Published: March 19, 2024 by Allen Lane
ISBN: 9780241595824 (ISBN10: 0241595827)
Description
Judith Butler, the ground-breaking philosopher whose influential work has redefined how we think about gender and sexuality, confronts the attacks on gender that have become central to right-wing movements today. Global networks have formed “anti-gender ideology movements” dedicated to circulating a fantasy that gender is a dangerous threat to families, local cultures, civilization –and even “man” himself. Inflamed by the rhetoric of public figures, this movement has sought to abolish reproductive justice, undermine protections against violence, and strip trans and queer people of their rights. But what, exactly, is so scary about gender?
In this vital, courageous book, Butler carefully examines how “gender” has become a phantasm for emerging authoritarian regimes, fascist formations, and trans-exclusionary feminists. They illuminate the concrete ways that this phantasm displaces anxieties and fears of destruction. Operating in tandem with deceptive accounts of critical race theory and xenophobic panics about migration, the anti-gender movement demonizes struggles for equality, fuels aggressive nationalism, and leaves millions of people vulnerable to subjugation.
An essential intervention into one of the most fraught issues of our moment, Who’s Afraid of Gender? is a bold call to make a broad coalition with all those whose struggle for equality is linked with fighting injustice. Imagining new possibilities for both freedom and solidarity, Butler offers us an essentially hopeful work that is both timely and timeless.
My Review
Interesting, definitely one to re-read and digest. I struggled with parts of the text – it was a bit dense.
The author challenges the phantasm of ‘gender ideology’, pushed by those with a stake in maintaining the cis-heteronormative, patriarchal status quo as part of religious and Right wing ideology. The author takes the reader through the various talking points, and explains how those opposed to equal rights for gender and sexual minorities elide between talking points without logical argument. They assume ‘allowing trans people to live their lives’ automatically means ‘anyone will identify as anything in order to attack children’. There’s no logical way to get from one to the other. This is a way to displace the fear of living in late-stage capitalism, with the attendant global warming and population displacement that comes with it. Instead of focusing our anger and fear on the causes of the world becoming unliveable, humans are distracted by false ghosts, phantasms, bundled under the word ‘gender’.
The book seems to be aimed at a non-academic audience, covering what should be fairly obvious arguments, if you’ve kept up with the whole anti-trans movement. However, it does become very academic and falls into philosophy-speak at times. I did enjoy reading this book, but sometimes, I wish they’d written it in plain English.
It’s late, I’ll write more when I’ve had a think about it.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 