Course-v1:edz+11+22/en/block-v1:edz+11+22+type@video+block@65838afaed394b4daf8f8094b742c0a0

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description"video in Organizer Lab V2 – Designing campaigns and other Topics for Impact projects - Learn the skills Topics for Impact organizers need to run consistent, high-impact campaigns that invite new contributors, partners, and supporters to the movement. "
display_name"Video"
subtitle-7440-9990-1"- So there are many different theories of gender,"
subtitle-9990-11910-2"and mine is just one."
subtitle-11910-15150-3"Sometimes, people who really hate gender"
subtitle-15150-18330-4"name me as the one who made this up,"
subtitle-18330-19923-5"but that's actually not true."
subtitle-21000-24123-6"You know, in my view, everybody has a theory of gender,"
subtitle-25620-26760-7"and what I mean by that"
subtitle-26760-29220-8"is that everybody has certain assumptions going"
subtitle-29220-31770-9"about what gender is or should be."
subtitle-31770-33727-10"And at a certain point in life, we ask ourselves,"
subtitle-33727-35912-11""Wow, where'd that assumption come from?""
subtitle-35912-38550-12"(Judith laughs)"
subtitle-38550-39720-13"At this point,"
subtitle-39720-42510-14"I'm less concerned about whose theory is right"
subtitle-42510-44070-15"and whose theory is wrong"
subtitle-44070-46020-16"because the assault on gender"
subtitle-46020-48870-17"is also an assault on democracy."
subtitle-48870-51870-18"We have the power and the freedom"
subtitle-51870-54090-19"to make more livable lives for ourselves,"
subtitle-54090-58080-20"where bodies can be more free to breathe, to move, to love"
subtitle-58080-61473-21"without discrimination and without fear of violence."
subtitle-62490-63690-22"I am Judith Butler,"
subtitle-63690-66840-23"distinguished professor in the graduate school"
subtitle-66840-70590-24"at the University of California at Berkeley."
subtitle-70590-74280-25"I teach literature, philosophy, and critical theory,"
subtitle-74280-77197-26"and I'm most well-known for my two books on gender,"
subtitle-77197-78420-27""Gender Trouble""
subtitle-78420-81720-28"and "Bodies That Matter" from the early 1990s."
subtitle-81720-86406-29"My work has been translated into more than 27 languages."
subtitle-86406-89156-30"(pensive music)"
subtitle-91796-94440-31"I insist that what it is to be a woman,"
subtitle-94440-97710-32"or indeed what it is to be a man or any other gender,"
subtitle-97710-100460-33"is an open-ended question."
subtitle-100460-101730-34"(pensive music)"
subtitle-101730-106410-35"We have a whole range of differences, biological in nature,"
subtitle-106410-108330-36"so I don't deny them,"
subtitle-108330-110490-37"but I don't think they determine who we are"
subtitle-110490-113283-38"in some sort of final way."
subtitle-114120-116370-39"At the heart of these controversies"
subtitle-116370-118950-40"is the distinction between sex and gender."
subtitle-118950-120300-41"But what is that distinction?"
subtitle-120300-122373-42"How do we think about it?"
subtitle-123240-128240-43"Sex is generally a category that is assigned to infants"
subtitle-128910-133350-44"that has importance within medical and legal worlds."
subtitle-133350-137820-45"Gender is a mix of cultural norms, historical formations,"
subtitle-137820-142820-46"family influence, psychic realities, desires, and wishes."
subtitle-143130-145353-47"And we have a say in that."
subtitle-147000-150360-48"My early life was affected by the 1960s"
subtitle-150360-154320-49"and the social movements that took shape during that time."
subtitle-154320-156720-50"I grew up on the East side of Cleveland,"
subtitle-156720-159510-51"part of a Jewish community,"
subtitle-159510-161850-52"and by the time I was in high school,"
subtitle-161850-163080-53"I was politically active."
subtitle-163080-167103-54"But I was also taking university courses in philosophy."
subtitle-167970-169950-55"In my 20s, I came to see"
subtitle-169950-173460-56"that it was not just the Jews who were apprehended"
subtitle-173460-177450-57"and extinguished by the Nazi regime."
subtitle-177450-180150-58"It was queer people, it was gay/lesbian people,"
subtitle-180150-181830-59"it was people with disabilities,"
subtitle-181830-185730-60"people with illnesses, Polish workers, communists."
subtitle-185730-189750-61"And my sense was that one needed to widen the lens and see"
subtitle-189750-193710-62"that many people have been subject to genocidal politics"
subtitle-193710-194580-63"and to understand"
subtitle-194580-197640-64"that there are different forms of oppression."
subtitle-197640-201060-65"I remained convinced that one does need to know history"
subtitle-201060-203250-66"in order to make sure it does not repeat"
subtitle-203250-204780-67"and that one wants justice"
subtitle-204780-207120-68"not just for the group to which one belongs,"
subtitle-207120-210183-69"but for any group that suffers in a similar way."
subtitle-212790-215010-70"In the '70s and '80s,"
subtitle-215010-216870-71"I was part of a movement of people"
subtitle-216870-219633-72"who were rethinking gender during that time."
subtitle-220620-222540-73"Queer theory was emerging."
subtitle-222540-226980-74"It was in a complicated conversation with feminism."
subtitle-226980-229920-75"Trans issues had not yet surfaced"
subtitle-229920-233340-76"as part of our contemporary reality,"
subtitle-233340-237577-77"so it was a moment in which we asked questions like,"
subtitle-237577-239190-78""What has society made of us,"
subtitle-239190-242490-79"and what can we make of ourselves?""
subtitle-242490-245550-80"There were a number of versions of feminism"
subtitle-245550-247290-81"that I tended to oppose."
subtitle-247290-249150-82"One of them held that,"
subtitle-249150-251460-83"well, women are fundamentally mothers"
subtitle-251460-254610-84"and that maternity is the essence of the feminine."
subtitle-254610-256950-85"And then a second one thought"
subtitle-256950-259019-86"that feminism was about sexual difference,"
subtitle-259019-261719-87"but the way they defined sexual difference"
subtitle-261720-264990-88"was always presumptively heterosexual."
subtitle-264990-269369-89"And both of them struck me as wrong."
subtitle-269369-272070-90"I was pretty committed to the idea"
subtitle-272070-274530-91"that people ought not to be discriminated against"
subtitle-274530-277590-92"on the basis of what they do with their body,"
subtitle-277590-280350-93"who they love, or how they move, or how they look."
subtitle-280350-283890-94"All I was saying is that the sex you're assigned at birth"
subtitle-283890-288240-95"and the gender that you are taught to be"
subtitle-288240-290998-96"should not determine how you live your life."
subtitle-290998-294270-97"(film camera rolling)"
subtitle-294270-296400-98"Sometimes, people point to "Gender Trouble""
subtitle-296400-298740-99"as the inception of gender theory,"
subtitle-298740-301470-100"but people were working on gender before me,"
subtitle-301470-303960-101"Gayle Rubin, and Juliet Mitchell,"
subtitle-303960-306450-102"and Simone de Beauvoir herself."
subtitle-306450-310064-103"Simone de Beauvoir was an existential philosopher"
subtitle-310064-312240-104"and a feminist philosopher"
subtitle-312240-316680-105"who wrote "The Second Sex" in the 1940s."
subtitle-316680-320160-106"The basic point is that one is not born a woman,"
subtitle-320160-324150-107"but rather becomes one, that the body is not a fact."
subtitle-324150-327390-108"She opened up the possibility of a difference"
subtitle-327390-330874-109"between the sex you're assigned and the sex you become."
subtitle-330874-334230-110"(pensive music)"
subtitle-334230-336960-111"Gayle Rubin was an anthropologist,"
subtitle-336960-338610-112"and remains an anthropologist,"
subtitle-338610-342000-113"who wrote an extremely influential article"
subtitle-342000-344310-114"called "The Traffic in Women.""
subtitle-344310-345870-115"And what she tried to say"
subtitle-345870-348870-116"was that the family was a structure"
subtitle-348870-352470-117"whose task it was to reproduce gender,"
subtitle-352470-354180-118"and one of the aims it had"
subtitle-354180-359010-119"was to kind of keep heterosexuality looking really normal."
subtitle-359010-362370-120"And although it was part of feminist anthropology"
subtitle-362370-363690-121"at the time,"
subtitle-363690-366660-122"it allowed us to start thinking about gender"
subtitle-366660-370200-123"as something that could be reproduced, crafted, cultivated,"
subtitle-370200-372720-124"and that there were systems, frameworks,"
subtitle-372720-375270-125"to which gender belongs."
subtitle-375270-378300-126"There was one other dimension of Rubin's work"
subtitle-378300-381900-127"which was, interestingly, psychoanalysis."
subtitle-381900-383107-128"She basically said,"
subtitle-383107-386460-129""Well, maybe there's a whole lot of repression"
subtitle-386460-387990-130"going into becoming a man"
subtitle-387990-391800-131"and a whole lot of repression going into becoming a woman,""
subtitle-391800-396150-132"and that one of the things we have to do to conform"
subtitle-396150-397950-133"with existing gender norms"
subtitle-397950-400620-134"is to rule out all those possibilities"
subtitle-400620-404010-135"of being, feeling, doing, loving"
subtitle-404010-408630-136"that don't line up with the gender norms"
subtitle-408630-411270-137"that are governing our lives."
subtitle-411270-414960-138"So anthropology, psychoanalysis,"
subtitle-414960-419250-139"they all had their place in that moment"
subtitle-419250-422343-140"way before "Gender Trouble" emerged on the scene."
subtitle-424500-427140-141"I think at the time that I wrote "Gender Trouble,""
subtitle-427140-430920-142"people treated gender as if it was a natural fact"
subtitle-430920-433230-143"or a sociological reality,"
subtitle-433230-434280-144"but they didn't treat it"
subtitle-434280-437280-145"as something that you could make and remake."
subtitle-437280-441090-146"Performance is important to this extent"
subtitle-441090-444210-147"that we do enact who we are,"
subtitle-444210-445950-148"and anybody in performance studies"
subtitle-445950-447810-149"actually knows that there are performances"
subtitle-447810-450870-150"that we do in our lives"
subtitle-450870-454350-151"that are not mere performance, they're not fake."
subtitle-454350-457890-152"When performative was first coined as a word,"
subtitle-457890-459870-153"the philosopher J.L. Austin"
subtitle-459870-463350-154"was trying to understand legal utterances."
subtitle-463350-468191-155"So when a judge says, "I declare you man and wife,""
subtitle-468191-472920-156"you become man and wife once that declaration has happened."
subtitle-472920-475173-157"That's not fake, that happened."
subtitle-476130-478710-158"Now, what if we were to say"
subtitle-478710-483710-159"that in enacting our lives as a particular gender,"
subtitle-484560-488160-160"we are actually realizing that gender anew,"
subtitle-488160-492570-161"we are making something real happen."
subtitle-492570-494760-162"When gay and lesbian people started coming out"
subtitle-494760-497640-163"or when trans people started living openly,"
subtitle-497640-500400-164"something changed in the world."
subtitle-500400-505400-165"By appearing, speaking, acting in certain ways,"
subtitle-506040-508200-166"reality changed."
subtitle-508200-510690-167"And it has changed."
subtitle-510690-513419-168"We are seeing the changing of terms."
subtitle-513419-517349-169"We no longer speak about family, woman, man, desire,"
subtitle-517350-519570-170"sex in the same way."
subtitle-519570-522001-171"Even the Cambridge Dictionary"
subtitle-522001-523619-172"(Judith laughs)"
subtitle-523620-527040-173"acknowledges that something has changed."
subtitle-527040-530820-174"Okay, so when we talk about performative,"
subtitle-530820-532350-175"we're talking about an act"
subtitle-532350-535140-176"that makes something come into being"
subtitle-535140-537480-177"or an act that has real consequences."
subtitle-537480-539703-178"We're talking about the changing of reality."
subtitle-542010-545490-179"Even among progressive and liberal people I know,"
subtitle-545490-549810-180"there can sometimes be a real resistance"
subtitle-549810-553800-181"to thinking about trans rights, or lesbian and gay rights,"
subtitle-553800-556083-182"or even women's rights."
subtitle-557310-560610-183"They sometimes say that these are secondary issues"
subtitle-560610-562920-184"or it simply makes them uncomfortable."
subtitle-562920-564960-185""Why should I have to refer to someone"
subtitle-564960-567960-186"as a he, or a she, or a they?""
subtitle-567960-570090-187"And yet, at least in the US,"
subtitle-570090-574020-188"we've learned how to talk about Black people differently"
subtitle-574020-577110-189"or we talk about women differently."
subtitle-577110-578460-190"And sure, it was probably hard"
subtitle-578460-580770-191"to learn how to use new language."
subtitle-580770-583320-192"Maybe we had to adjust our habits."
subtitle-583320-585060-193"But stumbling is part of learning"
subtitle-585060-587520-194"and making an error is part of learning,"
subtitle-587520-590013-195"especially when we're learning something new."
subtitle-591570-594120-196"Sometimes, we can all be vitriolic, right?"
subtitle-594120-598470-197"Some certain statements will set me off and I will scream,"
subtitle-598470-600690-198"but if I only were to do that,"
subtitle-600690-603543-199"then I would never be having a conversation with anyone."
subtitle-604380-607410-200"I think we all want to be the moral center of our universe,"
subtitle-607410-608977-201"like, "That's right, that's wrong.""
subtitle-608977-610657-202""You're canceled, you're not.""
subtitle-610657-613080-203""You're with me, you're against me.""
subtitle-613080-616110-204"But we have to allow ourselves to be challenged"
subtitle-616110-621110-205"and accept the invitation to revise our ways of thinking"
subtitle-621450-624330-206"because that's the only way of being open"
subtitle-624330-627990-207"to people who are trying to make their claim sometimes"
subtitle-627990-629700-208"for the very first time, to be heard,"
subtitle-629700-631443-209"to be known, to be acknowledged."
subtitle-633030-634530-210"(uplifting music)"
subtitle-634530-639300-211"Now, I'm less interested in defending a theory of gender."
subtitle-639300-641760-212"I'm much more concerned"
subtitle-641760-645570-213"with finding creative and effective ways"
subtitle-645570-648843-214"of countering the attack on gender."
subtitle-649740-653550-215"One problem is that many people who refuse"
subtitle-653550-657690-216"to allow trans people to define themselves"
subtitle-657690-660570-217"is that they feel that their own self-definition"
subtitle-660570-662223-218"is destabilized."
subtitle-663150-667080-219"The idea that we can change reality, transform reality"
subtitle-667080-671370-220"to be more open, inclusive, just less violent -"
subtitle-671370-672900-221"there's an instability in that"
subtitle-672900-674430-222"that's very frightening to people"
subtitle-674430-677220-223"who want to understand their genders as fixed."
subtitle-677220-680070-224"But is anybody's gender necessary and universal,"
subtitle-680070-683640-225"or is it a complicated emergence"
subtitle-683640-686220-226"that happens with each of us?"
subtitle-686220-689400-227"Our deepest sense of self is also formed in time,"
subtitle-689400-692810-228"and we can't always know, in advance, what that will be."
subtitle-692810-695010-229"(uplifting music)"
subtitle-695010-697980-230"Freedom is a struggle because there's so much in our world"
subtitle-697980-700320-231"that's telling us not to be free with our bodies."
subtitle-700320-704100-232"And if we are seeking to love in a free way, to live,"
subtitle-704100-705720-233"and move in a free way,"
subtitle-705720-708903-234"we actually have to struggle to claim that freedom."
subtitle-710100-712650-235"When we live in a democracy,"
subtitle-712650-714420-236"we assume that we're living"
subtitle-714420-716820-237"according to certain principles -"
subtitle-716820-719370-238"equality, freedom, justice -"
subtitle-719370-723540-239"and yet we're constantly learning what freedom is,"
subtitle-723540-727440-240"and what equality is, and what justice can be."
subtitle-727440-728850-241"And those challenges, right,"
subtitle-728850-731850-242"the anti-slavery movement, the suffrage movement,"
subtitle-731850-735720-243"the movement for LGBTQIA+ rights,"
subtitle-735720-738870-244"I mean, each of those struggles"
subtitle-738870-743870-245"involve challenging people's existing ideas of:"
subtitle-743940-744903-246"Who's equal?"
subtitle-745890-748170-247"Who has the right to be free?"
subtitle-748170-750063-248"And how do we define justice?"
subtitle-750900-755340-249"We are, all the time, struggling to achieve that goal."
subtitle-755340-757650-250"We need to reoccupy these notions"
subtitle-757650-760620-251"and show that concerns with racial justice,"
subtitle-760620-763290-252"and gender equality, and gender freedom"
subtitle-763290-767070-253"are an integral part of any democratic struggle,"
subtitle-767070-769890-254"especially if we want to rethink who the people are"
subtitle-769890-774402-255"and what it means for them to live in freedom without fear."
subtitle-774402-777810-256"(uplifting music)"
subtitle-777810-780750-257"- [Crew] Let's just wrap up the gender stuff."
subtitle-780750-782460-258"Unless you want to take a break from gender,"
subtitle-782460-783750-259"we can go back to that."
subtitle-783750-785910-260"Do you want to get..."
subtitle-785910-787530-261"Let me give you the prompt for the last-"
subtitle-787530-790650-262"- My whole life, I've wanted to take a break from gender."
subtitle-790650-792723-263"I can never take a break from gender."
subtitle-793710-795000-264"- [Announcer] Get smarter faster"
subtitle-795000-797880-265"with videos from the world's biggest thinkers."
subtitle-797880-800820-266"To learn even more from the world's biggest thinkers,"
subtitle-800820-803043-267"get Big Think+ for your business."