Happy Birthday to Gender Theorist Judith Butler

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Judith Butler was born today, February 24, in 1956. She is a philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics and the fields of third-wave feminist, queer and literary theory. 

Since 1993, she has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is now Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory. She is also the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School.

Butler is best known for her books Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990) and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (1993), in which she challenges conventional notions of gender and develops her theory of gender performativity. This theory has had a major influence on feminist and queer scholarship. Her works are often implemented in film studies courses emphasizing gender studies and the performativity in discourse.

Butler has actively supported lesbian and gay rights movements and has spoken out on many contemporary political issues. 

Butler lives in Berkeley with her partner Wendy Brown and son, Isaac.