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sadiejayne3426's review
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Incredible. Honestly my favorite Judith Butler book. I found it to be much less dense and challenging than some of her earlier theoretical works but just as impactful. I really appreciated her theory applied to contemporary issues and her conceptualizations of a praxis of compassion and aid. Her illustration of capitalism as being a force which oppresses all, even those driven to uphold it out of anxiety challenged me to reconsider the conservative agenda. Awesome piece and I will be rereading.
tigerlillymelody's review against another edition
challenging
informative
5.0
Another banger from Judith Butler! Some of the best takeaways were the way that Butler uses the Platonic/Derridean idea of phantasms (reality as perceived as a concept warped by senses in the former and cultural or state narratives in the latter) to conceptualize the fake news/anti-fact fanatic authoritarianism growing in Western spaces. Furthermore, they compellingly tie this to Agnieszka Graff's thesis that the rise of satanic panic-esque movements in the west whether fears of Sharia law or the trans panic are an intentional misdirection to funnel the dissatisfaction with late stage capitalism onto an othered villain group. I also really loved the assertion that assigning gender at birth is an imaginative and not a scientific act, both by the doctor (using external genitalia to imagine the chromosomal or future hormonal reality of the child) and by the parents (who, unless intentionally subverting this, imagine a gendered future for their child). This is definitely something I want to think about and unpack further. The sections on the history of science as a social construct and history of gender as a force for colonial oppression are also both great overviews for people who have little or passing familiarity with those concepts/histories. On a completely personal note, not to brag or anything, but I gave a presentation at work on non-binary genders and the fact that my slides on the history of pre-colonial non-binary genders around the world shares so many of the same sources as Butler's chapter on "Racial and Colonial Legacies of Gender Dimorphism" was just incredibly validating. Also, I listened to the audiobook, which I liked both because I now know the pronunciation of some of the newer terms introduced to me in the text and because Judith Butler's voice is very calming and is another entry into the "queer elder tucking me into bed at night" audiobook collection.
turnipforthebooks's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.5