Berkeley professor explains gender theory | Judith Butler

Answers to frequently asked questions in the comments:

(Note: As Butler says, there are many perspectives on gender. This is not intended to be an authoritative answer. There is room to argue, to learn, to disagree. Hopefully this answers some general questions we often see in the comments and helps the conversation move forward.)

Aren't men and women physically different? What's the difference between biological sex and gender? What does 'assigned at birth' mean?

As Butler acknowledges at 1:41, there are biological differences in sex.

To clarify: Most people are born with the sex of either male (with XY chromosomes and male anatomy) or female (with XX chromosome and female anatomy). A small proportion of people are born with different chromosomal or anatomical makeups (e.g. Klinefelter syndrome).

Gender is the role people of a specific sex play in different cultures. For example: In 15th century Italy, men wore tights and skirts, while in 21st century America that would be considered feminine. In 1950s America, most women would not have careers, while in 2023 Haredi culture, most men do not work and most women do. All of these people have similar biology, but the norms around how they live: their dress, their occupation, their manners and customs, etc. can be very different based on their sex and the society.

The phrase 'assigned at birth' refers to how most of us are raised from birth with the gender role most typical of the sex you are born. (This is often true even of people who are neither biologically male or female).

Transgender people are those who intuitively identify with a different gender from their sex or assigned gender, and decide to live as it. Nonbinary people are those who identify with neither gender, and decide to stop publicly identifying with them.

Why don't we just expand the definitions of gender to include more behaviors, rather than people having to switch genders?

It's possible to do both. People frequently identify as their assigned gender despite having some unconventional behaviors for it. Others simply feel a deeper connection to the gender they weren't raised as, and feel happier living as it. Butler argues that we should simply allow people to define themselves how they like and respect that choice.

Why wasn't anyone doing this until recently?

There are well-documented examples of transgender and non-binary people for hundreds, if not thousands of years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_history

There are also many examples of people redefining gender over the course of history; indeed, that may be how we got from 15th century gender roles to today's. In recent memory, artists like David Bowie, Prince, Eddie Izzard–as well as movies like Boys Don't Cry, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Tootsie–are all famous examples of exploring different gender identities.

It seems reasonable to acknowledge humans have had a wide variety of feelings and behavior around gender. It's also worth noting that in many societies defying gender roles could–and can–come with severe social or even criminal consequences, and that likely reduced the amount of behaviors people expressed. As greater knowledge and acceptance of nonconventional identities emerges, it's possible that more people simply feel comfortable identifying and expressing feelings that might have been repressed in the past.

For a deeper dive into the scientific research around transgender issues, check out our columnist Ethan Seigel's recent article on it: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/what-is-a-woman/

"Woman: an adult who lives and identifies as female" – So it takes two factors to be a woman, identification and lifestyle. So in that definition it is not being but doing that makes a person a woman. What does it mean that someone lives as a female?

Believe what you wish. Dress as you wish. Join like minded communities. But dont try and force BS theories and beliefs on others and make yours top dog.

They’re putting her in lighting that makes her look less Jewish. Nice lady, and interesting ideas.

The truth and potential solution to the gender debate:

The gender debate is pretty pointless because it’s really just about vocabulary. "Gender", first used in the 1400s, originally referred to grammatical categories, like in languages where nouns are male, female, or neuter (e.g., in Russian, tables are male, cars are female, windows are neuter). It wasn’t until the 1950s that "gender" started being used for humans, but it was never meant to describe biological sex. It referred to roles, behaviors, and identities, separate from biology. This isn't a new concept though, as even some ancient cultures had more than 2 genders, each with their own gender roles. Over time, people started confusing gender and sex, thinking they’re the same thing, but they’re not.

The confusion comes from namespace collision: using terms like "male" and "female" for both, which causes people to argue that a trans woman is "really" a man. But that’s missing the point—gender is how a person feels, looks, and identifies, while sex is biological. So, saying a trans woman isn’t "real" because of her biological sex mixes up the definitions of sex and gender. Both terms have existed separately from the start. Whether or not being transgender is a mental illness is irrelevant.

I propose that the namespaces are separated so that gender pronouns are separated from sex pronouns. Since the biological namespace used the words "male" and "female" first, it should get to keep the terms, and the gender namespace needs its own words. One way to do it is suffices.

Potential suffices to use: -ish, -like, -esque, -oid, -leaning, -aligned, -presenting

Examples: maleish, female-like, male-esque, femaleoid, male-leaning, female-aligned, male-presenting. Or perhaps even a brand new suffix purpose-built for gender.

Are there feminisms in Titanic?

¡Qué le habéis hecho a los géneros plotinianos y porfirianos! Se pasaron a la tradición por el arco del triunfo; esto, los posestructuralistas, más bien, Judith Butler.

Who's trying to stop trans people from defining who they are? The resistance comes in when trans people try to make others agree with that definition.

I love how the crux of what she's saying is that to oppose the idea that gender is in anyway reliably tethered to sex is necessarily the result of bigotry, hatred and ignorance…as if someone with a more conservative outlook on this isn't capable of weighing all of these things and making a determination free of malice or hatred. I've been on the left my whole life and have realized in recent years that these people are often close-minded bulldozers who would just as soon have conservatives thrown into a mass grave if they could.

The Austrian Painter was right

Careful with the title! In France at least, "gender theory" is the battlecry of a stupid moral panic according to which we are teaching little boys to be little girls. The name is "gender studies".

I was labeled in 1975 at 5yrs old as having "chronic sexual identity crisis". By 1983 I was socially transitioning at school and with friends behind my parents backs. By 14 in 1984 I left home and found my way to the LGBTQ part of town. I met an older Mexican trans woman named Chinga who sold me hormones she smuggled in from Mexico. So 40yrs ago I medically transitioned as a child on my own terms regardless of what others tried to tell me. I've never had one single regret about owning my womanhood in life. This is who I've always been. Now I'm a happy 54yr old post op woman living happily in California.

if im sick or i dont feel well i go to see a medical doctor. if i want to create some app i go to someone with a computer science degree. if i want to know what sex i am i dont go to see a philosopher. philosophy has an important role in understanding the meaning of life. what this person is doing is just wrong. she tries to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world by inventing things thar are not real. there is no gender only biology. trying to paint it in rainbow colors of freedom and democracy is an evil act of misleading young and curious minds. some where down the road humanity will look back and see these people as anti social lunatics.

I’m fine with adults becoming trans. I just don’t want penises in women’s locker rooms/bathrooms or post-male puberty persons competing in women’s sports. Is that too much to ask?

We need to have their backs

She wants to be 10 feet tall and built proof

Better than out of body eprerence

disowned

stick to spirituality yall, leave this to nature simple. bigthink is being misguided

Some think they are princess, and require others to use princess pronouns upon her. And scream if others do not follow. They feel like they are princesses, you cannot disagree with them or you will be an anti royale therefore you will be cancelled.

I'm here because I'm open-minded, but 8:47 is an argument I have made in the past. This is not a matter of discovering, but rather redefining. You can change the definition of whatever you want, and your perception of that thing will reflect your understanding of it, but it doesn't say anything new about the thing itself. Claiming you are a different gender by changing the definition of said gender actually discredits your argument. If you actually are a man/woman, etc., you don't have to change the meaning of the word in order to suit your identity.

sex is "assigned" reality. we cant change but we can change gender within patriarchy frame

You said change in reality??? What? People that think like you are incredibly delusional. I don't care what people do, but don't act or say like it's reality. There's no your truth or my truth, just THE truth