(Un/Re)Thinking the Binary: The Use of (Non)Violence in Derrida’s Ontology of Violence and Butler’s Gender Performativity
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2025-06-25
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en
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This essay involves an investigation of the tension between structural violence and non-binary gender identity using Judith Butler’s notion of gender as “performative.” Their performative “rethinking” of gender is crucial for non-binary individuals as it surfaces the structural violence inherent in binary gender norms, continuously imposing binary gender categories [man/woman], rooted in heteronormative hierarchical oppositional logics [either/or], on individuals. While non-binary subjectivity resists the exclusionary logic of binary gender frameworks, it remains constituted in relation to the very structures it seeks to negate and resist. The question central to this essay is therefore: how can one understand the simultaneous dependence on and rejection of these oppressive gender norms and their underlying [either/or] logic? In order to reconsider Butler’s concept of gender performativity in light of this paradox, this study draws on Jacques Derrida’s theories of positionality and violence. More specifically, through his conceptualization of “differentiation” and “undecidability,” it becomes clear that understanding and combating gender must avoid reinforcing new hierarchical ways of thinking. Therefore, I ultimately propose how non-binary gender identity can be approached through a spectral positioning that disrupts and exceeds binary logic, fostering a continuous sensitivity articulated in a “double writing” essential for transforming “thinking” gender.
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Faculteit der Filosofie, Theologie en Religiewetenschappen