Judith Butler Beside Oneself Summary

In her essay, “Beside Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy”, Judith Butler addresses the topic of basic human rights and the problems facing them today. The essay touches on one main problem and the numerous effects of it. This problem is that not all people are receiving the same and equal human rights. According to Butler, basic human rights entail many things. Perhaps most importantly, as it connects to all the others, is recognition as a human and an equal. Without recognition as a human and an equal, one becomes unreal and loses access to being a human.

To be recognized as a human means that that life is accepted. That life and individual are not considered less than or below others. When one is not recognized as a human, several things happen. Butler explains one when she says, “Certain lives are not considered lives at all, they cannot be humanized: the fit no dominant frame for the human, and their dehumanization occurs first, at this level” (Butler 120). This means that society fails to classify all lives as lives

equal to their own. These lives are not regarded with or valued the same as a human life, even though those people are human beings just like anyone else. This quote clearly explains and shows how by not being recognized as a human and an equal, a life becomes dehumanized and unreal.
As was mentioned before, one effect of not receiving recognition as a human, and thus being made unreal, is that the lives of these individuals are not given the same value as others.

In her essay, Butler asks, “What makes for a grievable life (Butler 114)?” With this question, Butler is suggesting that, according to society, not all lives are grievable. Although in her essay, Butler’s definition of grief and having a grievable life extends beyond death, death can be used to show how people are valued differently. For example, take a celebrity. Society places great value on celebrities. If a celebrity dies, their death is mourned with extravagant memorials and most of society mourns. However, take someone that society does not place much value on, such as a homeless person or an unborn baby. If a homeless person dies or an unborn baby is aborted, most of society is not bothered in the least and does not even bat an

eye.
Everyday, in the United States alone, over 2,899 babies are aborted. Hundreds of these abortions happen during live births (“Abortion”). Society does not recognize these as equally valuable and human lives, so as a result of this, society does not pay attention to these lives. The fact that thousands of babies are so mercilessly murdered on a daily basis has become accepted and something that just happens in the eyes of society. It has become a common occurrence, a norm. However, take the lives lost in the San Bernardino shooting. The difference in the value placed on these lives compared to the aborted babies is painfully clear. In the San Bernardino shooting, a couple opened fire at a holiday party, killing numerous people (Huckerby). This mass shooting made the headlines across the nation because these were people who were valued by society and had the “privilege” of being recognized as humans with lives equally valuable to the rest of society. Aborting thousands of babies each day is no less evil, but because these lives are dehumanized, society is not bothered by their murder and accepts it as a norm. Also, this is not to say that the deaths as a result of the San Bernardino were not horrific and tragic, this comparison is to show how it is not a matter of opinion, but a mere fact that not all lives are valued equally.
This topic can be directly related to the issued that Kwame Anthony Appiah writes about in his essay. In his essay “Racial Identities”, Appiah says “Collective scripts: narratives that people can use in shaping their life plans and in telling their life stories (Appiah 57-58). This quote explains a result of creating collective identities, labeling a group. This quote says that when we put people into a group, society then has expectations of what this group is like, which will ultimately influence their life. Creating these labels is part of what causes groups of people to be dehumanized.
Upon examining the essay by Kwame Anthony Appiah to draw a connection to the essay by Judith Butler, it becomes clear that there is also a connection between the essay by Kwame Anthony Appiah, Judith Butler, and Mary Louise Pratt as well. Before drawing a connection to the essays by Appiah and Pratt to the essay by Butler, a connection to the essay by Appiah and the essay by Pratt must be made. In order to make a connection between the essay by Appiah and the essay by Pratt, Pratt’s essay must first be looked at and analyzed. After doing this, a connection between the essay by Appiah and the essay by Pratt can be made. Then the essays by Butler, Appiah, and Pratt can all be connected. This connection can help to show how without human recognition, one becomes unreal and loses access to being a human.
In her essay, “Arts of the Contact Zone”, Mary Louise Pratt talks about imagined communities. Everyone belongs to countless imagined communities. Imagined communities have contact zones because people are so diverse and even within these imagined communities, have very different backgrounds and cultures. The image that members of any given community have of that community, the image people outside of that community have of it, and what that community actually is are very different.
First, Pratt’s essay must be related to Appiah’s essay. These two can be related because Appiah is saying that labels create a “script” for how members of any given group should live and what these individuals are like. Society gets an image for this group and assumes all individuals that are part of this community fit that script completely. This relates to Pratt’s idea. Pratt’s idea is that an imagined community is different in how it appears to the members of it, people outside of that community, and what that community truly is. So, this criteria or script that Appiah mentions is created by this image people outside of a community have of that given community that Pratt talks about. The people who are members of that community are likely, to themselves, much different than what the outside people think of them and are quite different from the “criteria” that society creates for them.
This concept can be applied to Butler’s essay as well. For example, take the LGBT community. First of all, this community is given the label mentioned by Appiah. This label may be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, depending on the sexual orientation of any given individual in this community. These people are all members of the LGBT imagined community that Pratt writes about (Pratt 327). This means that there are two different perspectives from which the world sees this community. So what are these two perspectives?
First of all, it may be the perspective of someone outside of the community. To the rest of society (in this case, anyone not part of the LGBT community). Based on how society treats the members of this community, it is seen negatively in the eyes of most members of society. They are seen as below the rest of society, not as equals. Their lives are not valued the same. They are not seen as as worthy or deserving as others. These are the victims of dehumanization. Society sees these individuals as different and they are the minority. Because they break a social norm, they become at risk of making less money. Their opinions may be ignored. These individuals may be attacked or even murdered because they are a minority group (Crisp). Society does not give this community recognition as a community with individuals as equal human beings. This is one perspective from which this community can be seen from, someone outside of the community.
Secondly, this community can be seen from the eyes of someone who belongs to this imagined community. To members of the LGBT community, the LGBT community and the members of it are seen in a much different light than (most) people outside of this community. People belonging to the LGBT community are as human as any other member of society. They are not less than anyone. They are not below anyone. Their lives are no less valuable, worthy, or deserving than any other. They are human. The only difference that the members seem to see between themselves and the rest of society is that they are part of a minority group based on sexual orientation. As a result of this, and for no other reason than this, these individuals are dehumanized and made unreal. This is what people who break social norms face.
This one example shows very clearly how, as Appiah says, labels effect all people, often in negative ways. This example shows how, as Pratt says, members of a particular community and those outside of a given community have two vastly different perspectives and images of that community. This one example shows how through labeling and creating an image of any given group of people, members of that group may fail to be recognized as equal human beings, simply for being “different’, being a minority, and breaking a social norm.
Upon reading “Beside Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy, it is clear that society has a problem regarding basic human rights and human recognition. This problem is that not all people are receiving basic human rights because they are failing to be recognized as humans with lives equal to everyone else. This makes these people be made unreal. To fix this problem, it is imperative that society accepts all lives as human lives equal to their own. There must be no exceptions to any background, race, lifestyle, or anything else. It does not matter if someone does not agree with how a person lives, their background, or anything else, the individual must be accepted as human that is equal to everyone else. Everyone must be treated with respect. People can disagree, it must simply be done with acceptance and respect. All lives must be accepted as equally worthy and human.
Without recognition as a human and thus an equal, one becomes unreal and loses access to being a human. Upon reading the essay, “Beside Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy, written by Judith Butler, this statement is clearly true. Butler shows that those who do not receive full human recognition do not receive the same basic human rights as others and as a result, face consequences so serious that it may threaten their life. Around the globe, millions of people become victims of this. To fix this problem, society must accept all lives as human lives that are equal to their own. No exceptions. Without human recognition, one becomes unreal and loses the ability to experience what it truly means to be a human and live as a human.