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¶ … Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy," Judith Butler addresses the way in which human subjectivity relies upon the interplay between biology and society. The essay was written in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and also draws from Butler's own experiences working as a representative for the GLBT community. Her personal involvement in culturally underrepresented groups creates a dynamic in which she writes about a universal theme (what it means to be human) while considering the fact that humans are not treated in a universal, standardized manner. She contends that although the human body is a biological entity, it is impossible to conceive of it independent from the way in which it is constituted within its sociological context.
The importance of Butler's essay lies in the way that she clarifies how the human (singular) invariably necessitates relationships with others. Moreover, she makes the connection between sexuality and society, showing how the two are inextricably...
Butler states that "we are constituted politically in part by virtue of the social vulnerability of our bodies; we are constituted as fields of desire and physical vulnerability, at once publicly assertive and vulnerable" (18). In this regard, no one's body exists in a vacuum separate from society; society manufactures shapes the way in which the body is constituted.
A significant aspect of the essay that has shaped my own thoughts involves whether or not it is possible for a person to ever be sexually autonomous. It is common for activists to bemoan the fact that people have no autonomy, particularly members of culturally underrepresented groups such as lesbians and transgendered individuals. However, when they complain about being ostracized, they are actually bemoaning a particular way in which they have been constituted in society. There is no way for people to actually achieve sexual autonomy; a more accurate complaint is to protest the way in which a cultural group is…
Works Cited
Butler, Judith. "Beside Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Anatomy." Undoing Gender. New York: Routledge, 2004. 17-39.
Transgender Employment Discrimination There is a growing body of evidence that transgender individuals frequently experience some type of discrimination during the employment process in the United States today. Although there are only a few high-profile cases, there are a significant number of employment claims being asserted. In terms of numbers, the high was reached in 1994 when almost 92,000 discrimination charges were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Since that
The following dependent variables are proposed by the researcher based on information gathered from the previous research: marital status (Swan & Mazur, 2002), feelings, socioeconomic status (ACPA, 1995; Sanlo, 1998), self-esteem (Armino, 1993), and birth gender. References American College Personnel Association. (1995-Sept). Domestic partners project research. Richmond, VA: ACPA Standing Committee for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Awareness. Armino, J. (1993). Racial identity as development theory: Considerations for designing leadership programs. Campus Activities Programming, 25(8):40-6. Eisner,
Transgender- The Behaviors and Acts Leading up to a Transition Introduction Transgender, as a terminology, alludes to individuals whose sense of their gender is different from what would be anticipated based on the sex individualities that they are naturally born with. A transgender individual may identify as a trans woman, which means a person who has a self-concept that is female, with the endeavor to or has transitioned to living as a
Gender Norms in South Park In the first episode of South Park's 19th season last fall, the person of Caitlyn Jenner was satirized in a move that reinforced traditional gender norms. However, at the same time, the character of Caitlyn was embraced by Mr. Garrison -- the show's 4th grade elementary teacher, who (like Caitlyn in real life) had a sex change (twice -- from man to woman and then back
Transgender Dealing with Transgender Children Many children who are transgender identify themselves as such at a young age. Thanks to increasing awareness of the issue in the media, parents of transgender children are becoming more supportive of their child's choice to live as the gender the child believes is correct, whether the child regards him or herself as a boy or a girl. But although awareness is increasing amongst the general public,
In fact, the argument could easily be made that individuals with transgender tendencies who do not pursue gender reassignment procedures are more prone to chronic depression and to other natural consequences of their repressed feelings about their true identities that could potentially affect their ability to fulfill their vocational obligations optimally (O'Neil, et al. 2008). Conversely, the evidence strongly supports the conclusion that transgender individuals who undergo the sex