Judith Butler b .1956

Who is Judith Butler? Judith Butler (1956-) is Professor of Comparative Literature and Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley, and is well known as a theorist of power, gender, sexuality and identity. Indeed, she is described in alt.Culture as "one of the superstars of '90s academia, with a devoted following of grad students nationwide". Her Theory: In 'Gender Trouble: Feminism and the subversion of Identity' Butler describe the ways in which socially …

…boundaries that are fixed and policed to insured normal (heterosexual) behavior. The assumption of the internal produces a priori, an essence. - The interior can not be seen, only signified on the surface. -There is no ontological status for the gendered body, no inner truth of gender. This is an illusion written on the body. -Gender is not some inner truth but the presence of received meanings. No one can embody the ideal gender constructions.