In an hour-long program filled with dry humor—not to mention lots of audience laughter—philosopher, scholar and activist Judith Butler (they/them) spoke in depth on their new book at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., on April 9.
The Chicago Humanities Festival program was titled "Judith Butler: Who's Afraid of Gender?" (spotlighting the title of Butler's book) and brought in a full house of engaged listeners. Interviewed by Russian-American journalist, author and activist Masha Gessen, Butler, who is a professor of comparative literature and critical theory at University of California, Berkeley, delved into discussions on gender that inspired their new book.
The title 'Who's Afraid of Gender?' emphasizes the crux of the book, where Butler confronts right-wing attacks on both gender and sexuality, and the types of fear-mongering that result when these attacks go unchecked. They especially highlight notions of "fantasm" and "fascism," which Butler said often go hand-in-hand with the anti-trans movement. Opponents of the trans community, Butler explained, wish to return to a non-existent "perfect" past by disenfranchising trans folks.
"When I became aware of the ferocity of the anti-trans ideology, [I noticed] it tends to be nationalistic," Butler said.
When leaders harness fear and turn it against a vulnerable community—in these circumstances claiming trans people and pro-trans activists have the power to destroy families, identities and children's safety—they help foster hatred of that group, and often later deploy that same rhetoric to attack other vulnerable populations, Butler added.
Butler and Gessen also discussed arguments in support of "fixed biology" often used by the anti-trans movement. Those arguments take as indisputable fact the opinion that sex is unchanging and binary, a claim that comes undone when considering intersex individuals. Butler also took that argument a step further, questioning what a "fact" is in the first place. They asked: Who decides what a fact is? In what context are facts presented and what points are you trying to affirm?
"Gender is not incompatible with materiality," Butler said. "It gives us a richer understanding of what materiality is."
Butler described how they didn't want their book to be just an argument with right-wing folks who would never even read it. Instead, they focused on people in the middle who are genuinely confused about all the noise around these topics, and tried to find a way to educate them, bring down levels of fear—and do it without being snide or smug.
The final part of the presentation was a short Q&A with pre-screened audience questions, which allowed Butler to speak beyond the scope of their new book. They touched on their own nonbinary identity, as well as on how folks can handle people who may not respect or acknowledge nonbinary individuals they know.
Butler also rejected a common claim that younger people are fragmenting the left through "identity politics." They maintained that's often not the case, explaining that young people are often quite intersectional in their activism, and try to uplift and be aware of the struggles of many vulnerable communities. Social movements for the rights of marginalized groups highlight principles of justice, freedom and democracy, and shouldn't be reduced to simple one-faceted identities, Butler said.
