On phantasms of gender: A feminist cultural studies perspective

This article provides a response to Judith Butler’s recent book Who’s Afraid of Gender? making the case for the volume as a key contribution to feminist cultural studies, an exemplary pedagogic text, close to Stuart Hall’s style of writing. The book works as a counter to the anti-gender currents which have demonised genderqueer and trans people through the unleashing of populist sentiments securing these to a right-wing agenda. The article draws attention to the UK tabloid press and its reliance on social media invective. With the university as a contested space, what scope is there for new forms of public pedagogy to emerge?