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The cover of Gender Trouble

Gender Trouble

Judith Butler

Does feminist politics need a fixed idea of who women are, or is identity made through what we do, with its instability opening new possibilities?

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At a glance

Author
Judith Butler

Why read it

  • You will question whether a group must share one fixed identity in order to have a political voice
  • You will learn to ask whether identity comes before action or is made through it
  • You will notice how a fixed we includes some people by leaving others out

Who it is for

  • Readers ready for dense philosophy about identity and power
  • Students of feminist and gender theory
  • Anyone who has wondered what makes a category like woman real

Contents

  1. I. “WOMEN” AS THE SUBJECT OF FEMINISM
  2. II. THE COMPULSORY ORDER OF SEX/GENDER/DESIRE
  3. III. GENDER: THE CIRCULAR RUINS OF CONTEMPORARY DEBATE
  4. IV. THEORIZING THE BINARY, THE UNITARY, AND BEYOND
  5. V. IDENTITY, SEX, AND THE METAPHYSICS OF SUBSTANCE
  6. VI. LANGUAGE, POWER, AND THE STRATEGIES OF DISPLACEMENT
  7. PROHIBITION, PSYCHOANALYSIS, AND THE PRODUCTION OF THE HETEROSEXUAL MATRIX
  8. I. STRUCTURALISM’S CRITICAL EXCHANGE
  9. II. LACAN, RIVIERE, AND THE STRATEGIES OF MASQUERADE
  10. III. FREUD AND THE MELANCHOLIA OF GENDER
  11. IV. GENDER COMPLEXITY AND THE LIMITS OF IDENTIFICATION
  12. V. REFORMULATING PROHIBITION AS POWER
  13. SUBVERSIVE BODILY ACTS
  14. I. THE BODY POLITICS OF JULIA KRISTEVA
  15. II. FOUCAULT, HERCULINE, AND THE POLITICS OF SEXUAL DISCONTINUITY
  16. Concluding unscientific postscript
  17. III. MONIQUE WITTIG: BODILY DISINTEGRATION AND FICTIVE SEX
  18. IV. BODILY INSCRIPTIONS, PERFORMATIVE SUBVERSIONS
  19. From interiority to gender performatives
  20. CONCLUSION: FROM PARODY TO POLITICS

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