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== Non-Binary AND lesbian at the same time? ==
{{archives}}


Since Judith Butler describes herself/themself as non-binary she/they technically cannot be ] at the same time. Either Butler is a woman or she has no gender affiliation. The fact that J.B. remains to be a biological woman seems to be irrelevant nowadays since self-identification beats biology. According to this reasoning the tag "lesbian" and all mentions thereof must be removed. (provocative, I know, but I am open to debate) ] (]) 10:57, 11 November 2023 (UTC)
==Excitable Speech==
This is tricky. Austin doesn't think that words have locutionary or illocutionary force i.e. 'bull' doesn't do a darn thing by itself. It's only by being embedded in an utterance that it can start to have illocutionary force. If Butler has advanced the thesis that words apart from utterances have these properties then either she is departing from Austin (radically I might add) or she is citing in error. Or, more plausibly, whoever wrote that section just overlooked that bit.


:There are plenty of non-binary people who still use the term lesbian for themselves, and plenty of lesbians who are also attracted to non-binary people. As editors, it's not our job to police someone's labels. We just need to follow the sources. ] (]) 15:21, 11 November 2023 (UTC)
==Philosopher Bio==
::They also use the she pronoun so that could solve the logical contradiction. ] (]) 17:16, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
So, I tried to make a philosopher bio thing for her and it didn't post, but when I go into the history and click on the most recent one, then it shows it to me. What's going on? Does someone not like the philosopher bio thing? ] 13:39, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
:No sexuality excludes non-binary people. Non-binary isn't a single third gender. There are demigender and multigender experiences that include connection to womanhood, for example. When Judith Butler came out as n-b, they didn't say they stopped being lesbian. --] ] 01:36, 23 March 2024 (UTC)


Stupid question here: Is wikipedia about informing the readers or pandering to the person who the article is about? If Trump considers himself to be an honest person who always tells the truth ... is that what wikipedia will label him? It is a label and like the poster above me wrote "it's not our job to police someone's labels". This attitude just does not make sense because it leaves the door open for misinformation. ] (]) 21:35, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
Never mind, now it shows up. Does anyone have any idea of what people (if any) have been influenced by Judith Butler? ] 13:41, 24 January 2007 (UTC)


:One is always saddled with the burden of evaluating the reliability and relevance of a source. There is no formula for truth. No system or policy is immune from misinformation. Could you help me to understand what portions of the article you believe are "pandering?" Is there an source being cited for the content of this article you deem to be unreliable? If so how? ] (]) 20:18, 19 May 2024 (UTC)


== Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 4 January 2024 ==
==Controversy==


{{edit extended-protected|Judith Butler|answered=yes}}
One controversy about Butler is her personal/political stance as it relates to feminism. She has criticized mainstream feminism for overemphasizing sexual behavior--making issues of personal choice political. She herself has quite openly pursued sexual relationships with students--a violation of both academic ethics and most university policies. She has been defended by her prominence, and her sexuality, whereas a less-famous male colleague who engaged in similar pursuits would not be tolerated. The whole issue is dealt with, in a sort of code, in her book ''Gender Trouble'' but she has not succesfully shown how violations of such public codes are anything other than an exercise of her class/cultural priviledge.<small>—The preceding ] comment was added by ] (] • ]){{#if:1 February 2007, 13:08 (UTC)|&#32;1 February 2007, 13:08 (UTC)|}}.</small><!-- Template:Unsigned -->
In the notes of this article, it is indicated that this article will use they/them pronouns for Butler for consistency. Currently she/her pronouns are used for Butler in the Israel-Hamas political action section. Specifically, this occurs in the sentence, “After the start of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Butler published an essay entitled "The Compass of Mourning", in which '''she''' argued that Hamas' attacks should be seen in the context of the "horrors of the last seventy years".“ Can someone change the "she" here to "they"? <!-- Template:Unsigned --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) </small>
:I have corrected that. I'm not sure what, if anything, we should do with the Die Zeit quote though. It seems to have been translated from German rather poorly if the phrasing "countless the same thing goes on for paragraphs" is anything to go by. Maybe somebody who speaks German can look at that? --] (]) 23:25, 4 January 2024 (UTC)


:"... paragraph after paragraph, always the same thing: Violence cannot be justified by anything, and yet one must see the violence of the occupying power Israel. It becomes clear that she (understandably) does not know where to direct {focus?} her thoughts anymore."
That's too funny. I guess one might argue that the mores themselves are flawed and just because she escapes persecution doesn't make it wrong for her to violate them. I'm just throwing that out there.
:The article is behind a paywall. So I could only read the quote from the German wikipedia site and there it does not become more understandable than the version I have given you now.
:In German they use the word she. I would consider it a misquote to not do so. We should also not pander to self declared labels. Nobody in their right mind would respect Trump's labels of himself and enforce them in an wikipedia article. ] (]) 22:06, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
:: If you want to argue about this ] is the place. This article is just reflecting that policy. ] (]) 22:25, 21 March 2024 (UTC)


== They/Them ==
:I see no evidence such a "controversy" exists. Can either of you point to published articles about this alleged "controversy"? ] 18:27, 8 July 2007 (UTC)


I would like to suggest that the article should state at the beginning that JB uses They/Them pronouns otherwise it is confusing. I was about to correct the pronoun when I realized what the situation was. So please give every one a heads up regarding the pronouns. This should be a standard of all people who use non-standard pronouns. ] (]) 22:35, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
==Influences==


:I don't think there is any Misplaced Pages policy recommending that. Some mention of pronouns is recommended only for ]s. He/him, she/her, and they/them are not neopronouns (]). ] (]) 23:51, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
I removed several names because I don't think they are important or crucial influences, and the list as it stands is very long and not very useful as a quick summary. I also reordered the names from most to least important influences on her work (i.e. Foucualt first, then the French Feminists, etc.). Here are the names I removed and why:
*Laplanche -- She discusses him in Giving an Account of Oneself, but he is neither crucial to her own position in that book and completely absent in her early work
*Levinas -- Again, she discusses him in Giving an Account but he is not central to her argument nor present in her other works.
*Benjamin, Kripke, Kierkegaard - As far as I know she doesn't really discuss these thinkers except very periperally.
If you can please demonstrate why these are substantial influences for reasons I have maybe overlooked, I would appreciate it... Becuase we really do need to trim this list down...--] 13:55, 12 February 2007 (UTC)


== mistrust sexual violence ==
Butler is moving away from the focus on gender that was her earlier work to turn to questions of ethics and violence. This is where thinkers such as Levinas, Laplanche, and others are becoming crucial. I agree you'll only see the influence of Benjamin in talks and seminars she's giving now, not in books she's published (yet). Whether Laplanche is a crucial ongoing influence could be debated, but he is important to her argument in Giving an Account of Oneself to frame the question of responsibility with which she concludes the book.
The one thinker who must be on this list is Levinas. His thinking is crucial to her argument in Precarious Life and returns again with great importance in Giving an Account of Oneself and will be an ongoing influence in her thinking. -- ] 15:33, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
:Well until there is published work indicating that Benjamin is a pivotal influence, I will remove him. Laplanche, in relation to her work as a whole, is only peripheral, and so I will remove him as well (she really focuses on Foucault and Adorno in formulating her concluding argument about responsibility and critique at the end of Giving an Account). I will also remove Kripke and Kierkegaard as they are also either entirely or mostly absent from her published work. Please keep in mind that this is supposed to be a short list of obvious, predominent influences... so in removing these names I am not saying they have no interesting or relevent connections to Butler, but that for the purposes of this summary box they are just not major enough to be included. --] 16:19, 12 February 2007 (UTC)


''Speaking at a public event in Paris on March 3'' please add follloing: Despite numerous statements from those affected and reports of systematic sexual violence by Hamas, Butler demanded evidence.
I agree that Levinas must be included in this list. His name has become more and more influential for those in phenomenology and especially for those in ethics. While he is on the periphery of Butler's work in Giving an Account, his work is seminal in C20 ethics and is considered a predominant influence. <small>—Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 10:00, 24 November 2007 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-03-21/ty-article/.premium/the-global-left-needs-to-renounce-judith-butler/0000018e-61e7-d507-a1cf-63f7bc380000 ] (]) 12:21, 2 April 2024 (UTC)


{{Misplaced Pages:Edit Request Wizard/Protected/notProtected}}
== Longest sentence ==


<!--Don't remove anything above this line.-->
There is a bit in the article that states that she apparently has the longest english sentence.
"She has been noted for writing the longest sentence in the English language"
Is there reference or link to what the sentence is? Is anyone able to source it and contribute it to wikiquote so that it can be linked? (] 03:00, 7 November 2007 (UTC))


== Add a link to an interview in Intercept from May 1,2024. "Judith Butler Will Not Co-Sign Israel’s Alibi for Genocide" ==


<u>What I think should be changed</u> : Add a link to an interview in Intercept from May 1,2024. "Judith Butler Will Not Co-Sign Israel’s Alibi for Genocide"
I have my doubts about this. Has anyone ever read Dummett's Philosophy of language. He has sentences that exceed a page and a half of printed page <small>—Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 01:10, 30 May 2008 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
<u>Why it should be changed:</u> This interview adds Judith Butler's commentary on the controversy over remarks Butler made about the October 7 attacks in Israel, and eloquently expands her argument that opposition to Israel's actions is not anti-semitism. I do not have 500 edits, so I didn't try to add it as an external link. Alternatively, it could be added as a reference for the 4th paragraph of the introduction or to the section: Comments on Hamas, Hezbollah and the Israel–Hamas war.

] (]) 21:17, 8 May 2024 (UTC)
== Criticisms ==

It would be inappropriate to include Nussbaum's criticisms of Butler without including the flood of responses to Nussbuam's article (including those from Gayatri Spivak, Drucilla Cornell, and Seyla Benhabib, among others). I'm sure this is just an oversight, but it deserves to be remedied. <small>—Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 09:56, 24 November 2007 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
: Please, please, please add these! This will be a great contribution to the article. The problem is simply that none of the regular editors know much about this controversy. A one sentence summary of each critic's response to Nussbaum with a proper references will be improve the dubious "criticisms" section enormously.--] (]) 07:14, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

== Butler on Crews ==

I am considering adding a mention of how Butler found one of Frederick Crews's comments homophobic, and what Crews said about that. I think this is both interesting and relevant. However, I anticipate that, if I do add it, someone is immediately going to delete it. So maybe this would be a good moment for someone to say why this incident should not be mentioned in the article. ] (]) 21:56, 24 February 2008 (UTC)
:I don't have a problem with it being mentioned so long as it is demonstrably ].--] (]) 21:51, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

::I'm pretty sure it's notable. That exchange received quite widespread notice. Since no one is objecting, I'll probably add it soon. ] (]) 00:10, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
:::I have just restored Crews's comment about Butler, following its deletion. The reason given for the deletion - that this is not an article about Crews - was absurd. If that argument was correct, then every reference to the criticism that Butler has received would have to be deleted. As for it not being clear what the comment was, I will fix that shortly (the person who complained about that could have done it him or herself). ] (]) 22:11, 4 March 2008 (UTC)
::::What ] states that this name-calling with Crews is notable? You asserted the exchange received "widespread notice" but I've never heard of it before and you haven't offered any evidence of that. I don't see the relevance of this point, and we still don't know from what you wrote anything new about Butler -- what did she actually say? Where is the quotation? All you have is a link to a summary of the discussion that provides little detail (and it's not clear to me who authored the summary or whether it is published in any reliable source). That there might have been an argument between two people in 1998 is not notable, even if the people involved (or at least one of them) are notable. All that you've added is some soapboxing by Crews without much real context. This stuff does not belong here. ] (]) 05:00, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
::::With all respect, the fact that you have not heard of something before does not mean that it is not notable. If you want evidence that it received widespread notice, try an internet search. Your suggestion that Frederick Crews is not a reliable source is surprising to me. Are you accusing him of making the whole thing up? I strongly doubt that he would do that. As for your other points, your suggestion that one of these two people (which one?) is not notable is mistaken; they are both very notable, and the fact that they made criticial comments about each other, in 1998 or any other year, makes a difference. ] (]) 05:48, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::I never said Crews wasn't notable; I said this alleged exchange of insults is not notable. You imply that reliable secondary sources attesting to notability can be found with an "internet search," yet you yourself are unable to come up with a single reliable source. All you have is a self-published summary of a conference panel from ten years ago. ] (]) 18:20, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::There does not appear to have been any 'exchange of insults' per se. Crews may have found Butler's remarks about him insulting, but I don't believe that he said so in as many words. Crews probably did not intend his remarks about Butler as an insult. Surely it doesn't need to be explaned why one well known writer suggesting that another well known writer's comments are homophobic is notable? ] (]) 23:42, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::Surely it does. ] (]) 00:38, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::::In this particular case, it is notable because it was an incident that 'has received significant coverage in reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject', to quote the page on notability. ] (]) 08:20, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::Well, then, let's see evidence of the significant coverage in reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject. An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education focused on "The Great Butler-Crews Smackdown of 1998" should do the trick. ] (]) 23:16, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::I don't have any problem with its inclusion, so long as it is indeed notable. Notability should be demonstrated in the reference itself. I suggest finding a secondary source which attests to the notability of the incident and gives some background and analysis showing its significance.--] (]) 17:36, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::There is more information about what happened here: http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/myers/bad_writing.html ] (]) 23:35, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::A blog entry does not establish notability or verifiability. See ]. ] (]) 00:39, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::That was not a blog entry. It was re-published from a widely read magazine. ] (]) 08:08, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::::I agree that the link doesn't establish notability. ''The Weekly Standard'' is a neoconservative magazine with its own agenda. The notability of the event is not demonstrated merely by this magazine's attempt to use it to attack and discredit Butler.--] (]) 21:35, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::Are you suggesting that neoconservative magazines can never be used to establish notability? Why not? I'm not aware that wikipedia has a policy specifically about neoconservative magazines - if it does, could you please direct me to it? The page on reliable sources notes that, 'Material from mainstream news organizations is welcomed.' It does caution against sources widely acknowledged as extremist. To my knowledge, that does not include The Weekly Standard. ] (]) 04:36, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::::::Certainly I am not suggesting that. In this case, however, I do not think that the mention by a single editorial specifically aimed at attacking and discrediting Butler in a neoconservative magazine sufficiently establishes notability. The article seems to be trying to take advantage of an obscure incident to condemn Butler and her work more generally. If this event was reported as news by the Weekly Standard, and not merely in an opinion piece, perhaps that could establish notability. Other sources are needed though, IMO.--] (]) 13:19, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::::Misplaced Pages's criteria for notability are rather loose. 'A topic is presumed to be notable if it has received significant coverage in reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject' potentially makes many things notable. Especially since 'These notability guidelines only pertain to the encyclopedic suitability of topics for articles but do not directly limit the content of articles.' 'IMO' stands for in my opinion, and if it is a matter of opinion, I don't see how that settles anything. ] (]) 07:24, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::Agreed. I didn't notice it was a reprint; in any case if we do use magazines they should be linked directly, not a reprint on somebody's blog. But there is no way we can use Weekly Standard on this issue, especially since the attack on butler is not the main focus of this article at all. ] (]) 23:15, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::: What difference does it make that it is not the main focus of the article? It is significant that the Standard found the incident important enough to mention. ] (]) 04:36, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::::No it's not. Not everything that rag happens to mention in an offhanded way like this deserves encyclopedic attention. This is an article about an academic and you're trying to add a pretty vague summary of a verbal exchange that took place ten years ago. Should every random argument Butler ever got into in every conference she attended be mentioned here? The fact that her and Crews apparently misinterpreted each other (or not, I really can't tell from the summary) is just not that important or significant. The fact that the Weekly Standard saw fit to mention it as a way of attacking academics is not that important. The only reason you seem to want to include it here is the vague whiff of homophobia-related scandal, much like your attempts at editing the Foucault page. Why not read some Judith Butler (or her critics) and discuss the actual points made in published literature and talked about by other academics? ] (]) 07:36, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::::Commodore Sloat, if, as you have hinted, you do not find Judith Butler herself to be notable, I'm not sure why you should care what does or does not go into an article about her. Presumably, if Butler is not notable, the correct thing to do would be to delete this article entirely, not to focus on particular details such as this one (I usually avoid discussing people's motives with them, but since your reasoning appears to be inconsistent, I can hardly avoid this here). As for my motives, you read them quite wrongly. A little thought about the matter should suggest that there are numerous different reasons why someone might want this incident mentioned. I will not discuss different issues with you here. ] (]) 07:24, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::::::::If you refuse to read or understand what I have written that is fine but please do not distort it or put words in my mouth; it is highly annoying. I never said Butler was not notable, as you should know, nor do I particularly care what your motives are. Since you refuse to deal with the actual arguments I made, I assume you are conceding them. ] (]) 06:37, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::::::If you do not care what my motives are, you should not have speculated about them. Your main argument seems to be that the exchange is not significant. It is signifcant, because accusations of homophobia can under certain circumstances destroy people's reputations. That one noted writer tries to damage another noted writer's reputation in this way is a fact worth recording. ] (]) 07:44, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::I would once again really appreciate it if you stop putting false words in my mouth. It is disconcerting; it is also extremely ]. Thank you. Now, if you would please indicate which ] indicates that one noted writer tried to damage another noted writer's reputation, we can proceed from there. The Weakly Standard article you cite does not claim that at all. All we have is a vague summary of an exchange that may have taken place ten years ago at a conference. Lots of silly things get said at conferences; few of them are encyclopedia-worthy. If you can point me to the front-page article in the ''Chronicle of Higher Education'' (or, hell, even a letter to the editor there) foregrounding this as an important debate , we might have something to talk about; otherwise, it really doesn't matter who called whom a poopy-head. Why are you wasting our time with this nonsense? ] (]) 08:32, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::I did not knowingly put false words in your mouth. You did say that the incident was not significant. I have nothing else to say about this, except that it is inappropriate to continue this discussion while a request for comment has been placed. ] (]) 08:37, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
(undent) There are 2 related and simple policy issues here. First is sourcing. The ''Weekly Standard'' piece is partisan, in fact it is a ] (as it is political ''opinion''). Secondly ] is not established by trivial references in a newspaper op-ed. There may also be a BLP issue here, so unless solid, third party, non-partisan sources can be found to verify this and discuss it with some depth it aint notable enough for the encyclopedia--] <sup>]</sup> 18:20, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
:Most news sources, including mainstream ones, are partisan in one way or another, so I don't find this relevant. That the reference is 'trivial' is just an assertion. ] (]) 07:24, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
::: It seems you've added this even though 3 editors have requested that you better demonstrate notability here. I'm afraid I am unconvinced by this source as it is a panel paper presentation - if it were notable this remark could be found in a normal ], like a Jstor or project muse record of a published journal article or book. I'm opening an RFC on this for outside in-put. BLP is a very serious matter for the encyclopedia, please don't take this personally, the addition of contentious material to biographies of living people need to be done with extreme care and in the spirit of "do no harm"--] <sup>]</sup> 12:33, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
::::The reliable sources page indicates that, 'Material from mainstream news organizations is welcomed.' The Weekly Standard is a mainstream news organization by most standards. The article does not say Project Muse must be used as a source, but for what it is worth the following http://www.google.com/search?q=%22frederick+crews%22+butler+homophobic&hl=en&safe=off&start=20&sa=N suggests that something may be there (the Muse page is listed at the bottom of the search results). I do not have access to Project Muse, but those who do should be able to check Cailil's claim that it cannot be found there for themselves. As for do no harm, the incident has already been reported, so I am not sure what harm it would do anyone's reputation to mention it in a wikipedia article. ] (]) 03:03, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::Skoojal, I didn't claim "it wasn't on project Muse" - your building a strawman there. Also I didn't and never have at any time said that elibraries like Muse or Jstor ''had'' to be used as sources - please don't misrepresent my remarks. As it happens I have access to Muse and I was able to find the same piece by Crews there. I also found mention of it in piece by Michael Bauerlein who wrote an apology for Crews' criticism of Freud and for "resisting theory" in general (I haven't found this cited anywhere yet) however the fundamental notability problem is still there. What's notable about 2 academics sniping at each other at a conference - nothing except the ''Weekly Standard'''s appropriation of the event to attack Judith Butler. Secondly by definition ''The Weekly Standard'' is not mainstream - it's niche, it's a neoconservative paper - let's face it is not the ''London Times'' or ''New York Times'' or even the ''Irish Times'' and it does not have the same or similar reputation for fact checking and accuracy as any of these papers (that doesn't mean these 3 examples are perfect btw). I'm not saying that in every situation the ''Weekly Standard'' isn't good enough as a source - I am saying ''in this case'' better sources are needed. As regards "do no harm" - see ] and WP:BLP in general. What Crews says is that Butler made a remark about "community standards" which he claims is code for homophobia - which he claims was a debating tactic to shut his argument down. That's a "contentious claim about a third party" and that's why I opened the RFC. Also as Commodore Sloat requested above could you indicate where this has been noted as an important or significant debate - I'd like to see this. If you can show how this really is notable and significant I wouldn't have a problem ith being in the article 9as long as it was give due weight and recorded neutrally) but Crews history of criticizing theorists from Freud to Showlater makes it look like a run-of-the-mill Fredrick C Crews comment about (another) Freudian he doesn't agree with--] <sup>]</sup> 14:52, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::BTW thank you for pointing out that the link to the ''Weekly Standard'' was broken below--] <sup>]</sup> 15:06, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::The article in question is by Mark Bauerlein, not 'Michael Bauerlein.' If indeed it does mention Butler's comments about Crews and Crews's comments about Butler, then surely it does show the incident to be notable. If you could say more about the content of that article for the benefit of those who do not have access to it, that would be helpful. Your account of the exchange is somewhat muddled - it was Crews who apparently mentioned 'community standards' and Butler who then apparently interpreted that as homophobic. There's not much to be said about The Weekly Standard; like it or not, neoconservatism is an important part of the political mainstream in the United States. ] (]) 20:21, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::Sorry - you are right it is Mark Bauerlein (I must have been thinking of Michael Bérubé when I was typing). And yes my synopsis was a little rushed. As Bauerlein outlines it Butler said she "mistrusted appeal to community standards" and that Crews had "a desire for respectability". Crews then decides that she accused him of homophobia (that she euated "community standards with homophobic discourse). He then claims she used codewords to infer that he was homophobic in order to shut down his argument.
:::::::Bauerlein's piece is about resisting theory and how Crews regards Freudians as blank-pseudo-scientists and how American academia "harbors several headquarters of false or misdirected learning". He does use Butler and Crews as one example. He also uses John Caputo's obituary of Derrida and Crews attacks on ] and how he has been frustrated by the American academy. Problem in this case is Bauerlein's piece is an article written about Crews and it incidentally mentioned his spat with Butler - in other words it's not about Butler Versus Crews. The piece might be notable on Crews page for general use in Crews' bio, but unless it is cited by other mainstream articles about this argument between Crews and Butler it may not be good enough. We have no idea about how widely accepted this view is or how widely disputed. Also it would probably constitute ], and breach ] to use it alone.--] <sup>]</sup> 20:52, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::Actually it would be fair to note that Bauerlein's position on deconstruction and critical theory in general is relevant. His position being against (ie resisting) theory which is, for better or worse, the global mainstream in academia--] <sup>]</sup> 21:04, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::I disagree with you about most of this. I don't think that it is important that the article is not primarily about Crews's dispute with Butler. Nor do I think there is a need to find other articles citing this one. I doubt that it counts as original research. You may perhaps be right that this incident would be better mentioned in the article about Crews, however. ] (]) 00:57, 10 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::::The article not being about Butler or a serious discussion of her conflict with Crews makes it a ] and a possible ] issue. Skoojal, BLPs and biographies are minefields. One has to be very very clear that rumours and/or minor incidents are recorded in an encyclopedia article when (and only when) they are of encyclopedic value and when they "]." Adding this issue is - as outlined below in the RFC - questionable form a notability, BLP and sourcing perspective. Additionally it would become a coatrack to hang tangential, non-notable criticisms of the subject upon.
:::::::::The reason I'm being so sticky here is because this is a biography article and there is a responsibility on WP to get its biographies strictly within policy. About ] "''you must cite reliable sources that provide information directly related to the topic of the article, and that directly support the information as it is presented.''" My point above is this the Bauerlein article is not ''about'' Butler and Crews argument. In fact it's not about Butler - and that's where the problem with using it here is--] <sup>]</sup> 14:34, 10 March 2008 (UTC)
::::::::::This debate is over as far as I'm concerned. I effectively conceded a while ago by refraining from further editing the article. I still disagree with some of your arguments, but that no longer has a bearing on the Butler article. ] (]) 05:26, 11 March 2008 (UTC)
:::::::::::Just a point of clarification this isn't a debate - it's about site policies and standards for inclusion in ]. If this issue is closed I will also close the RFC as comment would be unnecessary--] <sup>]</sup> 16:22, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

== RFC Judith Butler & Frederick C Crews ==

{{Archive top}}

Requesting comment from uninvolved users on the above ] started by ] in order to include contentious information in this BLP article about Judith Butler. After 2 weeks of discussion, 3 editors have asked Skoojal to provide further evidence of the notability of this information. ], ] and ] were unconvinced of the notability of the remarks published in a reprint from an op-ed from the neoconservative ''Weekly Standard'' (op-ed dated 1999).

On March 8th Skoojal added the same information sourcing it from given by Crews and published on human-nature.com (paper dated 1998).

In my view these are questionable sources. If Crews' and Butler's argument was notable it would be discussed in reliable third party sources - ie books or journal articles. It would be discussed in a number of different publications, rather than just Crew's own panel paper and an op-ed in a neoconservative paper. Also if it was very notable it might have been discussed in sources more recently than 9 years ago. The relevant policies are:
*WP:N - ] is not established by trivial references - it requires multiple reliable sources dealing with an issue in some depth.
*WP:V - ] are sources that are self-published or 'extremist'. Contentious material contained in questionable sources should not be used on WP and remarks about third parties should not be used on WP.
*WP:BLP - ] "''Material about living persons must be sourced very carefully. Without reliable third-party sources, it will violate the No original research and Verifiability policies, and could lead to libel claims.''"
Please review the sources and the policies as regards whether Skoojal's edit should be added. Please note that this is a discussion and not a !vote. Thank you for your time--] <sup>]</sup> 12:57, 8 March 2008 (UTC)
{{Archive bottom}}

:RFC closed see above thread--] <sup>]</sup> 16:26, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

== Viviane Namaste's critique of Butler - "Tragic Misreadings" ==

Hey people, just a suggestion: why isn't Viviane Namaste's critique of Butler (notably Gender Trouble and Bodies that Matter) included in the critical response to her work? This can be found in her book Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People (University of Chicago Press, 2000), or, alternatively, as an earlier article in Brett Beemyn and Mickey Eliason, eds., Queer Studies: A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Anthology. New York: New York University Press, pp. 183-203.


More info about Invisible Lives here: http://oneofthesethings.blogspot.com/2008/02/namastes-invisible-lives.html <small>—Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 23:18, 26 May 2008 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:There is no reason why this isn't included; please add it!!--] (]) 03:36, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

::It has been suggested below that ] and ] provide reasons why it isn't included. ] (]) 02:51, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

==A suggestion: get rid of the 'critical response' section==

I suggest that the section 'critical response' be removed. The parts of it that are relevant to Butler's biography should be integrated into the rest of the article. The parts that are not relevant should be deleted. Martha Nussbaum's criticisms of Butler would perhaps be more appropriately placed in the article on Nussbaum. ] (]) 07:29, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

:Huzzah and hurray! I wholeheartedly agree with Skoojal here... and thank him/her for thinking so carefully and with an open mind about the proper focus of biographical articles.

:I've tried to characterize this on some other talk pages that I know Skoojal has seen, but for other editors: IMO (and per ], etc) what belongs in a biography is (only) facts pertinent to understanding who a given intellectual is, what they did, and to a lesser extent to influence they had on contemporary thinkers. It is pointedly ''not'' the job of WP to tell readers whether that thinker is "right" or "wrong", nor even really to give readers "everything they need to judge the correctness." An intellectual certainly ''has'' positions on whatever issues, but s/he ''is not herself those positions'', but rather a person who advanced them. There might be some other article on a given intellectual position or concept; that article on the ''concept'' might appropriately set its advancers against its refuters. Humans (living or dead), however, are still distinct from the concepts they are most associated with. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 07:57, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

::That's an excellent point Skoojal, I agree also--] <sup>]</sup> 11:31, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

I attempted to follow ]. See ]. ] (]) 21:50, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

After discussion at ] I've been convinced to re-merge. ] (]) 02:24, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

:That's too bad, I ''liked'' the refactoring, which pushes the article towards ] style. See my comments over at the spin-off article. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 03:54, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

===Style===
If criticisms are to be integrated into sections on specific works or concepts, where would criticisms of Butler's overall writing style, such as Nussbaum, go? I have a feeling that if placed in the Nussbaum article we would hear the argument that a criticism of Butler's writing style doesn't belong in an article that isn't about Butler. ] (]) 00:32, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

:This should be discussed on the talk page before it's done, but I think it would be OK; it's definitely relevant to Nussbaum's biography. ] (]) 03:15, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

::How so? ] (]) 03:17, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

::I share Hyacinth's doubt that one fairly off-hand comment about Butler is all that important to ''her'' (Nussbaum's) biography. Nussbaum has written lots of books and articles, and one passing criticism of a contemporary from a vaguely related school of thought doesn't do that much to define or explain Nussbaum. OTOH, I haven't edit Nussbaum's article much or lately, so I'll leave that question to editors over there. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 03:58, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

::Biographies are descriptions of things that people did. Nussbaum criticized Butler, thus it forms part of her biography. It was a very widely publicized criticism that significantly affected Nussbbaum's public image. ] (]) 11:52, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

:::]'s biography already notes that she reviewed Butler's work critically, as well as other prominent authors. I don't see the need to go into any further depth. If readers want to see what Nussbaum said they can link to her article. I'm not sure elaborating about how "it was a very widely publicized criticism that significantly affected Nussbbaum's public image" in the way you express it Skoojal would be compatible with ] - I can find no scholarly sources that talk about it and I would be hesitant to use salon.com in a BLP article--] <sup>]</sup> 12:46, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

::::The issue is notability. Did reviewing Butler significantly affect the course of Nussbaum's life? My inclination is not-so-much, but obviously that's up to what reliable sources say; Skoojal suggests the criticism was widely publicized, so maybe the effect was there and more important than my personal hunch. Nussbaum did lots of things that don't belong in the bio ''per se'' though: we don't really care about how she furnished her house, or what her favorite restaurant is, or her hobby that she is non-professionally enthusiastic about (stipulating she has such); each of those things might well have occupied more of Nussbaum's life, just measured in chronology. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 17:13, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

::::The article on Nussbaum briefly describes her criticial reviews of other writers. If all of these criticisms were to be described in more detail, there wouldn't be anything wrong with saying more about what Nussbaum wrote about Butler. Otherwise it might seem like blowing it out of proportion. 'Scholarly sources' not discussing it does not mean it was not important; it attracted all sorts of excited comment. ] (]) 21:22, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

===Performativity/Digeser===
It has been argued above that Digeser's criticism's would go under whichever specific works of Butler's his piece criticizes as well as ]. Correct? ] (]) 02:29, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

== Concerning the criticism section of this article ==

] says this: 'In general, making separate sections with the title "Criticism" is discouraged. The main argument for this is that they are often a troll magnet.' This is sensible, and so are the remarks by Jimbo Wales, which are quoted there: 'And I agree with the view expressed by others that often, they are a symptom of bad writing. That is, it isn't that we should not include the criticisms, but that the information should be properly incorporated throughout the article rather than having a troll magnet section of random criticisms.'

I know that the Criticism section of this article is currently called the Reception section, but it comes to much the same thing, and most of the same remarks apply. I will refer here to a debate that occured some months ago. I tried to add to the article a mention of a disagreement between Judith Butler and a prominent American literary critic, who suggested that Butler had interpreted one of his comments as homophobic. I tried to do this in a way that was fundamentally flawed, since I did not produce an acceptable source, and in fact I misquoted Butler. I apologise to Judith Butler for this. I should not have added this material to the article, and other editors were right to remove it.

Having said that, however, I do not think that there is any good reason why this disagreement should not be mentioned in the Reception section, at least if there is going to be a Reception section. There is a proper source, Peter Brooks and Alex Woloch's book ''Whose Freud? The Place of Psychoanalysis in Contemporary Culture'', and it could be used to quote both Butler and the person she disagreed with correctly. I hasten to add that I am not going to add this material myself, both because there could be a problem with my doing that, and more importantly because I do not think it would be the right thing to do, since there is perhaps no need for a Reception section at all. Some of its contents consist of things that Martha Nussbaum, Dennis Dutton, Nancy Fraser, Drucilla Cornell, Seyla Benhabib and Susan Bordo have said about Judith Butler, and that material might be better placed in the articles about them than in this one (in some cases, it is already there in some form; I'm not sure what the point of duplicating it here is).

The criticism of Butler by the person I refer to above also in principle belongs in the article about that person, if it belongs anywhere, although obviously I am not going to put it there, and it would not be appropriate for anyone else to do that for a very, very long time. It is neither more nor less inappropriate to this article than is the criticism of Butler by Martha Nussbaum, which includes the word "evil." My point is that the Reception (it amounts to a Criticism) section should be dismantled with some speed, because so long as it is there, someone ''else'' might yet decide that it is a good idea to add a mention of the disagreement contained in ''Whose Freud?'' to it. Don't wait for that day. ] (]) 05:42, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

:Irregardless of whether or not this article should have a reception section and whether or not troll magnets should be avoided when possible: that something is a potential troll magnet does not make it bad writing. Those are two separate arguments against "Criticism sections" that should not be confused.
:Why must we hurry so? ]. ] (]) 01:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

::I'm not sure cleaning up over a couple years is exactly "hurrying". <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 03:13, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

::In reply to Hyacinth: the case for hurrying is that things which might not seem so important now could well come to seem very important at some time in the future, and at that future date one might find oneself wishing that one had acted sooner. It's not a position I would want to find myself in. If things seem even a little bit inappropriate, or look as though they might conceivably become inappropriate, it's best to deal with the situation before it becomes really troubling. Lulu: I'm not sure I quite understand your point. ] (]) 07:39, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

:::This issue with unencyclopedic criticism sections is not new, nor is it even new to this particular article. I could look through the edit history, but it's definitely been a couple years since I first tried to reign in some excesses of the section ''on this article''. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 09:28, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

:::If you want to cut back the criticism (sorry, response) section, a good way to start might be to get rid of the comments by Nussbaum and Dutton, the appropriate place for which is in the articles about them. The same applies to the comments by Bordo, Fraser, Cornell, and Benhabib, in my opinion. Much of the other material in that section, including that in the paragraphs that start with 'While Butler’s work, especially the notion of “gender performativity” is far from universally accepted as being an accurate or complete explanation of gender identity...' and 'Butler has been called "one of the superstars of '90s' could be placed instead in earlier parts of the article, such as the introduction (the introduction would be an especially good place for the 'Butler has been called...' part). The remaining material arguably might just as well be deleted. ] (]) 08:41, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Skoojal if you would like to add something notable to this article why not let us know what it is rather than talking around it? If you are planning to add the same non-notable conversation that may have happened at a conference panel 10 years ago, which you apologized for adding above, please don't bother. Calling it a "reception" instead of a "criticism" does not alleviate the fundamental problem with it, which is that it was completely non-notable and was not commented on by any third party; as I pointed out , if you want to add something about Butler as a notable controversy, please offer evidence that it is a notable controversy. Thanks. ] (]) 18:52, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

:I am not planning to add anything at all to the article, least of all about this particular dispute. I was perfectly clear about this, and I don't know why I should have to point it out again. My apology concerned only two points: the fact that I misquoted Butler, and the fact that I tried to add this material to the article about her rather than to the article about the person who made the accusation about her. The issue of notability is irrelevant, by the way, since that does not directly limit the content of articles. I mentioned this only to make a point about the problems involved with criticism sections, even if they aren't called criticism sections. My view is that if Person A makes some kind of scandalous accusation about Person B, it should probably be detailed in the article about Person A, and receive perhaps only a brief mention, or even no mention, in the article about Person B. ] (]) 08:03, 2 July 2008 (UTC)
::If you're not planning to add this I'm not sure why you brought it up. But since you're not planning to add it, we have no dispute. Have a great day. ] (]) 08:11, 2 July 2008 (UTC)
:::I made it totally clear why I brought it up. Sooner or later, someone else will probably want to add this material. If I had decided that this article was my responsibility, I would get rid of the Criticism/Response section promptly to prevent that, or at least make it less likely. ] (]) 08:14, 2 July 2008 (UTC)
::::I seriously doubt anyone else will bring up the great Crews-Butler spat of 1998.... but if they do I am glad to hear that you too will be against including it. Have a great day. ] (]) 08:17, 2 July 2008 (UTC)
:::::Heavy sarcasm is a bad way to make points. What Butler thinks about this matter is not on record, but the other party to the disagreement made it clear that he considered the matter important (he wrote that he took it very seriously); his judgment about its importance is much more accurate than yours. ] (]) 08:24, 2 July 2008 (UTC)
::::::I'm not going to debate his judgement with you. As I said, if you are against including that on this page, we are in agreement. ] (]) 00:13, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Is this discussion still "Concerning the criticism section of this article" or do we need to start a new thread under a new heading? ] (]) 01:46, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

:The discussion is still "concerning the criticism section of this article" as far as I'm concerned. I've suggested above (in my response to Lulu) some ways in which the material in the article could be rearranged. What is your view? ] (]) 01:54, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

::It may be useful to separate discussion about the section in general from discussions about specific criticisms.
::You have argued that the criticism under immediate discussion was important. If this is indeed so you should be able to ] and add this information into an article. If we know that it was important to the critic and you can cite that then it appears it should go in the article about the critic, in this case. ] (]) 02:06, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
:::I am trying to focus on discussion about the section in general. ] (]) 02:17, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

::::I find it helpful to do focus discussion by starting new headings for new topics as they come up. That way I can focus on the issue I have been concerned with while other people may continue to discuss the other issues brought up along the way (or not, as they wish). ] (]) 02:23, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
::::Start a new heading or not as you wish. If it helps discussion, fine. ] (]) 23:06, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

==The value of criticism==
{{quote|He only profits from praise who values criticism|Heinrich Heine}} ] (]) 01:34, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

==Removing Mention of Paglia? What the heck - remove everything ==

I see that Lulu of the Lotus Eaters recently removed a mention of Camille Paglia from this article, with the comment, 'Paglia mention is far too vague for any encyclopedic value.' In my opinion, the same remark could equally well be applied to material that has ''not'' been removed from the article. As for Butler declining Nussbaum's invitation to debate, I do ''not'' think that this is trivial. It's a rather significant and interesting fact. Regarding the wording of the article, I'd like to know what a non-theoretical concept or an atheoretical concept is? ] (]) 03:11, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

:There is certainly a bunch more fluff that could stand to go, but the Paglia was particularly clear. "Declined an invitation?!" It seems to be trying to insinuate "because Butler couldn't defend against the charges" or something like that. But maybe it was just "because she was busy that day"... or, frankly, even just "because she felt debating Paglia is a waste of time". Who knows, and who care? ... Butler also once declined an invitation to speak at my school (though she had spoken there other times), and the fact isn't remotely close to biographical interest. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 06:22, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

:Um, I think you mean "because she felt debating Nussbaum is a waste of time", not "because she felt debating Paglia is a waste of time." Nussbaum and Paglia are not the same person. Anyway, it is a highly relevant fact that should be mentioned if there is going to be any coverage of the Butler vs. Nussbaum episode that is more than a sentence long. As for Susan Gubar, 'Gubar comment seems a little weird to me, but is much more philosophical than the stylistic nit-picks, so more encyclopedic' is not really an explanation of why that comment should be here and not in the article on Gubar. The article on Gubar could do with expanding anyway, so why not put it there? ] (]) 06:33, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

::Yeah, sorry I confused the sections slightly, but the Paglia consisted of "Feminist ] has echoed these concerns." Characterizing Paglia as "feminist" is probably contentious already, but the main point is "echoed these concerns" doesn't tell us anything new... if Paglia had some specific point of debate that was presented, that could possibly be non-vague. However, despite your excellent restructuring of the article, it's still weighed down with too much rather fluffy "criticism". Some of it, like Bordo and Fraser seem to get at real philosophical points, but most still reads like schoolyard name-calling. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 06:41, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

::Btw, Gubar's article could definitely use expansion. But her comment on Butler seems to be more about the reception of Butler than really central to Gubar's own biography. Then again, the fact Gubar's article is such a stub enhances the ] concern: if we had 8 paragraphs on Gubar, an extra sentence mentioning her critique of Butler would fit in the flow, but stuck into one other paragraph, it would suggest that the only thing Gubar had done was write a critique of Butler (which isn't true... I don't know Gubar's work that well, but I've read some of it, and it's interesting). <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 06:46, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

::My view of this is that if, for whatever reason, the article where something could most appropriately be placed is not ready for it, it should not be placed anywhere. On those grounds, I am again going to remove the mention of Gubar. ] (]) 06:09, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

:::I don't understand this. Honestly. I'm not particularly attached to the Gubar thing; it seems a little funny to me, and I'm not the one who added it. However, of all the various "so-and-so disagrees with Butler", this is the one that, on its face, seems to be most relevant to the actual ''philosophical'' debates (well, at least more than most of what's in there). Is there some reasoning behind why you don't want it here? <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 06:31, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

:::Yes. In principle, if Person A makes a criticism of Person B, and there are articles about both Person A and Person B, the criticism should be mentioned in the article about Person A. But there I go repeating myself. ] (]) 06:37, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

::::Huh?! Why is all the other stuff in there then? Why the Nussbaum? Why did you argue for keeping the (rather vacant) "Paglia doesn't like her either" thing? For that matter, why the Fraser and all that (which I also think is germane to the actual philosophical issues). I really can't see how what you're arguing for is a consistent editorial stance.

::::FWIW, I don't really think the principle you state is quite right. Gubar is older than Butler, and basically established her academic reputation before Butler's first book. So it's certainly not the case that Gubar became notable because of her critique of Butler. More generally, with Professors A and B, some comment by A might be relevant to the reception of B's work, often without being particularly central to A's own reputation. I definitely don't like "criticism" sections--nor even criticisms-under-disguise that are sprinkled throughout--that try to create "balance" by mechanically saying something negative for every positive thing. On the other hand academics participate in various "bodies of knowledge", and sometimes a comment ''about'' someone else really has more to do with that other thinker. It varies. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 06:45, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
::::If you're asking why I wanted to keep the reference to Butler declining to debate Nussbaum: my reasoning was that ''if'' there is going to be proper coverage of Nussbaum's disagreement with Butler, then this had to be mentioned. I didn't really think that mentioning Nussbaum's criticism of Butler here was a good idea at all, but I did think that if it ''was'' mentioned, then no relevant information should be left out. However, since you insisted on removing that part, I reduced the mention of Nussbaum down to the barest minimum. If ''proper'' coverage of something is not acceptable, then there should really be ''no'' coverage. ] (]) 07:47, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

==Suggestion: Get Rid of 'Writing Style'==

I mean it. Just delete the whole thing. It wouldn't be a loss. Nussbaum and Dutton's opinions about Butler's writing style belong in the articles about them. ] (]) 08:05, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

:100% agree. <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 08:25, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

::Nussbaum's analysis of Butler is among the most widely cited critique of her work, and it is not in the least relegated to a critique of the stylistic implications of Butler's work. It is an analysis of Butler--not a development of Nussbaum's own scholarly work--and therefore is relevant to Butler's article. Consider comparable wikipedia articles about major academics/public intellectuals, i.e. ], ], ], ], ], etc. They all, of course, contain assessments of their work by other notable scholars and critics.

::I intend rewrite the summary of Nussbaum's critique into a short, cogent paragraph that more accurately captures the critique she levels, which, as anyone knows who has read it, extends well beyond stylistic implications to examine her inaccurate interpretation of Austin, her bizarre and unfounded legal claims, her inability to distinguish between useful and non-useful directions of subversive acts without an affirmative notion of dignity, etc. Skoojal, please let me know if you're amenable to these suggestions and we'll move from there. Thanks.--] (]) 22:56, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

:::If you can write (concisely) a description of any ''philosophical'' critiques Nussbaum has made of Butler, that would be great. It should still result in the deletion of the absurd "Writing style" subsection, but would fit perfectly with other theoretical critiques... it would be better still if this could actually be distributed into the narrative of Butler's own work, rather than in the ] violating separate section. For example, if Nussbaum wrote her critique in year N, it's not really a critique of the book Butler went on to write in N+1 (it may or may not still apply conceptually, but we cannot decide without ]). <font color="darkgreen">]</font>×<font color="darkred" size="-2">]</font> 23:07, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

:::I strongly suggest that Nussbaum's criticism of Butler belongs in the article on Nussbaum. Nussbaum's criticism of Butler is part of her work by any non-arbitrary definition of that term (just as is her work on Aristotle, which is also quite properly located in the article on Nussbaum). I have no problem with a detailed description of Nussbaum's criticism of Butler (it should be useful and interesting), but I think this is the wrong article for it. ] (]) 04:24, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

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Section sizes
Section size for Judith Butler (33 sections)
Section name Byte
count
Section
total
(Top) 6,452 6,452
Early life and education 7,954 7,954
Overview of major works 92 30,485
Performative Acts and Gender Constitution (1988) 4,281 4,281
Gender Trouble (1990) 3,435 3,435
Imitation and Gender Insubordination (1991) 1,546 1,546
Bodies That Matter (1993) 3,983 3,983
Excitable Speech (1997) 4,043 4,043
Precarious Life (2004) 4,448 4,448
Undoing Gender (2004) 2,419 2,419
Giving an Account of Oneself (2005) 3,502 3,502
Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly (2015) 763 763
The Force of Nonviolence (2020) 862 862
Who's Afraid of Gender? (2024) 1,111 1,111
Reception 16,462 18,401
Non-academic 1,939 1,939
Political activism 7,261 27,005
Adorno Prize affair 2,623 2,623
Comments on Hamas, Hezbollah and the Israel–Hamas war 6,057 6,057
Comments on Black Lives Matter 1,773 1,773
Avital Ronell sexual harassment case 2,644 2,644
Comments on the anti-gender movement and trans-exclusionary radical feminism 4,032 6,647
The Guardian interview 2,615 2,615
Personal life 2,722 2,722
Selected honors and awards 5,825 5,825
Publications 1,491 14,702
Books 6,216 6,216
Book chapters 6,995 6,995
Notes 24 24
References 28 28
Further reading 3,957 3,957
Further reading 1,165 1,165
External links 3,431 3,431
Total 122,151 122,151

This biographical article uses the pronouns they/them/their.

Non-Binary AND lesbian at the same time?

Since Judith Butler describes herself/themself as non-binary she/they technically cannot be lesbian at the same time. Either Butler is a woman or she has no gender affiliation. The fact that J.B. remains to be a biological woman seems to be irrelevant nowadays since self-identification beats biology. According to this reasoning the tag "lesbian" and all mentions thereof must be removed. (provocative, I know, but I am open to debate) Schmutzman (talk) 10:57, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

There are plenty of non-binary people who still use the term lesbian for themselves, and plenty of lesbians who are also attracted to non-binary people. As editors, it's not our job to police someone's labels. We just need to follow the sources. Hist9600 (talk) 15:21, 11 November 2023 (UTC)
They also use the she pronoun so that could solve the logical contradiction. 82.36.70.45 (talk) 17:16, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
No sexuality excludes non-binary people. Non-binary isn't a single third gender. There are demigender and multigender experiences that include connection to womanhood, for example. When Judith Butler came out as n-b, they didn't say they stopped being lesbian. --MikutoH 01:36, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Stupid question here: Is wikipedia about informing the readers or pandering to the person who the article is about? If Trump considers himself to be an honest person who always tells the truth ... is that what wikipedia will label him? It is a label and like the poster above me wrote "it's not our job to police someone's labels". This attitude just does not make sense because it leaves the door open for misinformation. 2001:871:22B:616:B014:77AC:1B45:ECF9 (talk) 21:35, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

One is always saddled with the burden of evaluating the reliability and relevance of a source. There is no formula for truth. No system or policy is immune from misinformation. Could you help me to understand what portions of the article you believe are "pandering?" Is there an source being cited for the content of this article you deem to be unreliable? If so how? 50.120.71.37 (talk) 20:18, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 4 January 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

In the notes of this article, it is indicated that this article will use they/them pronouns for Butler for consistency. Currently she/her pronouns are used for Butler in the Israel-Hamas political action section. Specifically, this occurs in the sentence, “After the start of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Butler published an essay entitled "The Compass of Mourning", in which she argued that Hamas' attacks should be seen in the context of the "horrors of the last seventy years".“ Can someone change the "she" here to "they"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gvarab13 (talkcontribs)

I have corrected that. I'm not sure what, if anything, we should do with the Die Zeit quote though. It seems to have been translated from German rather poorly if the phrasing "countless the same thing goes on for paragraphs" is anything to go by. Maybe somebody who speaks German can look at that? --DanielRigal (talk) 23:25, 4 January 2024 (UTC)
"... paragraph after paragraph, always the same thing: Violence cannot be justified by anything, and yet one must see the violence of the occupying power Israel. It becomes clear that she (understandably) does not know where to direct {focus?} her thoughts anymore."
The article is behind a paywall. So I could only read the quote from the German wikipedia site and there it does not become more understandable than the version I have given you now.
In German they use the word she. I would consider it a misquote to not do so. We should also not pander to self declared labels. Nobody in their right mind would respect Trump's labels of himself and enforce them in an wikipedia article. 2001:871:22B:616:B014:77AC:1B45:ECF9 (talk) 22:06, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
If you want to argue about this MOS:GENDERID is the place. This article is just reflecting that policy. AquitaneHungerForce (talk) 22:25, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

They/Them

I would like to suggest that the article should state at the beginning that JB uses They/Them pronouns otherwise it is confusing. I was about to correct the pronoun when I realized what the situation was. So please give every one a heads up regarding the pronouns. This should be a standard of all people who use non-standard pronouns. 67.204.247.30 (talk) 22:35, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

I don't think there is any Misplaced Pages policy recommending that. Some mention of pronouns is recommended only for neopronouns. He/him, she/her, and they/them are not neopronouns (MOS:GIDINFO). Hist9600 (talk) 23:51, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

mistrust sexual violence

Speaking at a public event in Paris on March 3 please add follloing: Despite numerous statements from those affected and reports of systematic sexual violence by Hamas, Butler demanded evidence. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-03-21/ty-article/.premium/the-global-left-needs-to-renounce-judith-butler/0000018e-61e7-d507-a1cf-63f7bc380000 2A02:8388:6683:9500:31F1:FDB9:452A:42A2 (talk) 12:21, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

This article isn't protected, so you should be able to edit it yourself. If you are still having problems editing it, please ask for advice at WP:TEAHOUSE.


Add a link to an interview in Intercept from May 1,2024. "Judith Butler Will Not Co-Sign Israel’s Alibi for Genocide"

What I think should be changed : Add a link to an interview in Intercept from May 1,2024. "Judith Butler Will Not Co-Sign Israel’s Alibi for Genocide" Why it should be changed: This interview adds Judith Butler's commentary on the controversy over remarks Butler made about the October 7 attacks in Israel, and eloquently expands her argument that opposition to Israel's actions is not anti-semitism. I do not have 500 edits, so I didn't try to add it as an external link. Alternatively, it could be added as a reference for the 4th paragraph of the introduction or to the section: Comments on Hamas, Hezbollah and the Israel–Hamas war. https://theintercept.com/2024/05/01/judith-butler-israel-hamas-freedom-speech/ David C Parker (talk) 21:17, 8 May 2024 (UTC)

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