Indeed it may be only by risking the incoherence of identity that connection is possible.
Judith ButlerRead
Honestly, what can really be said about 'the Jewish people' as a whole? Is it not a lamentable stereotype to make large generalizations about all Jews, and to presume they all share the same political commitments?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the tendency to generalize about the Jewish people and emphasizes the danger of assuming a uniformity of political beliefs among them.
Judith Butler's quote highlights the problematic nature of stereotypes and generalizations about any group, particularly the Jewish people in this context. It calls into question the validity of assuming that all individuals within a demographic share the same characteristics or political views, encouraging a more nuanced understanding of diverse identities and beliefs.
Themes
JewishStereotypeGeneralizationIdentityPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker discussing diversity at a conference could cite this quote to emphasize the importance of recognizing individual beliefs.
More from Judith Butler
All quotes →When we say gender is performed, we usually mean that we've taken on a role or we're acting in some way and that our acting or our role playing is crucial to the gender that we are and the gender that we present to the world.
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It's my view that gender is culturally formed, but it's also a domain of agency or freedom and that it is most important to resist the violence that is imposed by ideal gender norms, especially against those who are gender different, who are nonconforming in their gender presentation.
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I do not deny certain kinds of biological differences. But I always ask under what conditions, under what discursive and institutional conditions, do certain biological differences - and they're not necessary ones, given the anomalous state of bodies in the world - become the salient characteristics of sex.
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Sexual harassment law is very important. But I think it would be a mistake if the sexual harassment law movement is the only way in which feminism is known in the media.
Judith ButlerRead
We act and walk and speak and talk in ways that consolidate an impression of being a man or being a woman.
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