Judith Butler’s Subject Theory Research

As a representative of the third wave of feminism,Judith Butler has always been famous for her gender performative theory,but she does not know that gender theory’s concern for the predicament of the subject is the starting point of her theoretical framework.Butler’s critique of the subject took shape as early as in the article "The Subject of Desire".The myth of the existence of self-government subjects has always haunted Western philosophy.Butler was also deeply influenced by Hegel’s view of subjectivity,and in his critical inheritance of Hegel’s philosophy,he realized the duality of gender identity,inhumanity,and self.Deconstruction of dichotomous political terms such as groups.Butler’s thinking on concepts such as subject and identity starts from traditional feminist gender studies,and incorporates deeper dimensions of race,state,and ethnicity in the confrontation of ideas,and therefore has more realistic concerns.This paper attempts to follow the core clue of the subject theory,and follow Butler’s development to sort out the formation,stability and deviation of the subject.The article will be divided into the following three aspects to discuss: The first chapter starts with the most well-known gender theory,explaining how physical gendering is controlled by the discourse of power.And how does the fragile nature prompt the subject to accept this naturalization.The second chapter focuses on the necessity of the exclusive production of normative order for the consolidation of the subject’s identity.Therefore,the theory of the subject of identity naturally transitions to a wider scope of political ethics.The guiding means of the mass media framework acting on the subject’s perception has become Butler’s new focus.Whether it is binary gender norms or public media discourse,the exclusive violence that deprives the subject also shrouds life inside and outside the border.The uneasy atmosphere inside and outside the body promotes Butler’s thinking,under the control of layers of laws and regulations,how can the subject achieve active subversion.The third chapter attempts to extract the three feasible ways of subject deviation involved in Butler’s thinking,which can be divided into two aspects: the deviation of the subject in the process of normative performance construction and the practice of non-violent ethics.It needs to be acknowledged that the original intention of Butler’s research on the subject of identity is not to subvert the existing normative order,nor to propose any prescriptive judgments.In Butler’s view,stable norms or identities are inherently dangerous,and it must be a mistake to view his theory as a model of active subversion by the subject.Butler’s original intention is to open up the space for innovation of ideas and concepts,but his radical and ambiguous expression is also doomed to the disadvantage of insufficient theoretical and practical effect.All in all,Butler’s research on gender,identity,and subject still has strong inspiring significance to this day,and his thinking on same-sex kinship is also worthy of more in-depth attention to the attempt to reconstruct feminism.