notes from Dystopia and Gender class

1. GENDER, POWER & OTHER
IDEAS
IN THE HANDMAID’S TALE AND ELSEWHERE

2. MICHEL FOUCAULT
• FRENCH PHILOSOPHER/HISTORIAN. DIED IN 1984 OF AIDS. ALTHOUGH NOT
TECHNICALLY A GENDER/QUEER THEORIST, HE IS CONSIDERED A GRANDFATHER OF
QUEER THEORY BECAUSE MANY OF HIS IDEAS FORM A BASIS FOR CONTEMPORARY
GENDER AND QUEER THEORY.
• MUCH OF HIS WORK IS CONSIDERED PHILOSOPHICAL BECAUSE IT CRITIQUES THE
USUAL UNDERSTANDING OF CERTAIN TOPICS.
• FOR EXAMPLE, HISTORY OF MADNESS IN THE CLASSICAL AGE, WHICH HE PUBLISHED
IN 1961, DEVELOPED FROM FOUCAULT’S STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY. IT EXAMINES
THE MODERN CONCEPT OF MENTAL ILLNESS

3. THOUGHT VERSUS REALITY
• FROM THERE, FOUCAULT EXAMINED A VARIETY OF PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT,
MAKING DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THOUGHT AND OBJECT.
• SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE PHILOSOPHER DESCARTES IS THE SOURCE OF THE
FAMOUS “I THINK THEREFORE I AM.” IN A VERY BROAD NUTSHELL, FOUCAULT
MIGHT SAY, AREN’T YOU MORE THAN YOUR THOUGHTS. MOREOVER, DOES AN
IDEA OR CONCEPT EQUAL THE REALITY OF SOMETHING?

4. CONTROL
• IN THE MID 70S, FOUCAULT MOVED ON TO EXAMINE FORMS OF CONTROL AND
CRIMINALIZATION (DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH)
• LOOKS AT THE WAY THAT SOCIETY STARTED TRYING TO REFORM RATHER THAN
PUNISH PEOPLE WHO BROKE LAWS, AND THE WAY THAT MODE ALSO SEEPED
INTO OTHER PLACES BESIDES PRISONS.
• HIS MAIN POINT IS THAT DISCIPLINE BECOMES ABOUT CREATING NORMS.
THERE’S NORMAL BEHAVIOR AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR.
• HOW DO WE SET ABOUT CREATING/ENFORCING SOCIETAL NORMS?

5. GENEOLOGY
• FOUCAULT THEN WROTE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY, USING THE SAME APPROACH HE’D
TAKEN TO STUDY THE HISTORY OF PUNISHMENT.
• THIS APPROACH IS KNOWN AS “GENEOLOGICAL,” WHICH MEANS LOOKING AT THE
PAST TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOT TO THE PRESENT.
• SO WHEN HE EXAMINES THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY, IT’S TO SHOW THE WAYS IN
WHICH OUR CONTEMPORARY IDEAS OF SEXUALITY ARE INTRINSICALLY TIED TO
POWER STRUCTURES
• SEXUALITY, HE ARGUES, IS LIKE CRIMINALITY IN THE WAY IT WORKS. IT’S A SUBJECT
OF SCIENCE, STUDIED, REQUIRING KNOWLEDGE. IN OTHER WORDS, PEOPLE SELF-
IDENTIFY AND CONTROL THEMSELVES BASED ON THE SOCIETAL NORMS.

6. SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH
GENDER THEORY?
• FOUCAULT’S WORK SET ABOUT SHOWING THAT THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT
SEXUALITY (AND OTHER TOPICS) ISN’T “ESSENTIAL” OR “INEVITABLE.” THAT,
RATHER, ALL OF THE THINGS WE BELIEVE ABOUT SEXUAL IDENTITY ARE
ATTACHED TO OTHER TYPES OF DISCOURSE (RELIGION, POLITICS, SCIENCE).
• IN OTHER WORDS, OUR BELIEFS ARE CONSTRUCTED.
• THIS IDEA, OF A CONSTRUCTED IDENTITY, IS AT THE HEART OF THE LEADING
GENDER AND QUEER THEORISTS.

7. CATEGORIES
• FOUCAULT ARGUES THAT MANY OF THE “CATEGORIES” USED FOR SEXUAL
IDENTITY ARE JUST INVENTED, NOT INHERENT, BUT THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SO
WIDELY ACCEPTED THAT REVEALING ONE’S CATEGORY IS LINKED WITH TRUTH
AND IDENTITY.
• THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS HIS WORK HAS BEEN OF INTEREST TO FEMINISTS
AND OTHERS IS THE IDEA OF SEXUALITY AND GENDER AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS
VERSUS BIOLOGICAL ONES
• HE ALSO WAS INTERESTED IN THE IDEA THAT BECAUSE OF HOW THESE
CATEGORIES HAVE EVOLVED, WE DON’T NEED ANYONE ELSE TO MONITOR US
BECAUSE WE MONITOR OURSELVES AND CATEGORIZE AND LABEL OURSELVES,
WILLINGLY. WE SEE BEING HONEST ABOUT “WHO WE ARE” AS A PART OF BEING
HONEST.

8. JUDITH BUTLER
• BUTLER SEIZED ON THIS IDEA AND IT’S AT THE ROOT OF THIS IDEA OF
DISCURSIVE FORMATIONS—THAT CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF PEOPLE HAVE
BECOME SO WELL ESTABLISHED THAT WE ACCEPT THEM AS ESSENTIAL
• THIS IS PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE THEN WE SERVE TO REPRESENT THE CATEGORIES
WE’VE CREATED AS IF THEY ARE ONE AND THE SAME
• HER EXAMPLE IN OUR READING IS “WOMAN” AS A CATEGORY, AS IF ALL WOMEN
ARE THE SAME AND DOES NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE WAYS IN WHICH PEOPLE ARE
DEFINED BEYOND THEIR GENDER, SEXUALITY OR BODIES.

9. FROM THERE, THE NOTION OF
PERFORMATIVE GENDER
• JUDITH BUTLER, WHO WE HAVE READ, IS KNOWN FOR MANY
LEADING THEORIES REGARDING GENDER, BUT THE IDEA OF
PERFORMATIVE GENDER IS PERHAPS ONE OF HER MOST
DISCUSSED IDEAS.
• RESPONSES?

10. LET’S PLAY THE FOUCAULT GAME
• TAKE OUT A PIECE OF PAPER AND A PEN
• WRITE DOWN A CATEGORY YOU THINK OTHERS MIGHT PUT YOU IN BASED ON
OBSERVING YOU IN LIFE, CLASS, SOCIAL MEDIA ETC.
• THESE DO NOT HAVE TO BE RELATED TO GENDER OR SEXUALITY, BUT CAN BE IF
YOU WANT
• NOW WRITE DOWN A CATEGORY YOU MIGHT PUT YOURSELF IN WILLINGLY
BASED ON YOUR OWN SENSE OF IDENTITY
• LET’S READ THESE OUT LOUD AND DISCUSS THE DISCREPANCIES (IF THERE ARE
ANY) AND/OR WHAT THESE CATEGORIES TELL US ABOUT OUR OWN REALITY