[lbo-talk] Butler

[Seth Ackerman]

Doug Henwood wrote:
> Really, what is it about Butler's argument that drives otherwise very  
> smart people completely around the bend? People get very nervous when  
> the stability of biological distinctions between the sexes is brought  
> into question. There's no better proof of this than strolling around  
> with an infant. Strangers on the street will rebuke you if you dress  
> it gender-ambiguously. 

No, this is the same mistake Butler makes! Dressing a child in 
gender-ambiguous clothes does not undermine the stability of 
*biological* distinctions between the sexes. It undermines *socially* 
constructed gender distinctions.

It's Butler who seems to get unduly nervous about the existence of 
biological distinctions between the sexes, as if conceding their reality 
would require us to approve of all socially constructed gender roles.

Seth