User:Altaalt/sandbox

Wikipedia Edits

Below shows the edits that I have made on Wikipedia. Note that red text signifies text I deleted and green text is text I have added.

Bodies That Matter (1993)

Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex" seeks to clear up readings and supposed misreadings of performativity that view the enactment of sex/gender as a daily choice.^[35] Butler emphasizes the role of repetition in performativity, making use of Derrida's theory of iterability, which is a form of citationality:

Performativity cannot be understood outside of a process of iterability, a regularized and constrained repetition of norms. And this repetition is not performed by a subject; this repetition is what enables a subject and constitutes the temporal condition for the subject. This iterability implies that 'performance' is not a singular 'act' or event, but a ritualized production, a ritual reiterated under and through constraint, under and through the force of prohibition and taboo, with the threat of ostracism and even death controlling and compelling the shape of the production, but not, I will insist, determining it fully in advance.^[36]

This concept is linked to Butler's discussion of performativity. Iterability, in its endless undeterminedness as to-be-determinedness, is thus precisely that aspect of performativity that makes the production of the "natural" sexed, gendered, heterosexual subject possible, while also and at the same time opening that subject up to the possibility of its incoherence and contestation.^[jargon] This concept of performativity as shaped by repetition is linked to Butler’s discussion of performativity. Whereas repetition is what helps produce or form sex/gender, it doesn’t determine it and also opens it up to be something else with “incoherence and contestation.”

Reception

Butler responded to criticisms of her prose in the preface to her 1999 book 1999 preface to her book, Gender Trouble. Butler addresses the criticism that her writing style is difficult by first refuting the notion that the public is not up to the task of reading her difficult style, especially if it’s in the pursuit of “taken-for-granted truths.” She also argues that writing style is “not entirely a matter of choice” on the writer’s part, and that grammar itself can be constricting. She also considers if there is benefit in giving the reader the challenge of difficult writing, and if transparency might actually not actually bring truth or clarity.

Political activism

Much of Butler's early political activism centered around queer and feminist issues, and she served, for a period of time, as the chair of the board of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission^[63]. Over the years, she has been particularly active in the gay and lesbian rights, feminist, and anti-war movements.^[7] She has also written and spoken out on issues ranging from affirmative action and gay marriage to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay (I added sources 2, 3, and 4). More recently, she has been active in the Occupy movement and has publicly expressed support for a version of the 2005 BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against Israel.

Comments on Black Lives Matter

In a January 2015 interview with George Yancy of The New York Times, Butler discussed the Black Lives Matter movement. She said:

What is implied by this statement [Black Lives Matter], a statement that should be obviously true, but apparently is not? If black lives do not matter, then they are not really regarded as lives, since a life is supposed to matter. So what we see is that some lives matter more than others, that some lives matter so much that they need to be protected at all costs, and that other lives matter less, or not at all. And when that becomes the situation, then the lives that do not matter so much, or do not matter at all, can be killed or lost, can be exposed to conditions of destitution, and there is no concern, or even worse, that is regarded as the way it is supposed to be...When people engage in concerted actions across racial lines to build communities based on equality, to defend the rights of those who are disproportionately imperiled to have a chance to live without the fear of dying quite suddenly at the hands of the police. There are many ways to do this, in the street, the office, the home, and in the media. Only through such an ever-growing cross-racial struggle against racism can we begin to achieve a sense of all the lives that really do matter.

The dialogue draws heavily on her 2004 book Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence.^[75]

Judith Butler has commented on the racist treatment to black men by police enforcement before in her short essay Endangered/Endangering: Schematic Racism and White Paranoia. In the essay, Butler specifically writes about the police brutality done onto Rodney King. Butler examines the way in which the defense attorneys for the police casted King as a threat. She argues that the video evidence was “read” by the jury through the “inverted projections of white paranoia.” As seen through white paranoia, the blows which King received were the blows he intended to strike, as well as the blows which the white reader would receive, if the police didn’t beat him first. Butler argues this this line of thinking completes the “circuit of paranoia” and provides justification for the police brutality.

Publications

Chapters

• Butler, Judith (2007-12). "Torture and the Ethics of Photography". Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 25 (6): 951–966. doi:10.1068/d2506jb. ISSN 0263-7758.

Article Edit Plan

For the Judith Butler article, I plan to expand some sections and clarify some sections while doing some copyediting.

Expansions

First, I would like to expand the Comments on Black Lives Matter section. Currently, there is a single large quotation from an interview. There is also a single line that goes "The dialogue draws heavily on her 2004 book Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. I would also like to add information about what is specifically said in her book in relation to Black Lives Matter and how it may be different that her interview quotation or has more information. In the section Reception, there is the line that says that Butler responded to criticisms in a preface of her book, and I would like to add what he response actually was.

Clarification

I will also clarify some confusing or vague sentences and sections. First, In the Excitable Speech section, it writes that Butler deploys "Foucault's argument from..." but does not say what Foucault's specific argument was, so I would like to clarify that. Second, there is a section in the Bodies that Matter section that can be confusing, and so I would like to make the prose more accessible. (The specific sentences are:

"This concept is linked to Butler's discussion of performativity. Iterability, in its endless undeterminedness as to-be-determinedness, is thus precisely that aspect of performativity that makes the production of the "natural" sexed, gendered, heterosexual subject possible, while also and at the same time opening that subject up to the possibility of its incoherence and contestation.^[jargon]")

Thirdly, there is also a sentence in the Undoing Gender section that is not completely clear and could benefit from some examples, which I plan to provide. The sentence is

“She argues that we have desires that do not originate from our personhood, but rather, from social norms. The writer also debates our notions of "human" and "less-than-human..."

Copy-editing

I also plan to do some copy-editing. For example there is this sentence in the section Adorno Prize affair in the Reception section:

Butler responded saying that "she did not take attacks from German Jewish leaders personally."

It seems unlikely that Butler referred to herself in the third person, so I will go back to the source to verify and edit if needed.

Other

Finally, I plan to do something to expand this part of the Reception section:

“Schwarzer also accuses Butler of remaining silent about the oppression of women and homosexuals in the Islamic world, while readily exercising her right to same-sex-marriage in the United States; instead, Butler would sweepingly defend Islam, including Islamism, from critics.[62]”

I cannot tell what exactly, though, and would appreciate any suggestions.

Bullet list of edit plan

Here are my plans for edits in bullet list format, if it is easier to follow:

Expansion:

• Expand BLM section
• Include Butler’s exact response for this part in Reception: “Butler responded to criticisms of her prose in the preface to her 1999 book, Gender Trouble.[59]”

Clarification

• From Excitable Speech section: “Deploying Foucault's argument from the first volume of The History of Sexuality, Butler claims that...” ← Foucault's argument of what?
• Make this section in Bodies that Matter more accessible:
  • "This concept is linked to Butler's discussion of performativity. Iterability, in its endless undeterminedness as to-be-determinedness, is thus precisely that aspect of performativity that makes the production of the "natural" sexed, gendered, heterosexual subject possible, while also and at the same time opening that subject up to the possibility of its incoherence and contestation.^[jargon]"
• From Undoing Gender section: “She argues that we have desires that do not originate from our personhood, but rather, from social norms. The writer also debates our notions of "human" and "less-than-human" ← Not totally clear. Provide examples?

Copy-editing:

• Copy-editing needed for this sentence in the section Adorno Prize affair in Reception:
  • Butler responded saying that "she did not take attacks from German Jewish leaders personally". ← Did Judith Butler really refer to herself in third person?

Other:

• Doing something with this section in Reception? But what?
  • “Schwarzer also accuses Butler of remaining silent about the oppression of women and homosexuals in the Islamic world, while readily exercising her right to same-sex-marriage in the United States; instead, Butler would sweepingly defend Islam, including Islamism, from critics.[62]”

Sections from Article I will edit

The specific sentences I will edit/expand upon are underlined.

Bodies That Matter (1993)[edit]

Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex" seeks to clear up readings and supposed misreadings of performativity that view the enactment of sex/gender as a daily choice. Butler emphasizes the role of repetition in performativity, making use of Derrida's theory of iterability, which is a form of citationality:

This concept is linked to Butler's discussion of performativity. Iterability, in its endless undeterminedness as to-be-determinedness, is thus precisely that aspect of performativity that makes the production of the "natural" sexed, gendered, heterosexual subject possible, while also and at the same time opening that subject up to the possibility of its incoherence and contestation.

Excitable Speech (1997)[edit]

Further information: Performativity § Judith Butler's perspective on performativity

In Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative, Butler surveys the problems of hate speech and censorship. She argues that censorship is difficult to evaluate, and that in some cases it may be useful or even necessary, while in others it may be worse than tolerance.

Butler argues that hate speech exists retrospectively, only after being declared such by state authorities. In this way, the state reserves for itself the power to define hate speech and, conversely, the limits of acceptable discourse. In this connection, Butler criticizes feminist legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon's argument against pornography for its unquestioning acceptance of the state's power to censor.

Deploying Foucault's argument from the first volume of The History of Sexuality, Butler claims that any attempt at censorship, legal or otherwise, necessarily propagates the very language it seeks to forbid. As Foucault argues, for example, the strict sexual mores of 19th-century Western Europe did nothing but amplify the discourse of sexuality they sought to control. Extending this argument using Derrida and Lacan, Butler claims that censorship is primitive to language, and that the linguistic I is a mere effect of an originary censorship. In this way, Butler questions the possibility of any genuinely oppositional discourse; "If speech depends upon censorship, then the principle that one might seek to oppose is at once the formative principle of oppositional speech".

Undoing Gender (2004)[edit]

Undoing Gender collects Butler's reflections on gender, sex, sexuality, psychoanalysis and the medical treatment of intersex people for a more general readership than many of her other books. Butler revisits and refines her notion of performativity and focuses on the question of undoing "restrictively normative conceptions of sexual and gendered life".

Butler discusses how gender is performed without one being conscious of it, but says that it does not mean this performativity is "automatic or mechanical". She argues that we have desires that do not originate from our personhood, but rather, from social norms. The writer also debates our notions of "human" and "less-than-human" and how these culturally imposed ideas can keep one from having a "viable life" as the biggest concerns are usually about whether a person will be accepted if his or her desires differ from normality. She states that one may feel the need of being recognized in order to live, but that at the same time, the conditions to be recognized make life "unlivable". The writer proposes an interrogation of such conditions so that people who resist them may have more possibilities of living.

In her discussion of intersex, Butler addresses the case of David Reimer, a person whose sex was medically "reassigned" from male to female after a botched circumcision at eight months of age. Reimer was "made" female by doctors, but later in life identified as "really" male, married and became a stepfather to his wife's three children, and went on to tell his story in As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl, which he wrote with John Colapinto. Reimer committed suicide in 2004.

Reception

Butler responded to criticisms of her prose in the preface to her 1999 book, Gender Trouble.

German feminist Alice Schwarzer speaks of Butler's "radical intellectual games" that would not change how society classifies and treats a woman; thus, by eliminating female and male identity Butler would have abolished the discourse about sexism in the queer community. Schwarzer also accuses Butler of remaining silent about the oppression of women and homosexuals in the Islamic world, while readily exercising her right to same-sex-marriage in the United States; instead, Butler would sweepingly defend Islam, including Islamism, from critics.

Adorno Prize affair[edit]

When Butler received the 2012 Adorno Prize, the prize committee came under attack from Israel's Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman; the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center office in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff; and the German Central Council of Jews. They were upset at Butler's selection because of her remarks about Israel and specifically her "calls for a boycott against Israel". Butler responded saying that "she did not take attacks from German Jewish leaders personally". Rather, she wrote, the attacks are "directed against everyone who is critical against Israel and its current policies".

In a letter to the Mondoweiss website, Butler asserted that she developed strong ethical views on the basis of Jewish philosophical thought and that it is "blatantly untrue, absurd, and painful for anyone to argue that those who formulate a criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitic or, if Jewish, self-hating".

Article evaluation

For this, I used the article Women in Japan. Everything in the article seems relevant, although it's interesting that there is a section on "Contraception and sexuality" in it even though nowhere in that section does it mention women specifically. Overall, the tone seems neutral, although there are issues like one brought up in the talk page about a line that basically says that many Japanese women find satisfaction in family life. The links work and seems to be well cited.