Judith Butler
Judith Butler is an American philosopher, feminist, and queer theorist born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a Jewish family that nurtured early philosophical inquiry.
Educated at Yale, where they earned both a BA and PhD, Butler developed expertise in German idealism, phenomenology, and French theory.
They joined UC Berkeley in 1993, co-founding its Program in Critical Theory.
Renowned for introducing gender performativity — the concept that gender emerges through repeated social acts rather than fixed identity — Butler has published extensively on hate speech, vulnerability, ethics, and political violence.
Legally non-binary, they remain one of contemporary philosophy's most influential and controversial figures.
