Undoing Gender (Paperback)

by Judith Butler (Author) "The essays included here represent some of my most recent work on gender and sexuality focusing on the question of what it might mean to..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Undoing Gender, John Money (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Though Butler has published pleanty...its her most recent book, Undoing Gender, thats done me in once again...[It is] perhaps Butlers most accessible work.--HerIzons, Winter 2006, Vol 19 No 3

Product Description
Undoing Gender addresses the regulation of sexuality and gender that takes place in psychology, aesthetics, and social policy. These essays revisit the problem of kinship in light of new challenges to the family form, interrogate the meaning and purposes of the incest taboo, and challenge the ways in which intersexuality and transsexuality are pathologized.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (August 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415969239
• ISBN-13: 978-0415969239
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,833 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's good, but not her best, April 8, 2006

By	A. Stilwell "xflickerflyx" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While "Undoing Gender" is one of Judith Butler's most accessible texts (in that one does not need to have a philosophical companion and an OED on hand to read it), I did find many of the essays to not be as well developed as others she has written. Many of the essays seem to be half-completed, lacking some substance. While I do think that "Undoing Gender" is a good start for someone interested in post-structuralism, I would recommend that one really take the time and effort to read some of her more well thought out books like "Bodies That Matter" or "Gender Trouble" -- which might require additional reading of Derrida, Foucault, Freud and Lacan to really get the fullness of the texts.

49 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I could understand it!, January 14, 2005

By	Genderific (CT) - See all my reviews

This is Butler's most accessible book. It continues where Gender Trouble left off, addressing the regulation of gender and how that affects people. It was great to hear someone finally talking about the people affected by discourse, rather than just creating new words without thinking about their effects. However, Butler didn't follow through with any practical steps besides some jargon about alliances and new strategies.
There's also a good section in which Butler takes on Rosi Braidotti and the entire school of sexual difference theory.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What is a "livable" life?, March 10, 2006

By	D. Bond (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In "Undoing Gender" Butler engages in a rather provocative discussion of the normative structure of gender and the "livability" of those lives that do not fit neatly into what she sees as a hegemonic, male/female "gender binary." In her discussion she draws heavily on the work of Foucault, though she does not strictly adhere to his discourse theory throughout all of the essays. Though she tends to be redundant, the book is worth reading, particularly if you are interested in what it would be like to "radically" rethink gender.