August 19, 2011
by Steph Herold
1 Comment
Judith Butler totally saw me coming. In her preface to this week’s essay, Butler addresses my critique from two weeks ago that theory and reality are fundamentally disconnected. To explain to the reader that “there is someone here,” behind the … Continue reading
August 19, 2011
by Vanessa Christman
Comments Off on We’ve come a long way … still so far to go
When you live in a house with two teenagers, it’s easy to believe that identity is performative. You don’t have to read Foucault to know that a brow piercing is some kind of inscription of the soul on the body. … Continue reading
August 19, 2011
by Sara Alcid
Comments Off on Butler and The Prettiest Boy
Earlier this week, I received New York Magazine in the mail and was surprised to see what I perceived at first glance to be a bare-chested woman on the cover. It turns out that the model on the cover is … Continue reading
August 19, 2011
by Mary Zaborskis
Comments Off on “Don’t Be a Drag, Just Be a Queen [or a Grand Supreme]”-Lady Gaga
I should probably be embarrassed to admit in a public forum that over the course of this summer, I have become incredibly addicted to the fascinatingly disturbing TLC program Toddlers & Tiaras (sadly, the season finale was last week, but … Continue reading
August 19, 2011
by Elly Truitt
Comments Off on The Performance of Gender in a Medieval Context
Butler’s theory of the active performance of gender elicits questions related to my own research and teaching. I teach a course on medieval medicine and disease, and it seems that my students are perennially fascinated by the nuances of gender … Continue reading
August 4, 2011
by Elly Truitt
1 Comment
While reading Butler’s complicated analysis of desire and the Subject in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, I was struck by its possible relationship to the Freudian concept of the Uncanny, and how desire makes and unmakes us. Hegel’s work is an … Continue reading
August 4, 2011
by Vanessa Christman
2 Comments
I’m reading “Desire, Rhetoric and Recognition” when the theme from the movie Laura comes on the radio. “Laura is the face in the misty light. . . .” While one part of my brain tarries on images from the film, … Continue reading
August 4, 2011
by Sara Alcid
Comments Off on The Right of Recognition
I will be the first to admit that “Desire, Rhetoric, and Recognition in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit” left me confounded and frustrated. I share Steph’s sentiments when it comes to this reading and often ask myself the same questions about … Continue reading
August 4, 2011
by Mary Zaborskis
Comments Off on How Becoming of You
In typical Bryn Mawr English major nerd fashion, some friends and I share a favorite quote by Michel Foucault: “I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is … Continue reading
August 4, 2011
by Steph Herold
Comments Off on Butler vs. Reality
When I was a senior at Bryn Mawr, my sister was a freshman at Columbia University. I was jaded, ready to get out of academia, and even moved off campus and got a full-time job by the middle of my … Continue reading