Who is Afraid of Gender? Prof. Judith Butler

In this presentation, we will discuss some of the Christian (both Catholic and Evangelical) criticisms of the concept of gender and the field of gender studies. We will first seek to understand what is meant by "gender" and then discuss what many people find controversial about the topic. Some claim it is an imperialist imposition from English and from Anglo-American urban intellectual cultures. Others say that it challenges the authority of the Church and its teaching on family and sexuality. The attack on "gender" turns out to be one of those cases in which a theoretical concept or term becomes the center for social mobilization and what we might call "a counter-movement."