Word Weavers: Judith Butler

Judith Butler (1956-present) is a renowned philosopher and gender theorist best known for their groundbreaking work on gender performativity, introduced in the influential 1990 book Gender Trouble. Their ideas have shaped the fields of queer theory, feminist thought, and critical theory, challenging traditional notions of identity, power, and the body. 

For Further Reading: 

• Judith Butler
• Judith Butler - Biography
• On Judith Butler and Performativity
• Berkeley professor explains gender theory

This month, we’re talking about Word Weavers — people who coined terms, popularized words, and even created entirely new languages. These activists, writers, artists, and scholars used language to shape ideas and give voice to experiences that once had no name. 

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello for Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Womanica. This month, we're talking about word weavers, people
who coined terms, popularized words, and even created entirely new languages.
These activists, writers, artists, and scholars used language to shape
ideas and give voice to experiences that once had no name.

(00:22):
What does gender really mean? The question has sparked myriad theories,
political debates, and philosophical inquiries. Is gender just a natural
fact or is it something continuously assigned to you as
you move through life, something that you learn to perform.
Today's Womaniquin believes it's the latter. We're diving into the

(00:43):
life and work of a philosopher whose theory of gender
performativity has made a long lasting impact on the way
we talk about gender. Please meet Judith Butler. Judith was
born in Cleveland, Ohio, on February twenty, twenty fourth, nineteen
fifty six. Their father was a dentist, and their mother

(01:04):
advocated for fair housing and helped run political campaigns for
local Democrats. Both parents practiced reform Judaism, and as a child,
Judith attended Hebrew School and took classes on Jewish ethics.
During tutoring sessions with their rabbi, Judith wrestled with big
ideas for the first time. Their temple education was the
hotbed for a lifetime of philosophical thinking, questioning established norms

(01:28):
and wondering why must things be as they are? What
else might be possible. By the time they were in
high school, Judith was already enrolled in university level philosophy courses.
They were coming of age in the nineteen sixties, a
powerhouse decade for progressive social movements. Judith remembers feeling particularly

(01:52):
influenced by the Civil Rights movement. The fight for gay
liberation was also entering the mainstream, but acceptance was slow
to arrive At Judath's house. Their family struggled to understand
their rejection of traditional femininity. They later recalled I couldn't
wear a dress it was impossible. When Judith was outed
as gay by a girlfriend's parents. Their sense of isolation

(02:14):
from their family only grew after high school. They attended
Bennington College in Vermont before finishing their bachelor's degree at
Yale in nineteen seventy eight. They were chosen as a
Fulbright scholar in nineteen seventy nine and spent one academic
year studying at Heidelberg University in Germany. They earned a
PhD in philosophy from Yale in nineteen eighty four. While

(02:37):
earning their impressive academic accolades, Judith remained politically engaged in
anti war and gay liberation movements during the seventies and eighties.
They were part of a movement of scholars and activists
dedicated to rethinking gender. At that time, queer theory was emerging,
and it was sort of in conflict with the feminist movement,
not because queer theorists didn't believe in women's equality, but

(03:01):
because they wanted to question accepted ideas of what it
means to be a woman in the first place. Judith
opposed several core assumptions of mainstream feminism at the time,
such as the idea that maternity is the essence of feminism.
They also didn't like that womanhood was so linked with heterosexuality.
They wanted to question and destabilize traditional gender roles. Judith

(03:23):
viewed gender as an open ended question with no final punctuation.
They articulated these ideas in their nineteen ninety book entitled
Gender Trouble, Feminism and the Subversion of identity. In these pages,
they coined the concept of gender performativity, the idea that
gender isn't something we are, but something we do. Judith

(03:45):
argued gender as a performance, an ongoing series of actions, behaviors,
and languages that create the illusion of gender identity. In
other words, we perform gender through the things we say,
the clothes we wear, the way we move, and the
way we relate to others. Gender Trouble became a foundational
text for queer theory. It has been translated into more

(04:06):
than twenty seven languages and has influenced generations of scholars, activists,
and artists. They revisited and refined their theory of gender
performativity in their next book, Bodies that Matter, published in
nineteen ninety three, but the impact of these works came
with a lot of controversy. Critics from across the political
spectrum have accused Judith of destabilizing the very notion of identity,

(04:29):
and some blame them for contributing to a confusion or
crisis around gender today. In an era marked by fierce
backlash against trans writes, feminism, and queer visibility, Judith's work
is often targeted as a part of the so called
assault on gender. They have often been vilified by conservative
politicians and religious groups, and they were even burned in

(04:49):
effigy by Evangelical Christian protesters in Brazil in twenty seventeen.
Now more than three decades after penning Gender Trouble, Judith
continues to write, speak, and teach. Though they're most famous
for their writings on gender, their work extends far beyond
queer theory. They've written well over a dozen books on
topics ranging from hate speech to nonviolence, to Jewish ethics

(05:10):
and the context of the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine.
They have a prolific career in academia, teaching in institutions
like Wesleyan University, JOHNS Hopkins, and UC Berkeley. Judith's most
recent book, Who's Afraid of Gender, was published in twenty
twenty four. It confronts contemporary anti gender ideology movements across
the globe. Today, Judith Butler remains an important voice in

(05:34):
gender theory, a reminder that identity is never fixed and
that freedom begins with the courage to question existing norms.
They say, quote, we have to allow ourselves to be
challenged and accept the invitation to revise our way of thinking.
All month, we're talking about word weavers. For more information,
find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast special

(05:57):
thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator.
Talk tomorrow