Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex

Butler engages with the concept of the chora by drawing on the works of Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva. For Irigaray, the chora is Plato’s concept of matter as it relates to the feminine. Irigaray argues that the chora represents materiality before it is shaped by the masculine. Materiality as chora cannot be captured by any discursive category as it is not yet intelligible. In Kristeva’s theory, the chora refers to an unstable, prelinguistic, and semiotic space that exists before the establishment of clear distinctions and symbolic order. It represents a realm of undifferentiated and fluid forces that precedes language and structured meaning.

In the context of Bodies That Matter, the chora becomes a conceptual space where the materiality of bodies resists being fully captured or regulated by linguistic and symbolic structures. Butler adapts the concept of chora to their theory of performativity. The chora, in Butler’s usage, becomes a site of both possibility and disruption, undermining fixed meanings and inviting a more fluid understanding of the ways bodies come into being.

Essentialism, in the context of gender studies, is the idea that inborn, stable qualities define gender; i.e., having a penis makes someone a man and behave in the ways ascribed to men. Many second-wave feminist theorists relied on essentialist concepts of gender to advocate for gender equality.

Butler and other third-wave feminists reject essentialism and promote constructivism, the idea that gender is an iterative process that is informed by cultural norms and constantly being enacted by individuals. Some critics of constructivism argue that it ignores the material reality of individuals in a patriarchal society. Butler addresses this criticism and advocates for a view of constructivism that accounts for materiality in Bodies That Matter.

Hegemony generally refers to a ruling power that establishes dominance over another—a colonizer imposes hegemonic power over its colonies, for example. In the context of cultural theory, dominant ideologies and norms are considered hegemonic ideals. They are perpetuated by the ruling class and generally considered “common sense”—natural facts of life—rather than constructed ideas. Butler cites heteronormativity—the privileging of heterosexual romantic and sexual relationships—as an example of hegemonic norms in Bodies That Matter.

Hegemonic norms are not static and will change over time, a testament to their nature as constructed rather than natural. For example, chattel slavery was once a hegemonic norm and no longer is. Since hegemony is mutable, subverting hegemonic norms can result in social change, a practice Butler promotes in this text.

Developed by Louis Althusser, interpellation is the process by which society creates “subjects.” Through interpellation, ideology and discourse can mold individual identities to conform to social norms.

Butler discusses interpellation in the context of performativity. While gender norms are perpetuated through interpellation, Butler argues that this is not just an external force but an active performance by individuals. As such, subjects maintain hegemonic gender norms by policing their own behavior and punishing or excluding those who do not conform—social consequences are a fundamental aspect of performativity.

Foreclosure, in Lacanian psychoanalysis, is the psychic cause of psychosis (as opposed to neurosis, which is caused by repression). In this case, foreclosure means something is missing, leading to an adaptation around this “lack.” Butler uses the concept of foreclosure to explore how certain identities are excluded—or foreclosed—from hegemonic norms, creating a limited range of accepted gender expression and identity. As in psychoanalysis, this foreclosure creates social trauma by marginalizing people who do not conform.

Materiality is a person’s lived, physical existence and reality. Butler situates Bodies That Matter within criticism of her book Gender Trouble; many feminists argued that the text was too theoretical and ignored most people’s materiality—the physical reality of being a woman, gender nonconforming, queer, et cetera. While Butler argues against essentialism in Bodies That Matter, she acknowledges that materiality and discourse are not actually in binary opposition but coexist and inform each other.

Sigmund Freud first developed the psychoanalytic concept of the Oedipal complex to refer to a male child’s desire for their mother (as opposed to the Electra complex, developed by Carl Jung, which refers to a female child’s desire for their father).

In Bodies That Matter, Judith Butler comments that the Oedipus complex refers exclusively to the masculine fear of punishment and castration. Additionally, the traditional articulation of the concept considers loss to be related to the feminine, taking away all agency from feminine or non-masculine subjects. The Oedipal complex, according to Butler, fails to account for the diversity of desires and identities that exist beyond the binary. Instead of accepting the Oedipal narrative as a straightforward model for identity formation, Butler explores how individuals can disrupt and subvert these norms through performative acts.

The real is a psychoanalytic term developed by Jacques Lacan. It is sometimes capitalized and sometimes not. The real, in Lacanian terms, is an indefinable dimension of experience that eludes linguistic and symbolic representation. It stands in contrast to the symbolic and the imaginary, forming a triad in Lacan’s psychoanalytic framework. The term is further developed by Slavoj Žižek, who applies the concept of the real to the realm of ideology. For Žižek, the real represents the inherent inconsistencies and gaps within ideological structures, challenging the apparent coherence of symbolic orders.

Judith Butler engages with the concept of the real in different ways. They align with Lacan’s articulation of the real by developing the notion of performativity as that which cannot be completely represented in language. The real, for Butler, represents the elements in society upon which the subject does not have agency. The real also provides a site for resistance and the rearticulation of societal norms. However, Butler opposes Žižek’s interpretation of the real as a category always exterior to ideological articulation because, they argue, it leaves out the potential for political engagement on which people cast outside of ideological systems rely.

Similar to hegemonic norms, regulatory ideals are standards and expectations that shape behavior in social contexts. This idea is prominent in Michel Foucault’s work on power and discipline, which explores how institutions produce and enforce regulatory ideals, thereby shaping behavior and identity. Butler considers “sex” a regulatory ideal.