004) that relate to and regulate queer subjectivities in high school media center resources about and for queer youth. I want to examine the ways in which those discursive moves factor into high school media specialists’ and administrators’ processes for selectingRead MoreThe Socialization and Medicalization of Gender: A Biocultural View1988 Words   |  8 Pages Gender is one of the most socially ingrained social constructs. The rigid enforcement of gender is harshly controlled by the medicalization and what I will refer to as the construction of the illness of gender transgression. I postulate that there are two forms of gender transgression: a general rejection of gender norms and a rejection of these boundaries in manners that do not fit into the dominant script of gender ( i.e. deciding to transition). When someone â€Å"transgresses† the boundaries of gender