Judith Butler Beside Oneself Summary

In “Beside Oneself,” Judith Butler describes how the problem with violence is that it destroys the lives of humans, and it is sometimes not recognized because of pre-determined concepts of who is human. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldua explains how Mexicans are excluded because of how they speak both English and Spanish. Media outlets mold our views by putting emphasis on the topics they find important while ignoring other topics and us as teenagers don’t even recognize what is happening.
Butler starts off with and ends with the question, “Whose lives count…what makes for a grievable life” (114). Media outlets decide whose lives are grievable. For example, let’s say there is a veteran who fought for our country but ended up homeless …show more content…
Anzaldua describes who she calls herself Mexican or Chicana, “But I identified as ‘Raza’ before ‘Mexicana’ or ‘Chicana.’”(33). Race plays a big factor as to people identities. If you were raised in a Hispanic household then you more than likely identify as a Hispanic. Now let’s say the same Hispanic kid was adopted into a Caucasian family how would he identify himself as, he has no Hispanic background or culture. More than likely he has more Caucasian traditions rather than Hispanic ones. This kid would identify better with Caucasian culture than the Hispanic one. Even if we identify ourselves as a race then does that mean you can’t relate to other races? Anzaldua herself identifies herself as multiple backgrounds from Mexicana to Tejana. Anzaldua before writing that says that her Raza comes before any of those two she uses the original idea to fulfill the rest she uses Raza before any other word. The identity of oneself should come from the background you came from not on how you …show more content…
Butler says if there are no norms of recognition, “then it is not possible to persist in one’s own beings” (125). Humans without a purpose find no reason to keep on living. Towards the end of senior year, I did not know what to do except wanting to do something that would get me recognized. Humans always want to be recognized, humans want their efforts to be noticed in a way that could change the world. If people are not recognized by others in the way they want to be noticed then the effort they put in to be recognized will give no benefit. Imagine someone spending their whole life on a project, which is then finished. Then finds out was it was all for nothing it made no impact what so ever on their field, this project this person worked on their whole life was written off as useless, hence this person’s life is written off as useless. People need other people supporting them so that they are able to persist in their own