Judith Butler in Media Studies
Judith Butler in Media Studies
When reading a biography of Judith Butler, a person would typically see a discussion of a highly intelligent philosopher of feminism, political theory, ethical and moral responsibility or gender studies. Her bibliographies are commonly describes as have a career focused on “research ranging from literary theory, modern philosophical fiction, feminist, gender and sexuality studies, to 19th- and 20th-century European literature and philosophy, Kafka and loss, mourning and war. Her most recent endeavors include an exploration of war as it relates to Jewish- Zionist theory” so her category of theorization is far reaching (Dunn 157). Throughout all of my digging, I was not able to find much information on Butler’s influence in media and communications and yet her most famous work, Gender Trouble, is one we will eventually study in this Media and Society class. I began by delving deep into this particular piece and branched out from there in hopes of grasping why Butler is so widely read in the communications field. Butler’s most famous published work, Gender Trouble, deals with themes of the semiotics of the human body in juxtaposition to the “performative subversions” of gender identity (Butler, “Gender” 372). There is a pervading discussion of internal versus external signifiers of the body. The external signifiers are “shaped by political forces with strategic interests” as well as social and cultural hegemony (374). She also makes clear distinctions in defining what is gender as opposed to sex or sexuality and the common misunderstandings of the three terms. Simon During republished the third chapter of Gender Trouble, titled “Subversive Bodily Acts,” in a volume accompanied by highly informative introductory material. The essence of Butler’s entire book is contained within this third and final chapter of the work, followed in its original form only by a conclusion. It is Simon During in the first sentence of his
When reading a biography of Judith Butler, a person would typically see a discussion of a highly intelligent philosopher of feminism, political theory, ethical and moral responsibility or gender studies. Her bibliographies are commonly describes as have a career focused on “research ranging from literary theory, modern philosophical fiction, feminist, gender and sexuality studies, to 19th- and 20th-century European literature and philosophy, Kafka and loss, mourning and war. Her most recent endeavors include an exploration of war as it relates to Jewish- Zionist theory” so her category of theorization is far reaching (Dunn 157). Throughout all of my digging, I was not able to find much information on Butler’s influence in media and communications and yet her most famous work, Gender Trouble, is one we will eventually study in this Media and Society class. I began by delving deep into this particular piece and branched out from there in hopes of grasping why Butler is so widely read in the communications field. Butler’s most famous published work, Gender Trouble, deals with themes of the semiotics of the human body in juxtaposition to the “performative subversions” of gender identity (Butler, “Gender” 372). There is a pervading discussion of internal versus external signifiers of the body. The external signifiers are “shaped by political forces with strategic interests” as well as social and cultural hegemony (374). She also makes clear distinctions in defining what is gender as opposed to sex or sexuality and the common misunderstandings of the three terms. Simon During republished the third chapter of Gender Trouble, titled “Subversive Bodily Acts,” in a volume accompanied by highly informative introductory material. The essence of Butler’s entire book is contained within this third and final chapter of the work, followed in its original form only by a conclusion. It is Simon During in the first sentence of his
Cited: Butler, Judith. “Subversive Bodily Acts.” The Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. Simon During. United Kingdom: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2007 Butler, Judith. (1998). Ruled out: Vocabularies of the censor. In R. C. Post (Ed.), Censorship and silencing: Practices of cultural regulation (pp Gender and Society. Vol. 11.No. 4(1997): 453-477. Ebsco. Print. London, 1991. Lorde, Audre Essays and Speeches. 1984. Crossing Press, Berkeley, CA. 289- 293. Print. Stryker, Susan. “Transgender History.” Berkeley, CA. Seal Press. 2008. 178-179. Print. XXXI.2(2002): 79-91. Ebsco. Print. Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own. Orlando: Harcourt Inc., 1929. Print.