Scan barcode
A review by casparb
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity by Judith Butler
4.0
4.5 I had high expectations for this one and was still impressed. JB delivers.
Particularly loved sections 1 and 3 - 'Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire' and 'Subversive Bodily Acts'. The first section is actually more wholly philosophico-political than one might expect from the reputation of this book. There's a fantastic note on pragmatic coalitionism, which I think just about everybody ought to read in order to defuse the tedious arguments we see so often.
'Subversive Bodily Acts' seemed the most accurate to the book's reputation. This is where Butler becomes more confident, prescriptive, and begins to open up the fields of feminist critique and gender studies on an almost uniquely radical level. Lovely to see her appreciation of Foucault here too. :)
A note on style - I see loads of people complain about Butler's writing as obscurantist. I think I mentioned this when I read Precarious Lives. Gender Trouble is not especially difficult on a conceptual level. I think a lot of people stumble at the style because it is very academic. But it's no huge barrier to reading. I'll read this again some day, mostly for the sake of memory - a good sign, from a text so full as this.
Particularly loved sections 1 and 3 - 'Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire' and 'Subversive Bodily Acts'. The first section is actually more wholly philosophico-political than one might expect from the reputation of this book. There's a fantastic note on pragmatic coalitionism, which I think just about everybody ought to read in order to defuse the tedious arguments we see so often.
'Subversive Bodily Acts' seemed the most accurate to the book's reputation. This is where Butler becomes more confident, prescriptive, and begins to open up the fields of feminist critique and gender studies on an almost uniquely radical level. Lovely to see her appreciation of Foucault here too. :)
A note on style - I see loads of people complain about Butler's writing as obscurantist. I think I mentioned this when I read Precarious Lives. Gender Trouble is not especially difficult on a conceptual level. I think a lot of people stumble at the style because it is very academic. But it's no huge barrier to reading. I'll read this again some day, mostly for the sake of memory - a good sign, from a text so full as this.