Bodies That Matter, Judith Butler
Bodies That Matter, Judith Butler
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Bodies That Matter
On the Discursive Limits of Sex

Author: Judith Butler

Narrator: Kelly Burke

Unabridged: 12 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/16/2021

Categories: Nonfiction, Philosophy

Synopsis

In Bodies That Matter, renowned theorist and philosopher Judith Butler argues that theories of gender need to return to the most material dimension of sex and sexuality: the body. Butler offers a brilliant reworking of the body, examining how the power of heterosexual hegemony forms the "matter" of bodies, sex, and gender. Butler argues that power operates to constrain sex from the start, delimiting what counts as a viable sex. She clarifies the notion of "performativity" introduced in Gender Trouble and via bold readings of Plato, Irigaray, Lacan, and Freud explores the meaning of a citational politics. She also draws on documentary and literature with compelling interpretations of the film Paris is Burning, Nella Larsen's Passing, and short stories by Willa Cather.

About Judith Butler

Judith Butler is Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley, and holds the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School. She is the author of Gender Trouble, Precarious Life, Frames of War, and Towards a Performative Theory of Assembly.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Adam on February 18, 2016

Whilst I can't speak highly enough of the fantastic ideas in this book, it does share a problem with many post-modern critical writings. It insists on hiding simple yet powerful ideas behind overly esoteric language, potentially rendering them inaccessible to people who could make great use of them.......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on January 19, 2022

Finished this a couple weeks ago but wanted to write a review so I didn't update anything. Yet, here I am, reviewless (needed to take better notes while reading this). Since I'm going to skim through this again anyway, I'm just going to post this for now. My current thoughts: 1. Butler has some reall......more

Goodreads review by Erdem on February 11, 2009

This certainly cleared up a few ideas that seemed vague in Gender Trouble. Butler asserts here that the performativity of gender does not imply an agency that allows one to put it on and take it off as one pleases, which is in dialogue with Spivak's elaboration of deconstruction where she dismisses......more

Goodreads review by Jamie on December 21, 2009

Yes, it feels pretentious to give Butler 5-stars, or to consider this one of the best books I read this year, but I think she's just fantastic. People bitch and moan about her 'moonspeak' but frankly, I think it's rare to find a theorist or a philosopher more inclined to help the reader understand--......more

Goodreads review by Sabrarf on January 10, 2017

This book is clearly a better version of her other book "gender trouble". It explains in much more detail the queering performativity which allows individuals to define themselves beyond just sexuality!......more

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