Books › Bodies that matter
Bodies that matter
First published 1993 · 345 pages
A dense, rigorous interrogation of how power shapes the very material reality of our bodies and genders.
What it feels like
Reading this text is a rigorous, deeply intellectual experience that demands careful attention and rewards it with paradigm-shifting insights. The pace is steady and methodical, reflecting the dense, theoretical prose that unpacks complex philosophical concepts. The mood is serious and contemplative, immersing the reader in a challenging exploration of how heterosexual hegemony and systemic power shape the very materiality of our bodies. It feels less like a traditional narrative and more like a profound unspooling of foundational assumptions about sex, gender, and identity. Scholars and students of feminist and queer theory will find themselves captivated by its analytical depth, engaging with a text that fundamentally reimagines the boundaries of performativity and political agency.
- Mood
- intellectual
- contemplative
- challenging
- serious
- Tone
- analytical
- rigorous
- theoretical
- probing
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- materiality of the body · gender performativity · heterosexual hegemony · workings of power · identity formation
- The writing
- Dense, academic, and highly theoretical, requiring careful parsing of complex philosophical concepts.
- The arc
- A rigorous intellectual journey that moves from questioning fundamental assumptions about the body to a radical reimagining of gender and political agency.
- Who it's for
- Students and scholars of feminist theory, queer theory, and philosophy who enjoy deep, challenging interrogations of identity and power.
Content notes
- systemic power dynamics
- heteronormativity
About the book
"In Bodies That Matter, Judith Butler further develops her distinctive theory of gender by examining the workings of power at the most "material" dimensions of sex and sexuality. Deepening the inquiries she began in Gender Trouble, Butler offers an original reformulation of the materiality of bodies, 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 offers a clarification of the notion of "performativity" introduced in Gender Trouble and explores the meaning of a citational politics. The text includes readings of Plato, Irigaray, Lacan, and Freud on the formation of materiality and bodily boundaries; "Paris is Burning," Nella Larsen's "Passing," and short stories by Willa Cather; along with a reconsideration of "performativity" and politics in feminist, queer, and radical democratic theory"--Publisher's website.
Description from Open Library.
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