Gender Performativity: Challenges to Traditional Theories and Queer Theory

Gender Performativity: A Critique of the Binary
• Judith Butler’s concept of gender performativity challenges the binary view of sex as masculine and feminine.
• Butler argues that gender is a socially constructed identity, produced, reproduced, and maintained through repeated actions, behaviors, and discourse.
• Butler explains that social norms surrounding gender are embedded in our lives and seem natural and appropriate, confining individuals to rigid gender roles.
• Butler argues that these norms are not fixed and can be subverted due to their dependence on constant repetition.
Two Theories of Gender
• Gender essentialism posits that gender is best explained through biology, with traits, roles, and behaviors associated with masculinity and femininity coming naturally.
• Social constructivism explains that gender identity is constructed through discourse, including language, bodily, verbal, and nonverbal acts.
• Deviations from these norms are often met with bullying and disciplinary actions.
Sex and Gender
• Judith Butler challenges second-wave feminism’s distinction between sex and gender, arguing that even “sex” is subject to social interpretation.
• Butler explains that gender is not something we are, but something we do, defined as the stylised repetition of acts through time.
• Gender is compared to the act of speaking, where one engages in a consistent and rule-governed process over time.
Gender Performativity and Performance Performativity and performance are two distinct concepts.
• Performance involves individuals taking on a gender role and embodying societal expectations.
• Performativity refers to the ongoing process of individuals unconsciously reinforcing societal norms of masculinity and femininity.
• Examples include giving baby dolls to young girls, which reinforces feminine stereotypes of nurturing.
• Gender expression is shaped by external social norms, not instinctively.
• Critics argue that gender essentialialism fails to explain individuals whose gender expression defies societal expectations.
• Julia Serano introduces the concept of “subconscious sex” to address these gaps.
• Social norms can influence or interpret one’s subconscious sex, making gender both subject and object.