Judith Butler Quotes

It is hard to oppose an ideology with a tradition.

I love the fact we do break taboos.

It's very hard to transgress; we have the furniture of transgression without the imagery and iconography to actually do it.

I know ideals aren't realities, but they do influence reality - social, legal, political, cultural.

Compared to what comics say today, I'm a monk, but in those days, it was unheard of to make fun of people like I did. Of course, they exaggerated how outrageous I really was.

People have made sure of that, that you can't shock anybody anymore. It's not just because of movies and TV. It's because of what's happening in the world.

In most cultures, men represent tradition and women represent change and future. Women, because of their ability to give birth, are more connected to future. Men tend to keep the status quo.

Some of what the children did in 'Willy Wonka' is now normal. That's rather worrying.

I don't know what the next frontier is, but good comedy should put its toe into taboo waters. You have to transgress a little bit, and that area shifts with culture and with the year.

Class doesn't create culture anymore.

The mainstream is always under attack.

I've always been attracted to comedy that was really close to the line and made people a little uncomfortable, because that's where progress comes from.

I think there's very little interesting in art that is not transgressive in some way. And I don't think that's a very revolutionary thing to say.

My grandma was very traditional, but she herself is a rebel of that culture.

Poetry and art are key influences in changing how we look at taboos.

Even in a conservative society like Chennai, youngsters don't feel bound by conventions anymore.

Over the years, we have been conditioned that certain communities need to be looked upon in a certain typical way. So I think we need to question the logic behind it. 'Mulk' is going to question that logic - and where did it start and why did it start and the need to change it immediately.

Before the '80s, no girl would ask to click a photograph. That was modest and demure.

One of my goals in life is to watch political correctness shrivel up and die (as it should be for any true conservative).

You still hear this perception that boys are good at math and girls are not, and it's not cool and it's not interesting. And I think we have to shift the culture. It's so deeply entrenched in who we are.

In my village, people believed that women should stay in their homes. However, I followed my heart and showed them that I'll not succumb to their regressive ideals.

If my stories make people uncomfortable, because it questions your set ideas and value systems that are convenient for a group of people or ideas that promote patriarchy and religious fanaticism, then my job as an artiste and a writer is done. The more you will cry foul, the louder my characters will speak.

The entertainment industry has an effect on social consciousness.

I was a big girl considering herself beautiful, which is in conservative Israel had never been seen.

Laws matter. With effective implementation and enforcement, good laws can nudge forward positive changes in social and cultural mores.