--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's not my concern. It's your concern. I…" description: "\"It's not my concern. It's your concern. I just keep working. I keep posing certain questions and I think there are times when people think \"What happen..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/judith-butler-1374_butlers_it-s-not-my-concern-it-s-your-concern-i_1841655.jpg" --- # It's not my concern. It's your concern. I just keep… ![“It's not my concern. It's your concern. I just keep working. I keep posing certain questions and I think there are times when people think "What happened to the Judith Butler I used to know?" or "She's not doing gender trouble. Does that mean she refuses it or she's disavowed it?" And I would say…” quote by Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/judith-butler-1374_butlers_it-s-not-my-concern-it-s-your-concern-i_1841655.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/judith-butler-1374_butlers_it-s-not-my-concern-it-s-your-concern-i_1841655.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e7/judith-butler-1374_butlers_it-s-not-my-concern-it-s-your-concern-i_1841655.jpg) > “It's not my concern. It's your concern. I just keep working. I keep posing certain questions and I think there are times when people think "What happened to the Judith Butler I used to know?" or "She's not doing gender trouble. Does that mean she refuses it or she's disavowed it?" And I would say no. I have not refused or disavowed anything.” [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker emphasizes continued work and questioning without abandoning earlier ideas, rejecting accusations of abandoning gender theory. **In simple terms:** Keep working and questioning without abandoning past ideas. Key Takeaway Maintain commitment to inquiry. Themes gender theory academic integrity public discourse Mood thoughtful defensive Type analytical defensive When to use this quote - teaching - public speaking - writing - debates - media interviews Key Concepts feminist theory critical inquiry identity politics Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance evolving ideas with public expectations? - What strategies help clarify complex theories? A Different Perspective Critics may still misinterpret nuanced positions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Butlers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butlers/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Concern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concern/) [Concern Concern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concern-concern-626711/) [Concern Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concern-just-2354805/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender/) [Gender Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender-trouble-779905/) [Happened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happened/) [Happened Judith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happened-judith-2354806/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judith-butler-227233/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Posing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/posing/) [Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuse/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trouble/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) ## Related quotes > [ In many ways the culmination of \[Judith Butler's\] thinking to date, 'Parting Ways' will confirm Butler's place at the forefront of debate about one… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-rose/in-many-ways-the-culmination-of-judith-butler-s-thinking-to-date/) [Jacqueline Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-rose/) > [“He began to wonder with genuine concern just what sort of shithead the Pentagon had foisted on him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/he-began-to-wonder-with-genuine-concern-just-what-sort-of-shithead/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [I have simply taken some of the same questions and reposed them in new ways. But, you see, I must live. Right? I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-have-simply-taken-some-of-the-same-questions-and-reposed-them-in/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [It seems to me that "Gender trouble" will always be important to try and open up our ideas of what gender is. So, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/it-seems-to-me-that-gender-trouble-will-always-be-important-to-try/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > ["Gender trouble" is old. I mean, you know, in New York, it is old. I mean it's sweet. I mean people are really kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/gender-trouble-is-old-i-mean-you-know-in-new-york-it-is-old-i-mean-it/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I think I never expected "Gender trouble" to have any particularly revolutionary effect so whatever effects it has, I'm always surprised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-think-i-never-expected-gender-trouble-to-have-any-particularly/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Look, "Gender trouble" includes a critique of the idea that there are two ideal bodily forms, two ideal morphologies: the masculine and the feminine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/look-gender-trouble-includes-a-critique-of-the-idea-that-there-are/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [For instance, when "Gender trouble " is translated into Japanese, it produces a problem of vocabulary and a way of thinking about a quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/for-instance-when-gender-trouble-is-translated-into-japanese-it/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I think we have to ask, not, what "Gender trouble" is today but where "Gender trouble" is today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-think-we-have-to-ask-not-what-gender-trouble-is-today-but-where/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I have great concern, but my concern is probably not what most people would think it would be.My concern is why is our faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-white/i-have-great-concern-but-my-concern-is-probably-not-what-most-people/) [Paula White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-white/) > [“This is a Personal Poem My self's self is thinking about itself. Trying to sell its self a new self. Don't worry, reader, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-dimitrov/this-is-a-personal-poem-my-self-s-self-is-thinking-about-itself/) [Alex Dimitrov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-dimitrov/) > [What others think of us is not our concern - it is their concern... It is important only that we radiate life. Every individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/what-others-think-of-us-is-not-our-concern-it-is-their-concern-it-is/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) > [Gender is a kind of imitation for which there is no original; in fact, it is a kind of imitation that produces the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/gender-is-a-kind-of-imitation-for-which-there-is-no-original-in-fact/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [If I could be anyone, I'd choose the lead singer of Arcade Fire, Win Butler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-kardashian/if-i-could-be-anyone-i-d-choose-the-lead-singer-of-arcade-fire-win/) [Rob Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-kardashian/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) ## More by Judith Butler > [I don't think we have to have a personal relation to a life lost to understand that something terrible has taken place, especially in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-don-t-think-we-have-to-have-a-personal-relation-to-a-life-lost-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [We need a legal and political understanding of the right of the refugee, whereby no solution for one group produces a new class of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/we-need-a-legal-and-political-understanding-of-the-right-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [When we say gender is performed, we usually mean that we've taken on a role or we're acting in some way and that our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/when-we-say-gender-is-performed-we-usually-mean-that-we-ve-taken-on-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Cameras help to minimize collateral damage, and very often, without a camera a missile cannot fire. Certainly, without a camera a drone can't function,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/cameras-help-to-minimize-collateral-damage-and-very-often-without-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I would say that I'm a feminist theorist before I'm a queer theorist or a gay and lesbian theorist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-would-say-that-i-m-a-feminist-theorist-before-i-m-a-queer-theorist/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Very often, if you just get the question: "Well, are you a Zionist?" if you say no, it's assumed that you want the destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/very-often-if-you-just-get-the-question-well-are-you-a-zionist-if-you/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Sexual harassment law is very important. But I think it would be a mistake if the sexual harassment law movement is the only way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/sexual-harassment-law-is-very-important-but-i-think-it-would-be-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's not ok to decide that an entire population has no right to live in the world. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/genocide-is-not-a-legitimate-option-it-s-not-ok-to-decide-that-an/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Let's face it. We're undone by each other. And if we're not, we're missing something. If this seems so clearly the case with grief,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/let-s-face-it-we-re-undone-by-each-other-and-if-we-re-not-we-re/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [The pleasurable part of public mourning can also lead to a sense of self-sanctification that justifies in advance any war effort, whether or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/the-pleasurable-part-of-public-mourning-can-also-lead-to-a-sense-of/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“There is no life without the conditions of life that variably sustain life, and those conditions are pervasively social, establishing not the discrete ontology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/there-is-no-life-without-the-conditions-of-life-that-variably-sustain/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“That the power regimes of heterosexism and phallogocentrism seek to augment themselves through a constant repetition of their logic, their metaphysic, and their naturalized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/that-the-power-regimes-of-heterosexism-and-phallogocentrism-seek-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I think that public grieving is a good thing. People need to be grieved; loss needs to be acknowledged publicly, because it helps to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-think-that-public-grieving-is-a-good-thing-people-need-to-be/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Maybe we need to start with the rethinking of what is "west" and what is "non-west." It seems to me that there are any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/maybe-we-need-to-start-with-the-rethinking-of-what-is-west-and-what/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [It will not do to say that international law is the enemy of the Jewish people, since the Jewish people surely did not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/it-will-not-do-to-say-that-international-law-is-the-enemy-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) [Explore all 248 Judith Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) ## More Butlers quotes > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [If I could be anyone, I'd choose the lead singer of Arcade Fire, Win Butler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-kardashian/if-i-could-be-anyone-i-d-choose-the-lead-singer-of-arcade-fire-win/) [Rob Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-kardashian/) > [Why does Samuel Butler say, 'Wise men never say what they think of women'? Wise men never say anything else apparently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/why-does-samuel-butler-say-wise-men-never-say-what-they-think-of/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Tea? At the beach? No time for luxuries, Holly. There is important work to be done.” He winked at Butler. “Are you sure you’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/tea-at-the-beach-no-time-for-luxuries-holly-there-is-important-work/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [Wait," said Butler. "Just wait, Holly. Artemis has a plan." He squinted through the green dome. "What is your plan, Artemis?" All Artemis could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/wait-said-butler-just-wait-holly-artemis-has-a-plan-he-squinted/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [Perriwickturned to Penelope as he set the tray down on a table. "If I might be so bold, my lady-" "Perriwick!" Blake roared. "If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-quinn/perriwickturned-to-penelope-as-he-set-the-tray-down-on-a-table-if-i/) [Julia Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-quinn/) > [During a mock battle attended by President Warren Harding in 1921, Marine Corps General Smedley D. Butler exhumed the arm \[of Stonewall Jackson; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-horwitz/during-a-mock-battle-attended-by-president-warren-harding-in-1921/) [Tony Horwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-horwitz/) > [Butler is branded a felon, an outlaw, an enemy of Mankind, and so ordered that in the event of his capture, the officer in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-davis/butler-is-branded-a-felon-an-outlaw-an-enemy-of-mankind-and-so/) [Jefferson Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-davis/) > [over protective? a butler in a grade- B movie? someones jewish mother? you got it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-weis/over-protective-a-butler-in-a-grade-b-movie-someones-jewish-mother/) [Margaret Weis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-weis/) > [In the end I came to see that the true prophet of the modern world was Samuel Butler: when he suggested that the machine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aickman/in-the-end-i-came-to-see-that-the-true-prophet-of-the-modern-world/) [Robert Aickman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aickman/) > [As far as I'm concerned, 'whom' is a word that was invented to make everyone sound like a butler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-trillin/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-whom-is-a-word-that-was-invented-to-make/) [Calvin Trillin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-trillin/) > [Scarlett O'Hara is going to be a thankless and difficult role. The part I'd like to play is Rhett Butler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norma-shearer/scarlett-o-hara-is-going-to-be-a-thankless-and-difficult-role-the/) [Norma Shearer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norma-shearer/) > [Butler was seeing the world as it was, complete with L.E.P retrival team](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/butler-was-seeing-the-world-as-it-was-complete-with-l-e-p-retrival/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [ I was surprised to learn that doing household chores qualifies as romantic for most of you \[women\]. That's exactly why you should never hire… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/i-was-surprised-to-learn-that-doing-household-chores-qualifies-as/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) [Browse all 123 Butlers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butlers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's not my concern. It's your concern. I just keep working. I keep posing certain questions and I think there are times when people think \"What happened to the Judith Butler I used to know?\" or \"She's not doing gender trouble. Does that mean she refuses it or she's disavowed it?\" And I would say no. 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