A Bad Writer Bites Back

[Tavia Nyong'O]

My main reaction to Judith Butler's piece in the NYT is to note the irony
that--for an avowedly political writer--this is the first time I can
recall encountering her writing outside the academic conference/classroom
circuit. Is it the case that the only issue that impels Butler to step
into the ring of public culture is the maligning of her *own* good name?

I don't intend this as a cheap shot, since I value her work in many ways.
But unlike such public intellectuals as Cornel West who align
themselves with causes and organizations, I am at loss to think of any
progressive movement or issue that Butler pays more than lip service to.
That is, except for this latest issue: the right to complex prose.

I'll be more specific: Butler has been silent on the issue of hate crime
legislation and on the question of the death penalty for Matthew Shepard's
alleged murderers. Yet her academic work tirelessly examines these
issues of speech, injury and justice. Since, as Noam Chomsky
among others have noted, only a very select group of people have access to
the NYT Op-Ed page, wouldn't it be more politically useful for Butler to
use this privilege to publically intervene in these debates rather than
expend her capital revenging herself on her conservative detractors?

Tavia