A Critique of Sources for the Notion of Sex and Gender in Judith Butler's Early Work

Abstract

This paper focuses on Judith Butler's critical relationships with three French thinkers before and during the time of writing Gender Trouble: Simone de Beauvoir, Monique Wittig, and Michael Foucault. I propose that Butler has thoughtfully built the foundation for her own theory of sex and gender by appropriating, assimilating, and challenging Beauvoir, Wittig, and Foucault. In addition to scrutinizing how Butler incorporates and disputes with each of these three thinkers, I will also point out what I believe to be her critical contradictions or oversights. Interestingly, even while Butler openly acknowledges that Gender Trouble is rooted in French theory, a large portion of French society who opposed gay marriage during unprecedented demonstrations in 2012 and 2013, have targeted Butler as an ＂invader＂ and ＂terrorist,＂ armed with gender conspiracies and a ＂gender ideology.＂ Even though concepts of sex and gender are viewed differently today from how they were understood in the past, I believe Butler's ideas and her theory of sex and gender are still relevant in this age of the Internet, when one's sexual and gender identities can be a matter of choice and where a diverse spectrum of gender identities have increasingly emerged in real life.