Re: Judith Butler

On Tue, 7 May 1996, Jed Olson wrote:

> 	I'm not sure where Judith Butler's argument ends here and where
> yours begins, but I find the above simplistic and totalizing.  Of course
> one's sex is not entirely composed of "social constructions-" what about X
> and Y chromosomes, sex hormones, sperm and eggs, genitalia, etc.?  You

Wouldn't it be rather simpler here to return to the old distinction 
between sex and gender that Butler wants to throw out? The original 
intention of this was to point out that although babies are born with one 
of two chromosomal sexes and (usually) a penis or a vagina, this is not 
the same as the discourses that take up this biological variation and 
enmesh it within a web of binary oppositions. It seems as if the loss of 
the sex/gender distinction is leading us (here at least) backward to 
nature/nurture not forwards.

> 
>   Butler
> > maintains that heterosexuality (fucking only those of the opposite sex) is
> > the dominant discursive formation in Western society, although it is not
> > complete in its hegemony, since many diverse sexualities reveal themselves
> > (are performed) within the formations of power.
> 
> Isn't heterosexuality also the dominant discursive formation within the
> physio-chemical "language" of biology, as well as within "Eastern",
> "tribal" and "native" societies?

Er...no. Because most humans tend to reproduce themselves and this is 
done with the 'opposite' sex, doesn't imply that 'heterosexuality is the 
dominant discursive formation'. Ancient Greek 'heterosexuality' was quite 
different from modern heterosexuality in terms of discourse, even if it 
did also involve baby-making. So is Pathan 'heterosexuality' and so is 
!Kung 'heterosexuality'. Here again it seem useful to distinguish between 
the biological and the discursive (which of course includes the 
discourses of 'biology' the science).

Call me old-fashioned.

Dave Hugh-Jones					
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'Yes, that's my mother all right, but my mother's the Virgin Mary, you know.'
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