> Materiality and reality aren't being used as synonyms here, they're just
> being put in analogous positions.
The problem is that they aren't even analogies. If you took the trouble to read the broader argument, you would realize that Butler is stating that the meaningfulness of sex is not accessible through 'materiality', rather it is discourse that makes the body meaningful by transforming that 'matter' into something meaningful. Also, keep in mind that discourse is something more than volunteeristic language within a Foucaultian perspective. It's inevitably tied into institutions and social interactions.
robert wood