The Professor of Parody - Martha Nussbaum

<p>Martha Nussbaum is an American philosopher and current Professor of &nbsp;Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly &nbsp;appointed in the law school and the philosophy department. She has a particular interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, political &nbsp;philosophy, feminism, and ethics, including animal rights.</p> <p>In this essay, Nussbaum analyzes the works of Judith Butler, &nbsp;particularly her theory of gender performativity, and what Nussbaum &nbsp;calls Butler's “hip &nbsp;quietism” which “collaborates with evil”.</p> <p>“What precisely does Butler offer when she counsels subversion? She &nbsp;tells us to engage in parodic performances, but she warns us that the dream of escaping altogether from the oppressive structures is just a dream: it is within the oppressive structures that we must find little spaces for resistance, and this resistance cannot hope to change the &nbsp;overall situation. And here lies a dangerous quietism.<br> <br> For Butler, the act of subversion is so riveting, so sexy, that it is a &nbsp;bad dream to think that the world will actually get better. What a bore equality is! No bondage, no delight. In this way, her pessimistic &nbsp;erotic anthropology offers support to an amoral anarchist politics.<br> <br> Finally, there is despair at the heart of the cheerful Butlerian &nbsp;enterprise. The big hope, the hope for a world of real justice, where laws and institutions protect the equality and the dignity of all &nbsp;citizens, has been banished, even perhaps mocked as sexually tedious. &nbsp;Judith Butler's hip quietism is a comprehensible response to the difficulty of realizing justice in America. But it is a bad response. It collaborates with evil. Feminism &nbsp;demands more and women deserve better. "<br> <br> <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/150687/professor-parody">Full text available here.</a></p>