Many quite nefarious ideologies pass for common sense. For decades of American history, it was common sense in some quarters for white people to own slaves and for women not to vote. If common sense sometimes preserves the social status quo, and that status quo sometimes treats unjust social hierarchies as natural, it makes good sense on such occasions to find ways of challenging common sense.

Judith Butler (b. 1956) American philosopher and gender theorist

“A ‘Bad Writer’ Bites Back,” The New York Times (20 Mar 1999)