Historical Context
The Third Wave of Feminism took place in the 1990s and was marked by the concept of intersectionality and transversalism, which deal with the idea that there are multiple experiences of being a woman, depending on race, social class, sexuality, age, nationality, religion, etc.
The third wave, in general, rejects any attempts to identify common and standardized goals.
It is at this historical moment that Judith Butler develops her theory of gender as performance.
Judith Butler is a post-structuralist philosopher. She argues that gender is fluid and non-binary and, for her, identity should not be thought of in the singular, but rather in the plural.
Gender as performance
For her, gender is essentially a performative repetition of acts associated with men or women.
Given the social nature of human beings, most actions/behaviors are witnessed, reproduced and internalized and, thus, take on a performative or theatrical quality, where each individual functions as an actor of their gender.
Youth
She was born in 1956 into a Russian-Jewish family in Cleveland, USA.
At the age of 14, as a form of punishment for her behavior in class, the rabbi at the Hebrew school where Butler studied placed her in an ethics class. We can say that this was how the author began her philosophical studies.
Activism
Her activism focused more on feminist and LGBTQIA+ issues , but she has spoken publicly on other topics:
- She is against Israel's policy towards Palestine . And despite having Jewish ancestry, Butler has repeatedly spoken out against Israeli policy in Palestine and claims that Israel does not represent all Jews.
- She refused to receive the “Civil Courage Award” from the LGBTQIA+ parade in Berlin, due to racist comments made by the parade organizers.
Queer Visibility
With Butler's work, the term QUEER gained academic visibility.
She is one of the thinkers of Queer Theory. According to the theory, no one is born “man” or “woman”, but learns to play these roles. In other words, the theory maintains that genders are socially constructed.
Book: Who's Afraid of Gender?
In her first non-academic book, Judith Butler analyzes how “gender” has become central to conservative and reactionary discourses, a specter aimed at creating moral panic and garnering popular support for fascist, authoritarian, and exclusionary political projects.
Is There a Fourth Wave of Feminism?
There is already talk of a Fourth Wave of Feminism , characterized mainly by the massive use of social networks for organization, awareness and propagation of feminist ideals.
Thus, we conclude this month's theme Feminist Waves . Did you like it?