Gender Performativity

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Gender Performativity

Context:

Gender performativity, a concept that has greatly shaped gender theory, offers a more fluid understanding of gender by questioning fixed ideas of identity.

 

About Gender Performativity

  • Introduced by poststructuralist scholar Judith Butler in her 1990 work Gender Trouble, the theory critiques the essentialist notion that links sex to a strict binary of masculine and feminine. 
  • Instead, Butler argues that gender is a socially constructed identity, shaped and sustained through repeated actions, behaviours, and discourse. 
  • As a result, gender can never be fully stable, even if it appears consistent.
  • Butler further explains that gender norms are so deeply ingrained in society that they seem natural, trapping individuals in rigid gender roles. 
  • However, since these norms rely on constant repetition for their stability, they can be challenged and subverted. 
  • Acts of resistance within societal structures can lead to new understandings of gender. Butler’s work not only critiques traditional gender theories but also marks a key moment in third-wave feminism and contributes significantly to queer theory.

 

Two Theories of Gender

  • There are various debates about the definition of gender, but two key theories stand out: 
    • Gender Essentialism: It argues that biology primarily explains gender — sex chromosomes and DNA determine one’s sex, which in turn defines their gender. 
    • From this perspective, traits, roles, and behaviours associated with masculinity and femininity are seen as natural, as they are biologically predetermined.
    • Social Constructivism: It posits that gender identity is shaped through discourse, encompassing language, bodily expressions, and non-verbal actions. 
    • Gender norms become internalised to the extent that they seem natural to individuals who align with their assigned gender. 
    • For example, a child born with a uterus may be assigned female at birth, given the pronouns she/her, and encouraged to adopt traditionally feminine roles. Deviations from these norms are often met with disapproval or punishment.
  • In many Indian schools, girls are expected to keep their hair long and neatly tied, while boys growing long hair might face criticism and pressure to conform to traditional masculine norms. 
  • This reflects how gender expectations shift based on assigned roles, even in situations where uniformity should apply.
  • Iris Marion Young’s 1980 essay, Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment, Motility, and Spatiality, explores how gender norms can shape physical behaviour. 
  • Young illustrates how girls are expected to display weaker, more restrained movements, like using less space and energy when throwing a ball compared to boys. Interestingly, these gendered behaviours are not fixed and have shifted across time and cultures. For example, in the 19th century, pink was considered a masculine colour, while blue was associated with femininity.
  • This idea also echoes Simone de Beauvoir’s famous statement in The Second Sex (1949): “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” De Beauvoir emphasises that gender identity is shaped by societal norms rather than being an inherent quality.

 

Sex and Gender

  • Judith Butler builds on this discussion by challenging second-wave feminism’s distinction between sex and gender. 
  • Scholars like Gayle Rubin argue that sex is biologically determined, while gender is shaped by societal norms. 
  • However, Butler rejects this separation, asserting that even “sex” is shaped by social interpretation. 
  • According to Butler, biological sex cannot be experienced outside of the social meanings attached to it. 
  • Thus, both sex and gender are socially constructed, with gender ultimately encompassing sex. The belief that a person’s body predetermines their gender identity is, Butler argues, a product of social discourse rather than biological reality.
  • Butler emphasises that gender is not something one is, but something one does. Rather than being a static noun, she views gender as a verb something performed rather than possessed. 
  • One does not simply be a woman but rather does ‘womanness’. 
  • Gender, then, is the stylized repetition of actions over time. 
  • This can be likened to the act of speaking, where language involves the repeated use of words within a structured framework. 
  • Similarly, gender performativity involves the repeated performance of behaviours and roles in line with societal expectations.
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