#7: Gender is Burning - 06/03/2019

Wednesday 6 March | 5 - 6.30pm | LAHRI (29-31 Clarendon Place) | All welcome

 For our third session of the semester, we will be reading Butler's fourth chapter from Bodies That Matter, 'Gender is Burning: Questions of Appropriation and Subversion' (1993). In an analysis of of the legendary queer documentary Paris is Burning (dir. Jennie Livingston, 1990), Butler contests any assumed relation between drag and subversion. She uses the documentary as a touchstone for thinking about the ways in which drag performance risks reidealising certain gender, racial, and class norms - and for considering the subversive potential of the systems of kinship underpinning drag ball culture. Touching on issues such as spectatorship and fetishisation, Butler argues for the ambivalent modalities of power embedded in the queer subcultures of drag balls. 

 A pdf of the chapter can be found here. Butler's chapter makes a number of important responses to negative criticisms of Paris is Burning, most notable of which is bell hooks' review of the documentary. While we will be focusing primarily on Butler's chapter, it is worth taking a look at hooks' review for a sense of the ethical contention surrounding the documentary. We look forward to seeing you all next Wednesday!

 NB: If you have not seen Paris is Burning, the documentary is easily accessed via YouTube and Netflix. A true cornerstone of queer cinema and history, it is always worth the watch. 

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