In Bodies That Matter renowned theorist & philosopher Judith Butler argues that theories of gender need to return to the most material dimension of sex & sexuality: the body. Butler offers a brilliant reworking of the body examining how the power of heterosexual hegemony forms the matter" of bodies sex & gender. Butler argues that power operates to constrain sex from the start delimiting what counts as a viable sex. She clarifies the notion of "performativity" introduced in Gender Trouble & via bold readings of Plato Irigaray Lacan & Freud explores the meaning of a citational politics. She also draws on documentary & literature with compelling interpretations of the film Paris is Burning Nella Larsens Passing & short stories by Willa Cather."