Gender Trouble:
Feminism and Subversion of Identity
Published 1990
By Judith Butler
Butler is considered a pioneer in gender studies, a field that has now generally replaced feminism and women’s studies in academia. Gender studies are based on the notion that gender, sex and sexuality are fundamentally the products of social and cultural rather than biological influences. As with other postmodern ideas, this view is counter to accepted science but has had a profound impact on thinking and teaching in academia. This impact has translated into academic and even governmental policies and rules that insist there are numerous genders and that individuals have the right to determine what theirs is, and how others should view and address them.