Hedonism and Hegemony: Bodily Matters at a Loss

In fall 1995, a major show at the Centre Pompidou in Paris engaged, for the first time in France, a plethora of questions relating to gender and sexuality as they have been posed through the art of the 20th century. Focusing on the exhibit catalogue, this review essay argues that the theoretical framework for the project suffered from ignoring the work done by Anglo-American feminists, particularly the political ramifications of Judith Butler's Bodies that Matter. Also reviewing Mary Louise Roberts's Civilization Without Sexes, this essay explores the way that her emphasis upon historical specificity in her treatment of gender issues in post-WWI France serves to highlight this kind of grounding that is missing in the commentaries provided in the catalogue.