Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex

In the first chapter, Butler explores the necessity of questioning philosophical discourse from a contemporary feminist position. Feminist theory takes a critical stance toward what is called “idealism” in poststructuralist philosophy, which focuses on discourse as the dominant category worthy of study. Butler also notes that poststructuralism’s position regarding the body is problematic due to an understanding of materiality as subordinate to discourse—elevating mind over matter.

However, Butler is also critical of the feminist focus on the female body, urging a broader investigation of exclusionary mechanisms and power dynamics that shape feminist discussions around the category of “women” and the concept of materiality. Moving away from a simplistic understanding of cultural construction, Butler proposes investigating the specificity of the process of construction. Along with construction, Butler questions the lower status of materiality, emphasizing the inseparability of materiality and language. With this, they challenge the idea that materiality is completely external to language.

Butler traces the association of femininity with materiality back to Latin and Greek etymologies. In Latin, matter is associated with the nouns mater (mother) and matrix (womb), while in Greek, the noun hylē means “matter” but also “wood” and the origin of the universe.