Judith Butler
Part of a series on Feminist philosophy Major works A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) The Subjection of Women (1869) The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884) The Second Sex (1949) The Feminine Mystique (1963) The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1970) The Creation of Patriarchy (1986) Gender Trouble (1990) Major theorists Mary Wollstonecraft Simone de Beauvoir Betty Friedan Shulamith Firestone Gloria Steinem Angela Davis Gloria Watkins ("bell hooks") Gerda Lerner Judith Butler Key concepts Feminism Gender Gender equality Gender performativity v t e Judith Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American continental philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics and the fields of feminist, queer and literary theory. Since 1993, she has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is now Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature and co-director of the Program of Critical Theory. Academically, Butler is most well known for her books Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex", which challenge notions of gender and develop her theory of gender performativity. Her works are often implemented in film studies courses emphasizing gender studies and the performativity in discourse. She is also well known for her difficult to understand prose. This theory now plays a major role in feminist and queer scholarship. She has also actively supported lesbian and gay rights movements and been outspoken on many contemporary political issues. In particular, she is a vocal critic of Israeli politics and its effect on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, emphasizing that Israel does not and should not be taken to represent all Jews or Jewish opinion.