BODILY CITATIONS GENDER, THEORY, AND RELIGION GENDER, THEORY, AND RELIGION Amy Hollywood, Editor The Gender, Theory, and Religion series provides a forum for interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of the study of gender, sexuality, and religion Martyrdom and Memory: Early Christian Culture Making elizabeth a castelli When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David susan ackerman Abandoned to Lust: Sexual Slander and Ancient Christianity jennifer wright knust Women, Men, and Spiritual Power: Female Saints and Their Male Collaborators john coakley BODILY CITATIONS RELIGION AND JUDITH BUTLER Edited by Ellen T Armour and Susan M St Ville COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS Publishers Since 1893 New York, Chichester, West Sussex Copyright © 2006 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bodily Citations : religion and Judith Butler / edited by Ellen T Armour and Susan M St Ville p cm Includes bibliographical references and index isbn 0-231-13406-1 (cloth : alk paper) — isbn 0-231-13407-x (pbk : alk paper) — isbn 0-231-50864-6 Religions Butler, Judith Feminist theory Sex role—Religious aspects Gender identity I Armour, Ellen T., 1959– II St Ville, Susan M., 1963– bl410.b63 2006 202.082 dc22 2005034516 Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper Printed in the United States of America c 10 p 10 CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgments vii Introduction xiii Judith Butler—in Theory ellen t armour and susan m st ville TEXTUAL BODIES Materializations of Virtue: Buddhist Discourses on Bodies 15 susanne mrozik The Garden of Eden and the Heterosexual Contract 48 ken stone The Annoying Woman: Biblical Scholarship After Judith Butler teresa j hornsby EMBODYING IDENTITIES Disturbingly Catholic: Thinking the Inordinate Body 93 karen trimble alliaume 71 VI CONTENTS Unconforming Becomings: The Significance of Whitehead’s Novelty and Butler’s Subversion for the Repetitions of Lesbian Identity and the Expansion of the Future 120 christina k hutchins Turning On/To Ethics 157 claudia schippert Agency, Performativity, and the Feminist Subject 177 saba mahmood THEORIZING BODIES “Judith Butler” in My Hands 225 rebecca schneider Performativity, Citationality, Ritualization amy hollywood Afterword 276 judith butler Selected Bibliography 293 List of Contributors 297 Index 299 252 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS T HOUGH NOW CONSIDERABLY expanded, this volume originated from a set of sessions sponsored by the Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection Group at the 1997 national meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Francisco The group took advantage of the meeting’s location to invite feminist and queer theorist Judith Butler, professor of rhetoric and comparative literature at the University of California in Berkeley, to respond to a set of papers by scholars of religion in various fields using her work Professor Butler graciously agreed, and two dynamic sessions with a combined audience of several hundred took place The response to those sessions and the important place that Professor Butler’s work continues to occupy in women’s studies, queer theory, and disciplines that engage those fields (including religion) inspired us to produce this anthology.1 While we expect this book will find an audience among scholars in religion who are already interested in Butler, we also hope to attract scholars of religion who are not familiar with—or may even be skeptical about—her work In addition, we hope that the book will appeal to scholars of feminist and queer theory who may be unaware of—or even skeptical about—religious studies A word or two, then, to entice both kinds of readers into the volume VIII PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THE TROUBLE WITH GENDER (AND BEYOND) Though not her first book, the publication of Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity in 1990 brought Judith Butler to prominence.2 Gender Trouble broke new ground in feminist theory and became a founding text in the emerging field of queer theory with its assertion that gender produces sex Masculinity and femininity, Butler argued, are bodily performances based on the demands of our heterosexual and phallocentric economy, not expressions of the body’s inner nature In monographs that followed, Bodies That Matter (1993), Excitable Speech (1997), and The Psychic Life of Power (1997), Butler refined and expanded upon Gender Trouble by developing more detailed accounts of the mechanisms through which identities are produced and resisted while attending to the political contexts in which they function.3 In recent years Butler has turned her attention to kinship structures (Antigone’s Claim: Kinship Between Life and Death, 2000) and international politics (Contingency, Hegemony, Universality, 2000, co-written with Slavoj Žižek and Ernesto Laclau), including America’s responses to September 11 (in Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence, 2004).4 Her latest book, Undoing Gender (2004), returns once again to the fraught terrain of sexuality and gender nearly twenty-five years after Gender Trouble.5 Her investigations into all these arenas continue to explore and expose the interplay of psychic, linguistic, and political forces The essays in Bodily Citations focus on Judith Butler’s performative theory of gender, the aspect of her work that continues to exercise the greatest influence on academia We have provided in “Judith Butler—in Theory” an account of the contours of this theory and its significance for the study of religion; what follows here positions this volume in relation to critical questions raised about Butler’s theory Even those who have never read a word of Gender Trouble may be aware of the brief firestorms of controversy that have erupted around Butler in the public press in recent years A review of Butler’s major works written by Martha Nussbaum for the New Republic (February 22, 1999) is a case in point.6 Although in our judgment Nussbaum’s review has been rightly critiqued as unnecessarily vicious and irresponsible, it seems to us important to address.7 Doing so provides a useful entrée into critical questions about Butler’s work that are raised and, in some cases, addressed in Bodily Citations Nussbaum accuses Butler (as have others before) of substituting the doing of supposedly subversive things with words for genuine feminist political engagement Elevating language to center stage distorts reality and troubles structures foundational to political activism, she argues Stable identities (including that of being a woman) and the ability to act freely—both notions challenged by Butler’s work—seem to be basic requirements for any kind of politics, feminist or otherwise Engaging with PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX Butler, Nussbaum claims, results inevitably in a paralyzing quietism that eviscerates feminist politics The questions Nussbaum raises echo what seem to be lingering—if uninformed—suspicions about not only Butler’s work but certain kinds of theory on which it depends What does theory of the type Butler engages (psychoanalytic, deconstructive, poststructuralist) offer those who struggle with hardscrabble political realities? Butler, like the theorists on whom she draws, has been accused of resorting to jargon-laden prose that some deride as camouflage for weak ideas Are the insights to be gained from submerging oneself in what is purported to be, at least, inscrutable prose and convoluted ideas (or convoluted prose about inscrutable ideas) worth the intellectual labor? The introduction to Butler’s work that follows will, we trust, effectively put to rest suspicions based on misunderstanding or misreading of this theorist Many of the essays will shed new light on those questions that need serious consideration Indeed, examining the uses to which religionists put Butler’s work strikes us as an excellent location for responding to these questions and suspicions Though itself frequently subject to oversimplification in the popular media and the secular imagination (the religious imagination, too, for that matter), religion is an aspect of culture that has its moments of high theory and its hardscrabble realities Those of us who have taken it up as an academic pursuit are perhaps especially attuned to the complexities of religious ideas and their materializations in religious texts and practices of various sorts engaged in by perfectly ordinary people to ordinary and extraordinary effect Even those who go about their lives paying little or no attention to religious matters cannot avoid their effects For good and for ill, religious traces persist even within the West’s putatively secular culture—overtly as a source of conflict (as in the so-called culture wars) but also covertly (as the unacknowledged root of certain cultural traditions) Religion, like gender and sexuality (and often with them), is a site where language, materiality, theory, and politics all come together in complex ways PUTTING BUTLER TO WORK In addition to deepening and broadening our understanding of the import of Butler’s work, Bodily Citations offers a distinctive approach to the study of religion by applying a common theoretical lens to a set of issues that emerge from diverse religious sites The introduction to this volume describes the essays in more detail We take a moment here to provide readers who are unfamiliar with the academic study of religion with a map that situates each essay in relationship to that field CONTRIBUTORS EDITORS ELLEN T ARMOUR is R A Webb Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College She is the author of Deconstruction, Feminist Theology, and the Problem of Difference: Subverting the Race/Gender Divide (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999) and is currently working on a book on religion and postmodernism SUSAN M ST VILLE is formerly assistant professor and director of gender studies at Notre Dame University She is currently a licensed clinical social worker practicing in the Chicago area She is coeditor of Transfigurations: Feminist Theology and the French Feminists (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993) CONTRIBUTORS KAREN TRIMBLE ALLIAUME is assistant professor in the Department of Theology and director of the Women’s Studies Program at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois She is completing a book manuscript, with the working title “Re(as)sembling Christ: Feminist Christology, Identity Politics, and the Imagination of Christian Communities,” for publication AMY HOLLYWOOD is Elizabeth H Monrad Professor of Christian Studies at Harvard Divinity School She is the author of Sensible Ecstasy: Mysticism, Sexual Difference, and the Demands of History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002) 298 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TERESA J HORNSBY is assistant professor of religious studies and director of the Women and Gender Studies Program at Drury University in Springfield, Montana She is the author of a number of essays on feminist and queer issues in biblical studies CHRISTINA K HUTCHINS teaches process theology at Pacific School of Religion, and her essays and poems have been published in Theology and Sexuality, the Journal of Feminist Studies of Religion, Frontiers, North American Review, and in anthologies including God, Literature and Process Thought (Burlington, VT: Ashgate 2002) SABA MAHMOOD is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley She is the author of Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004) SUSANNE MROZIK is assistant professor of religion at Mount Holyoke College and has published a number of articles on Buddhist ethics in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics and the Journal of Religious Ethics CLAUDIA SCHIPPERT is assistant professor of humanities and director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida Recent publications include “Containing Uncertainty: Sexual Values and Citizenship” (Journal of Homosexuality) and “Sporting Heroic Bodies in a Christian Nation-at-War” (Journal of Religion and Popular Culture) REBECCA SCHNEIDER is head of the M.A and Ph.D programs in theater and performance studies at Brown University She is the author of The Explicit Body in Performance (New York: Routledge, 1997), “Hello Dolly Well Hello Dolly: The Double and Its Theatre” (Psychoanalysis and Performance), and “Solo Solo Solo” in After Criticism: New Responses to Art and Performance (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005), pp 23–47 KEN STONE is associate professor of Hebrew Bible at the Chicago Theological Seminary His most recent book is Practicing Safer Texts: Food, Sex, and Bible in Queer Perspective (London: Clark/Continuum, 2005) INDEX Abjection: and black womanist ethics, 159, 163–67, 169; in Buddhism, xiv, 17, 18–19, 22–27, 31–34, 36–37, 38n2, 42nn37, 40, 43n49, 43–44nn52–53, 45– 46n68; Butler’s definition, 7, 152n37, 282; of Catholic women, 94, 107–8; critique of women as abject, 197–98; ethical role of, xvii–xviii, 168–69; relationship to subjectivity, 16–17, 161; as resistance, 135, 162–67, 168–69, 170; transformative power of, 170–72 Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, 196, 197 Actions, nonlinguistic, and subject formation, 253; see also Bodies Afghan women and liberal feminist agenda, 207–8 Agency: Buddhist perspective on, 23, 27, 37–38, 38n3; Butler’s analysis of, 3–4, 7–10, 157–58, 160–63, 166, 172, 174n8, 188–91, 200, 285; in citational mate- rialization, 133, 200, 241; contingency of, 153n40; free will vs determinism, 136–37, 161–67, 190, 229–30, 239, 285– 86; and habitus, 193–97; and intentionality, 287; and liberal tradition in feminism, 8, 179–80, 205–6; within Muslim women’s piety, xviii, 182–87; and resistance, 109, 163–69, 180; and transformative power of abject, 171–72; see also Political agency; Subjectivity Alterior sex: Adam as, 56–57, 62–63; and Buddhist body discourse, 18, 19, 29, 30–33, 34, 35, 37; Jesus as, 110–11 Althusser, Louis, 6, 107, 227 Ambrose, 84 Androgyny, see Indeterminate sex Anointing woman in Luke’s gospel, 71–86, 87n8, 88n33 Anthropology and feminism, 205 300 INDEX Antifoundationalism, Butler’s, 126, 128, 134–35 Antigone, 48, 60, 74–75, 82–84, 85 Antigone’s Claim (Butler), 74–75, 82–83 Aquinas, Thomas, 107–8 Arab Jews, 279 Aristotle, xviii, 196–97, 199–200 Asad, Talal, 265–66, 274n41 Ascetic discourse in Buddhism, 17–18, 24–27, 42n37, 43n49, 43–44nn52–53 Ashkenazim, 279 Austin, J L.: Butler on, 286; on performativity, 189, 199–200, 239–40; speech act analysis, 254, 257–63, 271n15, 273n30, 273n37 Autonomy, individual, liberal assumptions about, 179, 184–86; see also Freedom; Free will vs determinism Barth, Karl, 52 Barthes, Roland, 228 Beautiful Man, 20, 29 Beautiful Woman narrative, 18–21, 23–24, 26–29, 30 Becoming and identity: and Christian identity, 120, 122; and lesbian identity, 123, 128; and Nietzsche’s, 151n28; and process thought, 129–31, 136, 137, 151n25, 151n32, 153n39; repetition in, 132; and subjectivity, 126, 135–36; unconforming becomings, 133–34, 138–45, 152n34, 155nn55–56 Behavior vs identity, sex and gender as, 11n5 Belief, body and, xxi, 274n49, 287 Belief and disbelief, theatrical facsimiles of, 234–35, 248n9 Beliefs, Islam as abstract system of, 181 Bell, Catherine, 267–68 Benedict XVI, Pope, 287–89 Benjamin, Walter, 235, 276 Biblical interpretation: Butler’s relationship to, 278–79; feminist, xv, 49–50, 52–53, 71–86; and gender/sex in creation stories, xiv–xv, 48–66, 68n23, 283, 288–89 Binary sexual difference: biblical establishment of, xiv–xv, 49–50, 51–54, 56–57; and Christian identity, 120–21, 123, 142–43; exclusionary nature of, 124–25; gay and lesbian relationship to, xvi–xvii, 62, 120–22, 141, 146n2; and problematics of resistance, 285; as social construction, 5; and tolerance, 146n4; see also Heteronormativity Biological essentialism: and ambiguity of biological sex, 5; Catholic courting of, 94, 95, 288–89; and essentialist origins for identity, 124–25; and gay/lesbian identities, xvii, 121, 125, 149n17; and patriarchy, 50; and sex/gender debate, 2; in South Asian cultures, 23; and tolerance, 146n4 “Black (W)holes and the Geometry of Black Female Sexuality” (Hammonds), 170 Black womanist ethics, 158–59, 163–67, 173–74n6 Black Womanist Ethics (Cannon), 159, 163, 173–74n6 Blindness of writing/acting, xix, 233–39, 240–44, 245, 250n22, 284 Bodhisattva, definition, 16; see also Buddhism Bodies: and abjection, 168; bodily practices and religious identity, 10; body as belief, 287; extra-linguistic scope of, 231, 241, 242–43; linguistic vs nonlinguistic signification, 253, 255–57, 264–65, 286–87; and Muslim women’s piety movement, 179, 193–97, 200; non-normatively sexed, 22–23, 49–50, 63–64, 105; and performativity, xix–xxi, 6–7, 228–33, 241–44, 250n25, 252, 253–54; and ritualization, xx–xxi, 265–69; social flexibility of, 2; see also Buddhism; Catholicism; Materialization; Spectral body INDEX Bodies That Matter (Butler): and Buddhist body discourses, 15; and ethical implications of resignification, 158; and materialization through repetition, 132; performance vs performativity, 239; on power, 72; ritual and materialization, 254–55; subjectivity as performance, 134; theoretical overview, 6–7, 8–9 Bodily sacrifice and Buddhist virtue, 18, 19–21, 26–27, 43–44nn52–53 Body of Christ as community, 94, 98, 102, 113 Bourdieu, Pierre, 196, 255, 287 Brother-sister relationship and Antigone, 82–83 Brown, Wendy, 207 Buddha, definition, 16 Buddhism: ascetic discourse on bodies, 17–18, 24–27, 42n37, 43n49, 43–44nn52–53; Beautiful Woman narrative, 19–21; and Buddha as mother, 30–33, 45n57; and Butler’s theories, 15–19, 36–38, 38n3; conventional discourse on bodies, 22–24, 38nn2–3, 42n40, 45–46nn68–72; fluidity of sex/ gender in, 27–36, 42n38, 42–43n44, 47n77; overview, xiii–xiv Burgher, Mary, 165 Burns, Gene, 96 Butler, Judith: on abjection, 7, 152n37, 282; on agency, 3–4, 7–10, 157–58, 160–63, 166, 172, 174n8, 188–91, 200, 285; on Antigone, 60, 74–75, 82–84; and Buddhist body discourses, 15–19, 36–38, 38n3; challenge to liberalism, 178; discursive materialization, xix, 202–4, 225–33; on feminism, 73–75; and feminist complicity, 71, 72; on fluid identities, 81–82; and Foucault, 60–61; on heteronormativity, 121; Hollywood’s critique of, 252–69; on interpellation, 107; performativity and performance, 103, 160, 189–90, 30 199–201, 241–42, 252, 286–87; and pleasure in subversive resignification, 154n45; and proliferation of gendered/sexed subjects, 54; and queer ethics, xvii–xviii, 157–72, 173–74n6, 175n16, 276–77; response to essays, 276–89; on taboo/norm relationship, 85–86; theoretical overview, 1–11; on universality, 127–28, 151n27; and Whitehead, 126–28, 131–38, 143–45, 153n42 Cannon, Katie, 159, 163–67, 168, 169, 171–72, 173–74n6 Cartesian dualism, xix, 121, 225, 226–33, 229, 284 Catholicism: Butler on, 283, 287–89; and citation vs imitation, xvi, 97–98, 102–5, 109–16; and imitation of Christ, 97–102, 105–9, 118n30; on ordination of women, 93–97, 116n1, 118n29; overview, xvi Celibacy and sexuality in Buddhism, 25 Christianity: anointing woman, xv, 71–86; creation stories and heteronormativity, xiv–xv, 48–66, 68n23, 283, 288–89; identity discourse, xvi–xvii, 120–23, 138–45; and queer ethics, 158–72; see also Catholicism Christman, John, 184 Church Dogmatics (Barth), 52 Citation: and agency, 133, 200, 241; in biblical creation stories, 65; and Catholic gender roles, xvi, 102–5, 108–9, 110–15; effects on social norms, 4, 7, 15, 17, 160, 254, 265, 269; and materialization, 132, 133, 160, 200, 241, 254, 265; and performativity, 234–39; situating of, 225–26, 263; theoretical overview, 4, 98; see also Repetition Community: Body of Christ in Catholic, 94, 98, 102, 113; and Christian identity, 97, 100, 102, 104–5 302 INDEX Concrescence, 129–30, 136, 151n25, 151n28, 151n32, 153n39; see also Becoming and identity Constative vs performative speech, xx, 257–59, 268, 270–71n9, 273n37 Constraints and free will in subjectivity, 136–37, 161–67, 190, 229–30, 239, 285–86 Construction, social: and agency, 136; of gender/sex, 3, 5, 6, 15, 17, 56, 226; and social norms, 122; and subjectivity/identity, 3–4, 9, 133; and theater vs ritual, 233–39 Contingency, Hegemony, Universality: Contemporary Dialogues on the Left (Butler, Laclau and Žižek), 10 Contingency of gender norms, see Instability of identities Conventional Buddhist body discourse, 22–24, 38n2, 42n40, 45–46nn68–72 Corley, Kathleen, 78–79, 87n17 Creation stories in Genesis, xiv–xv, 48–66, 68n23, 283, 288–89 Creativity: divinity of, 142; expansive motion of, 141–42; and identity, 133, 143–44; in process thought, 129, 135–38, 140, 141, 143, 155n55; and repetition, 153n42, 252, 262–63, 269; as universal, 128; see also Expansion of human possibilities Critique, transformative role of, 60–61, 283–84; see also Resistance; Subversive resignification Cross-dressing, and Jesus as transvestite, 110–11; see also Drag performances Cultural categories, see Hegemonic cultural categories; Norms, social D’Angelo, Mary Rose, 77–78 Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Parks), 247 De Beauvoir, Simone, 2, 74, 136 Deconstruction: Derrida’s definition, 262; of fixed identity/subject, 125–28, 131–38; through parody, 110–11, 113, 140, 151–52n33; see also Poststructuralism De Lauretis, Teresa, 49, 125 Democracy vs Catholic Church governance, 95–96 Derrida, Jacques: on citationality, 113; on performativity, xx, 4, 189, 200, 255, 260–65; on reading and writing, 230; on ritual and iterability, 272n21; on signification, 268; and Whitehead, 150n23; see also Deconstruction Descartes, René, xix, 225, 226–33, 284 Desire: and anointing woman, 75–76, 84–86, 89n33; in Genesis creation stories, xv, 55–56, 65, 68n23; and habitus, 196–97; and homoeroticism and Bible, 51, 58–59, 65; renunciation of, 24–27, 30–33 Determinism vs free will, 136–37, 161– 67, 190, 229–30, 239, 285–86 Diachronic vs synchronic perspectives on Buddhist materialization, 33–34 Diamond, Elin, 234 Disbelief and belief, theatrical facsimiles of, 234–35, 248n9 Discipline and Punish (Foucault), 61 Discourse, see Language; Materialization; Performativity; Speech acts; Subjectivity Divine image, humans as made in, 52–53 Divinity and masculinity, 96–97, 98, 102, 110; see also God Dolan, Jill, 246 Domestic sphere, relegation of Christian women to, 77 Dominant cultural categories, see Hegemonic cultural categories Drag performances: limitations of, 282; as subversive, 7, 103, 110–13, 201–2; as unconforming becomings, 133–34, 152n34 Drewal, Margaret Thomson, 269 Dualism: Cartesian, xix, 121, 225, 226–33, INDEX 284; feminism’s attachment to, 74, 78, 183, 192; speaking body’s destruction of, 242; Whitehead’s challenge to, 151n25; see also Binary sexual difference; Heteronormativity Edelson, Mary Beth, 245, 246–47 Egypt, Islamic revival in, 179, 180–82, 192–97, 211n6, 212n12 Eilberg-Schwartz, Howard, 59 Elam, Harry, Jr., 247 Enjoyment, becoming as, 137 Equality, relative virtue of, 208–9 Erotic physicality and anointing woman story, xv, 75–76, 84–86, 89n33; see also Desire Essentialism, gender/sex: Catholic, 94–96, 101–2, 110, 287–89; and Christian identities, 121, 124–26, 139; deconstructionist critique of, 132–33; feminist, 101, 148–49n15, 148n13, 246; and fixed identities, 147n12; nonhegemonic use of, 149n17; see also Biological essentialism; Gender complementarity; Heteronormativity Ethics, Butler’s relationship to, xvii–xviii, 157–72, 173–74n6, 175n16, 276–77 Excitable Speech (Butler): and Austin, 286; and habitus, 200, 253; and interpellation, 227; overview, 9; on performativity, 255, 264–65; and reading/writing, 241–42 Expansion of human possibilities: and instability of identities, 138, 140–42; and political shifting of norms, 166, 209–10; self-creativity of, 155n55; and socio-cultural change, 142–45; in spaces between repetitions, 153n42, 234, 252, 262–63, 269; Whitehead and Butler on, 128 Felman, Shoshana, 242, 245 Feminine qualities: and agency, 182; and essentialism, 95, 148–49n15; feminist’s 303 negative portrayal of, 78, 81; and inequality of gender complementarity, 101; of Jesus, 111 Feminism: Butler and, 1–11, 73–75; and Catholicism, 98–102, 105–6, 109–10, 116; and dominant discourse, 213n17; and essentialism of woman, 101, 148n13, 148–49n15, 246; queer ethics, 157–72, 173–74n6; see also Islam, women in Feminist biblical interpretation, xv, 49–50, 52–53, 71–86 “Feminist Christologies: Re-Dressing the Tradition” (McLaughlin), 109–10 Feminist ritual art, 245–47 Fixed identities/subjects: contextual nature of, 259–60, 263; deconstruction of, 126–28, 131–38, 163, 169, 185; see also Essentialism, gender/sex Flax, Jane, 124 Force of utterances, Austin vs Derrida, 260–62 Foucault, Michel: on critique as virtue, 60–61; ethical turn of, 173n3; on metaphysics, 127, 150n23; on power relations, 188, 285; on sexuality and gender, 54 Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth, 226 Freedom: and different moral spheres, 163; liberal assumptions of virtues in, 179, 183–86, 205 Free will vs determinism, 136–37, 161– 67, 190, 229–30, 239, 285–86 Freud and the Non-European (Said), 279–80 Fuss, Diana, 246 Gagnon, Robert, 53 Gay marriage, 5, 65–66, 121 Gays and lesbians: activists’ adoption of Butler’s theories, 8; and biblical creation stories, 48–66; in binary opposition to heterosexual identity, xvi–xvii, 62, 120–22, 146n2; and biological 304 INDEX Gays and lesbians (cont.) essentialism, xvii, 121, 125, 149n17; citational effects on identity, 113; and unconforming becomings, 138–39; see also Lesbian identity Gender and sex: ancient vs modern definitions of, 11n5; in Butler’s theory, 1–11, 188–89; of Jesus, 110–11; see also Buddhism; Christianity; Essentialism, gender/sex; Islam, women in Gender complementarity: in Catholicism, 95, 96–97, 101, 110, 118n29; interpretations of Genesis creation stories, 53, 62–63 Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Butler), 1, 8–10, 239, 252, 253, 286 Genesis and heteronormativity, xiv–xv, 48–66, 68n23, 283, 288–89 Giving an Account of Oneself (Butler), 276 God: as authority for binary sexual categories, 124–25; as creativity, 142; and gender/sex ambiguities in Genesis, 58–59; intellectual impact of “death” of, 278; and masculinity, 96–97, 98, 102, 110; and Muslim tradition of subordination, 181; role in biblical creation story, 51, 52–53, 63–65 Grant, Jacquelyn, 99 Greek theater, 236 Gregory of Nazianzus, 97 Gudorf, Christine, 99 Habitus: in Muslim women’s conscious transformations, xviii, 193–97, 199, 200; and ritualistic nature of performativity, 256–57, 266, 268 Hammonds, Evelyn, 169–70 Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 82–83 Hegemonic cultural categories: abjection’s dual role in, 168–69, 170; appropriation of subordinate identities, 139–40, 154–55n49; and feminism, 213n17; fluidity of identities as subversion of, 7, 86, 103, 110–13, 133–34, 140–45, 151–52n33, 162, 201–2; inadvertent reification of, 71, 72, 85–86, 99–102, 120–21, 123; Muslim women’s relationship to, 180, 186, 187, 191, 192–97, 201–3; as source of social identity, 16–17, 135, 147–48n13; see also Heteronormativity; Norms, social; Patriarchy Heteronormativity: and Buddhist monasticism, 42–43n44; Butler on, 160, 191; Christian attachment to, 120–21; citational origins of, 15, 17; and ex-gay ministries, 154–55n49; gay and lesbian destabilization of, xvi–xvii, 62, 120–22, 135, 137, 140, 146n2, 148n13, 152nn37– 38; and Genesis creation story, xiv–xv, 48–66, 68n23, 283, 288–89; vs homosexuality, 105; instability of gender/sex as subversion of, 86, 140–41; linear interpretation of, 5; as socially constructed norm, The History of Sexuality (Foucault), 54, 61 Holy motion, 141–45, 283 Homoeroticism in Genesis, 51, 58–59, 65 Homosexuality: ancient world’s attitudes, 51; and Buddhism, 42–43n44; and gendered subject, 5, 105; as nonnormative in South Asia, 23; see also Gays and lesbians Hope in creative becoming, 143–44 “How Can I Deny That These Hands and This Body Are Mine?” (Butler), xix, 225–33 How to Do Things with Words (Austin), 254 Humanity: Jesus as exemplar of, 100, 110; women as representative of, 98–99, 102, 104, 110; women’s exclusion from, 101, 118n30; see also Subjectivity Hurston, Zora Neale, 165 Ibn Khaldun, 196 INDEX Identities: bodily practices as source of religious, 10; Buddhist perspective on, 36, 42n38; Butler’s deconstruction of, 127–28, 131–38, 201, 254; Christian discourse of, xvi–xvii, 120–23, 138–45; complications of Jewish identity, 279– 80; social construction of sexed/gendered, 3; virtues of flexible, 81–82; in Whitehead’s process thought, 126–27, 129–31, 135–38; see also Catholicism; Fixed identities/subjects; Instability of identities; Relational nature of identities; Subjectivity Illocutionary vs perlocutionary acts, 263, 269, 273n30 Imitation, Catholic economy of, 96–102, 105, 106–7, 109, 111, 112–13 “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” (Butler), 131 Indeterminate sex: Adam’s, 56–57, 63–64; and Buddhist body discourse, 18, 28, 29 Inordinate bodies, see Catholicism Instability of identities: Antigone and anointing woman, 83–84; in biblical creation stories, 54, 56–59, 63–65; in Buddhist gender/sex identities, 27–36, 42n38, 42–43n44, 47n77; Butler’s preference for, 81–82, 131, 132, 134–35, 190; as contribution of nonhegemonic identities, 103; and expansion of future possibilities, 138, 140–42; hegemonic appropriation of, 139–40, 154– 55nn48–49; pleasure in, 137, 154n45; as subversive of hegemonic identities, 86, 133–34, 140–41, 142–45, 162; see also Alterior sex; Drag performances; Indeterminate sex Intelligibility of bodies, see Subjectivity Intensity and identity, 130, 137 Intentionality and power of speech acts, 259–60, 261, 262, 285, 287 Interpellation and sexual identity, 6, 107–8 305 Invisibility and abject’s resistance, 163, 170–72; see also Abjection Irigaray, Luce, 83 Islam, women in: and abjection, 197–98; Butler on relationship to social norms, 285–86; habitus and cultivation of norms, 193–97; introduction, xviii, 177–80; and limits of liberal feminism, 204–10; normative context, 192–93; overview, xviii; performativity and relationship to norms, 198–204; and political agency, 182–91; topography of mosque movement, 180–82, 210nn1–3, 211nn6–7, 212n12 Iterability, see Repetition Jesus Christ: anointing of, xv, 76, 79, 84; discursive production of, 98, 104; divinity and humanity of, 97, 98–99, 100, 110; feminization of, 101, 110–13; sex/gender of, 110–11; as textual body, 98, 102, 104, 115; virtue of submission to, 80; see also Catholicism Joan of Arc, 111 Jobling, David, 57–58 John Paul II, Pope, 106–7, 116n1 Johnson, Elizabeth, 99 Judaism: Butler’s relationship to, 277–81; heteronormativity and creation stories, xiv–xv, 48–66, 68n23, 283, 288–89; the sacred in, 283 Karma and constraints of agency, 37–38 Knowability, linguistic vs nonlinguistic, 231, 233–34, 241, 243–45, 247 Lacan, Jacques, 6, 17 Laclau, Ernesto, 10 Language: embeddedness in social context, 9, 258–60, 261, 263; and knowability, 231, 233–34, 241, 243–45, 247; linguistic vs nonlinguistic signification, 253–54, 255–57, 263–65, 286–87; and materiality, xix–xxi, 20, 202–4, 306 INDEX Language (cont.) 228–33, 241–44, 250n25, 254; normative dimension of, 158; and performativity, 3–4, 267–68; representational model of, 220–21n76, 235; and ritual, 236, 237, 238, 243–44, 247, 284; as source of heteronormativity, 49; see also Speech acts Lapidus, Ira, 196–97 Laqueur, Thomas, 125 Lesbian identity: as becoming process, 123, 128; as destabilizer of heteronormativity, 120–21, 122, 135, 137, 140, 148n13, 152nn37–38; and instability of all identities, 131; spiritual contribution of, 147n10; see also Gays and lesbians Liberal tradition: and agency, 8, 179–80, 205–6; freedom as normative for, 179, 183–86, 205; Muslim women’s challenge to, 177, 178, 181–82, 204–10; and patriarchy, 179–80, 197–98, 206, 207–8; vs religious piety, 181, 184–86, 192–93, 195–96, 203, 211–12n11 Liberation, human: abjection as tool for, 162, 282; Buddhist perspective, 25, 30, 34–35, 36, 42n37, 47n77; through fluid identities, 135 Luke, Gospel of, anointing woman story, 72, 75–81, 83–85 McKenzie, Jon, 239 McLaughlin, Eleanor, 109–14, 115 Male domination of culture, see Patriarchy Marriage: and biblical creation stories, 55, 64–65; gay marriage, 5, 65–66, 121 Masculine qualities and gender ambiguities in Buddhism, 27–28; see also Patriarchy Materialization: Buddha’s transformation of abjection in, 32, 33–34; citation’s role in, 132, 133, 160, 200, 241, 254, 265; differing modes of materiality, 269–71n3; discursive relation to, xix– xxi, 20, 202–4, 225–33, 241–44, 250n25, 252, 254, 286–87; interpretive filter for, 2–3; matter as process of, 153n39, 189; performativity’s role in, 6–7, 103, 265; relational dynamic of, 160–61, 221n77, 256, 265; and ritual, 254–55; see also Bodies; Subjectivity Mauss, Marcel, 266 Metaphysics, Whitehead’s, 126–28, 129–31 Meyers, Carol, 68n23 Mimesis and theater history, 233–39, 245 Misplaced concreteness, fallacy of, 122, 146n5 Mizrachim, 279 Modesty, Muslim, 193–97 Modesty, women’s, complexity of relationship to, 192–93, 198–99, 215n32 Monasticism, Buddhist, 25, 32–33, 42– 43nn43–44, 46nn69–72 Moral issues: black vs white moral spheres, 163–67; queer ethics, xvii–xviii, 157–72, 173–74n6, 175n16, 276–77; see also Norms, social; Virtuous and abject bodies Morrison, Toni, xix, 241–42, 243, 244, 284 Mosque movement in Egypt, see Islam, women in Motherhood: Buddha as mother, 30–33, 45n57; and exclusion of women from Catholic ordination, 94–95 The Muqadimmah (Ibn Khaldun), 196–97 Muslim women, see Islam, women in Mutilation, bodily, and virtue in Buddhism, 18, 19–21, 26–27, 43–44nn52–53 Nietzsche, Friedrich, 151n28 Non-normatively sexed bodies, 22–23, 49–50, 63–64, 105; see also Abjection; Alterior sex Norms, social: for beauty and bodily virtue in South Asia, 21–22; citation’s effects on, 4, 7, 15, 17, 160, 254, 265, INDEX 269; as constructed categories, 122; inhabiting vs resisting, 186–87, 285–86; multiple relationships to, 191, 192–93; subjectivity as submission to, 9–10; and universality, 220n75; see also Hegemonic cultural categories; Islam, women in Novelty, principle of, 128, 135–38, 140, 141, 143 Oedipal narrative, Antigone as rebuttal to, 60 Omnibodied, Buddha as, xiv, 19, 34, 35, 37 “On the Mimetic Faculty” (Benjamin), 235 Ontology and essentialist view of identity, 124–25; see also Essentialism, gender/sex Ordination of women in Catholicism, see Catholicism Organism, Whitehead’s philosophy of, see Process thought Orientalism, problem of, 186–87 Origen, 84–85 Parks, Suzan-Lori, 247 Parody as deconstructive challenge to norms, 110–11, 113, 133–34, 140, 151– 52n33; see also Drag performances Passivity, feminist’s negative portrayal of, 78, 81 Patriarchy: and binary sexual difference, 53–54; and biological essentialism, 50; and Buddhism, 23–24, 32–33, 34; communal vs individual renunciation of, 100; creation story as justification for, 56–58; divinity and masculinity, 96–97, 98, 102, 110; feminist complicity with, 71–73, 75, 79–80; and Islam, 179–80, 197–98, 206, 207–8 Performance: Butler on, 103, 160, 189–90, 199–201, 241–42, 252, 286–87; vs performativity, 232–47, 255, 270n4; vision 307 and blindness in, 233–39, 244–47, 248–49n11, 250n22 Performativity: in being Christ-like, xvi, 97–98, 102–5, 109–16; and biblical interpretation, 54; and bodies/materialization, xix–xxi, 6–7, 228–33, 241– 44, 250n25, 252, 253–54; in Butler’s theory, 160, 189–90, 252, 286–87; in community, 97, 100, 102; and deconstruction of fixed identity, 131–35; as embodied, 256–57; and feminist biblical scholarship, 73, 75–81; and feminist response to Butler, 8; and inhabiting of dominant norms, 193–204; vs performance, 232–47, 255, 270n4; ritualistic nature of, 234–39, 254–69, 271n15; and self-creativity of identity, 137; theoretical overview, 3–7; see also Citation Perlocutionary vs illocutionary acts, 263, 269, 273n30 Pettman, Jan Jindy, 94 Pheng Cheah, 17 Phenomenology of Spirit (Hegel), 82 Philosophy of Right (Hegel), 82 Piety movement, Muslim women’s, see Islam, women in “Plato’s Pharmacy” (Derrida), 230 Political agency: and Antigone’s rebellion, 83; Butler on, 9–10, 157–58, 174n8; and complexities of feminist critique, 73–74; representation and citational subversion, 114; transformation of abjection into, 159; see also Islam, women in Politics: Butler’s views, 7–10; sex as political category, 49–50; and shifting of norms, 166, 209–10; social context’s importance in, 207–8 Poststructuralism: critique of metaphysics, 126, 127, 136, 150n23; critique of rational thought, 185; and process thought, 126; as textualism, 226–27; see also Deconstruction; Signification 308 INDEX Power relations: complexity of, 160; need to challenge religious authority, 289; and ritualization, 268–69; social context source for, 255; and subjectivity, 161–62, 188, 285; see also Hegemonic cultural categories; Patriarchy; Political agency; Subversive resignification Precarious Life (Butler), 10, 276 Prehension, definition of, 129 Process and Reality (Whitehead), 126 Process thought: creativity in, 129, 135– 38, 140, 141, 143, 155n55; and identities, 126–27, 129–31, 135–38, 146n5; repetition, 130, 153n42 Procreation, 49, 51–52, 55, 68n23 Prostitute, anointing woman as, 76–79, 87n17, 88n18 The Psychic Life of Power (Butler), Psychoanalytic theory: and gendered subject as social construction, 6, 17; and homoeroticism in biblical creation stories, 59; and Jewish communal history, 279–80; and language, 253 Queer biblical interpretation, xv, 50, 54, 59–60 Queer ethics, Butler’s relationship to, xvii–xviii, 157–72, 173–74n6, 175n16 Queer theory, 8, 121, 176n19 Rayner, Alice, 247 Reading: and biblical interpretation, 60– 66, 75; and body/language relationship, xix, 228–33, 241–42, 243–44 Rebirth and virtuous vs abject bodies, 22 Reinhartz, Adele, 81 Relational nature of identities: and becoming, 122, 129–30, 138–45, 155nn55–56; and bodily materialization, 160–61, 221n77, 256, 265; and community, 104–5; and deconstruction of fixed identity, 132–33; and sources of agency and authority, 109 Religion: Butler’s intellectual relationship to, 276–81; failure of feminism to deal with, 178; and ritual, 265–66; see also Buddhism; Christianity; Islam, women in Religious Right, 120, 146n2, 154–55n49 Religious studies, value of Butler’s work for, 10–11 Reperformance, reading as, 229–30, 231–32 Repetition: creativity within imperfection of, 153n42, 252, 262–63, 269; and deconstruction of fixed identity, 131, 132–33, 135–38, 163, 169; and performativity, 234–39, 260, 261–64, 268; and process thought, 130, 153n42; see also Citation Representation: and Antigone, 82–83; and citational subversion, 114; and language, 220–21n76, 235 Reproduction imperative, 49, 51–52, 55, 68n23 Resemblance, see Imitation, Catholic economy of Resignification: in Buddhist body ideals, 16; ethical implications of, 158; and legitimization of abject, 17, 166; of women, 155nn50–51; see also Subversive resignification Resistance: abjection as, 135, 162–67, 168–69, 170; and agency, 109, 163–69, 180; Butler on, 285; to Catholic exclusion of women, 94; citation’s role in, 254, 265, 269; feminism as, 3; and multiple gender/sex forms, 54–55; and Muslim women’s relationship to dominant culture, 180, 186, 187, 191, 192– 93, 201–3; parody as identity, 133–34; and virtues of invisibility, 163, 170–72; see also Subversive resignification Responsibility of creative becoming, 143–44 Riley, Denise, 100–101 Ritual and ritualization: as bodily prac- INDEX tices, xx–xxi, 265–69; expressivist conception of, 274n41; as mode of knowledge, xx, 243–44, 273n36; vs performance as art, 233–34, 235–39, 244–47; and performativity, 234–39, 254–69, 271n15, 272n21 Ronan, Marian, 96 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 50 Roussiaud, Jacques, 88n18 Rudy, Kathy, 146n2, 157 Ruether, Rosemary Radford, 96–97, 100, 101 Rupavata, 20, 29 ¯ ¯ ¯ Rupavatı narrative, 18–21, 23–24, 26–29, 30 ¯ ¯ ¯ Sacrifice, bodily, and Buddhist virtue, 18, 19–21, 26–27, 43–44nn52–53 Said, Edward, 279–80 Salvation, economy of, see Imitation, Catholic economy of Same-sex relationships, see Homosexuality Scandalous relationship of language to bodies, 242, 245 Schaberg, Jane, 77–78, 81 Schechner, Richard, 237 Schneeman, Carolee, 245 Schottroff, Luise, 78–79 Schrift, Alan, 10 Schüssler Fiorenza, Elizabeth, 80 Secular liberalism vs religious piety, 181, 184–86, 192–93, 195–96, 203, 211–12n11 Sedimentation of identity, 132–33, 201, 254 Seim, Turid, 77–78 Self-cultivation: and autonomy, 184–86; bodily methods of, 195–96, 203; through reading, 61–62 Sephardim, 279 Sex and gender: ancient vs modern definitions of, 11n5; Butler’s theory, 1–11, 188–89; see also Buddhism; Christianity; Essentialism, gender/sex; Islam, women in Sheathed penis of Buddha, 31, 45–46n68 Shyness (Muslim modesty), 193–97 309 “Signature, Event, Context” (Derrida), 254 Signification: constative vs performative, xx, 257–59, 268, 270–71n9, 273n37; linguistic vs nonlinguistic, 202–3, 253–54, 255–57, 263–65, 268, 286–87; ritual action as context for, 264; see also Citation; Language; Resignification Silence, positive vs negative contexts for, 78, 80, 81 Silver, Rabbi Daniel, 277 Silverman, Kaja, 237 Social context: and abjection, 197–98, 282; and binary sexual differentiation, 2–3, 49, 56; language’s embeddedness in, 9, 258–60, 261, 263; and moral agency, 165; and needs of subject, 10; and politics, 207–8; and power relations, 255; and ritualization, xx, 267– 68; and subject construction, 3–7, 133, 134, 287; and universe as process, 127; see also Norms, social Social practice, reading as, 61 Spectral body: as blinded body, 243–44; and reading/writing, 231–33, 240–41; and the theater, 236, 237–38, 247 Speech acts: and Austin, 254, 257–63, 271n15, 273n30, 273n37; constative vs performative speech, xx, 257–59, 268, 270–71n9, 273n37; intentionality and power of, 259–60, 261, 262, 285, 287 Spinoza, Baruch, 281 Spivak, Gayatri, 114, 197 Stoller, Robert, Strathern, Marilyn, 204–5 Subject, fixed, see Fixed identities/subjects Subjectivity: and Buddha formation, 16, 36–37; Butler’s response to critics, 9–10; constraints and free will in, 136– 37, 161–67, 190, 229–30, 239, 285–86; critique of feminist view, 73, 197–98; critique of intelligibility of, 283–84; and deconstruction of fixed subject, 30 INDEX Subjectivity (cont.) 125–26, 135–36; and dissolution of binary sex difference, 98, 188–89; dominant culture as definer of, 6, 16–17, 53–54; effects of fluid, 130, 137, 139, 154n45; essentialist view of, 124– 26; linguistic and bodily origins of, xx, 253–54; as performative, 5–7, 134, 200, 272n18; and power relations, 161–62, 188, 285; reinterpretation of biblical, 62; relational nature of, 160–61, 221n77, 256, 265; ritual’s role in, 269; social construction of, 3–7, 133, 134, 287; women’s exclusion from, 77, 101, 105–7; see also Agency; Becoming and identity; Materialization Submissiveness, 78, 79–80, 182, 197 Subservience, feminist’s negative portrayal of, 79 Substance, metaphysics of, 121, 126, 127, 130, 136, 150n23 Subversive resignification: Butler’s response to essays, 285; as challenge to essentialism, 289; creativity of, 141–42, 190; enjoyment of, 136–38; in Muslim women’s piety, 182; overview, xvii; in performativity, 161; as resistance to social norms, 252; unconforming becomings as, 133–34, 138–45, 152n34, 155nn55–56 “Superject,” 131 Swidler, Leonard, 77 ´ Sakra, 20 ´¯ Sakyamuni Buddha, 18 Synchronic vs diachronic perspectives on Buddhist materialization, 33–34 Tactile vs linguistic experience, ritual as, 236, 237, 238, 243–44, 247, 284 Tantric Buddhism, 18, 39n7, 42n43 Textualism, 226–27, 274n41 Theatrical performance, vision and blindness in, 233–39, 244–47, 248–49n11, 250n22 Thibeaux, Evelyn, 81 Transvestite, Jesus as, 110–11 Trible, Phyllis, 52–53, 57 Trouble as questioning of received assumptions, Troubling: and challenges to normative gendered subject, 7; for feminist biblical scholarship, 73; gender/sex multiplicities in citations of Jesus, 111–12; pleasures of, 154n45; see also Subversive resignification UCC (United Church of Christ), 121, 122–23 Ultimate, Buddhist perspective on, 34–35, 47n77 Unconforming becomings, 133–34, 138– 45, 152n34, 155nn55–56 Undoing Gender (Butler), 10, 276 Unintelligible bodies, 22–23, 49–50, 63–64, 105; see also Abjection; Gays and lesbians United Church of Christ (UCC), 121, 122–23 Unity: Butler’s critique of feminist goal of, 74–75; and loss of fluidity in subjectivity, 139, 154n48 Universality: cultural norms as basis for, 220n75; Whitehead vs Butler on, 127–28, 151n27 Utterances, see Speech acts Veil and modesty in Islam, 192–93, 199, 215n32 Virginity as Christian vocation, 95 Virtuous and abject bodies: Buddhist discourse on, 16, 18, 20, 22–24, 34, 38n2, 42n40, 45–46nn68–72; Butler on, 282; and Egyptian mosque women’s piety movement, 179, 193–97, 200 Visual bias in Western thought, 233–39, 240–41, 243 Voluntary agency, see Free will vs determinism INDEX Weedon, Chris, 125–26 Whitehead, Alfred North, 126–27; creativity and novelty in, 135–38, 140, 144; and Derrida, 150n23; enjoyment in, 154n45; hermeneutical scheme in, 150n22; introduction, xvii, 121–22; and lack of ultimate unity in experience, 149n21; and process thought, 126–27, 129–31, 146n5; on repetition concept, 153n42; on satire as subversive, 151–52n33 Witheringon, Ben III, 77 Wittig, Monique, 49–50, 52, 53–54, 152n37 3 Woman, dualistic definition, 74 Womanist ethics, xvii–xviii, 158, 163–67, 173–74n6, 175n16 Women: biblical view of, 55–56, 68n23; categorical resignification of, 155nn50–51; conflicting attitudes in Buddhism on, 34–35; see also Catholicism; Islam, women in; Lesbian identity Writing and body/language relationship, 228–33, 241–44, 250n25 Žižek, Slavoj, 10 ... T Armour and Susan M St Ville COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS Publishers Since 1893 New York, Chichester, West Sussex Copyright © 2006 Columbia University Press All... Sexual Slander and Ancient Christianity jennifer wright knust Women, Men, and Spiritual Power: Female Saints and Their Male Collaborators john coakley BODILY CITATIONS RELIGION AND JUDITH BUTLER. . .BODILY CITATIONS GENDER, THEORY, AND RELIGION GENDER, THEORY, AND RELIGION Amy Hollywood, Editor The Gender, Theory, and Religion series provides a forum for