Judith Butler is one of the most important and influential feminist theorists in the academy today. Her groundbreaking 1990 book Gender Trouble, which introduced the notion of “gender performativity,” has subsequently become a classic text in fields as diverse as cultural studies, feminist, queer, and literary theory, and philosophy. Many scholars attribute Butler with having helped found the field of queer theory (along with Gayle Rubin and Eve Sedgwick) as well as with inaugurating a new theoretical framework for thinking about gender identity and subjectivity.

Born in 1956, Butler grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She completed her undergraduate work at Yale University and received her Ph.D. in philosophy from Yale in 1984.

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First published 27 August 2003

Citation: Rottenberg, Catherine. "Judith Butler". The Literary Encyclopedia. 27 August 2003.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5173, accessed 9 February 2010.]