Cuerpos que importan

Is sex an indelible notion of biology or is it a performative construction? In Bodies That Matter, Judith Butler continues her reflection on the performative nature of sexuality and gender, begun in Contested Gender, and reconsiders her own contributions to critical and feminist theory over the past decade. On this occasion, Butler argues that gender theories must return to the most material dimension of sex and sexuality: the body. She demonstrates how power -inseparable from certain discursive categories and sexual differences- restricts sex from the beginning, inevitably delimiting its materiality. Through the reading of texts by Plato, Freud, Lacan, Foucault, Zizek and Irigaray, the author examines and discusses the ways in which heterosexual hegemony operates to moderate sexual and political issues. In this way, she examines the category of identity and its political scope, and places herself at the center of the debates of feminist theory and queer politics.