Gender performativity
As part of human survival instinct, we tend to judge and label other individuals based on their physical appearance and gestures. But to understand one’s identity and interior self, we need to look beyond these physical factors. One of the first things that we assume upon meeting someone for the first time is usually whether they are male or female. However, what we sometimes do not take into consideration is that sex and gender are not the same. Sex is determined by an individual’s biological characteristics. Gender, on the other hand, is acquired and constructed. Sex and gender cannot be separated because both the biological and social factors contribute to making a person who they are. But sex and gender can be distinguished
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Austin ([1962] 1975), Felman (2003) and Sedgwick (1993) (as cited in Gerdes 2014, p. 148) suggest that expressions such as “shame on you” ‘accomplish the action that it also announces’, where by saying it, a person confers shame and embarrassment upon another group or individual. Performative inspires actions and has the power to produce a series of effect that can compel further collective recognition of the performative itself and its viability. Performativity, therefore, can account for the construction and reconstruction of gender. Gender is performative, in other words, one’s gender is real only if it is acted out continually (Butler 1993, p.12). People perform their gender according to the social and cultural norms and/or their inner masculinity and femininity. A person becomes gendered by doing and acting gender. Their gender is not given or inherent. It is built and acquired over time through the way they perceive, communicate, behave or generally represent themselves. They consolidate their so-called gender by enacting it with their body as they …show more content…
He grows up being taught to act and talk in certain ways and play certain sports that meet the social expectations about gender role. He seems to tick all the boxes of his parents’ expectation on their eldest son, except beside cycling and body building, he also likes makeup and he is homosexual. He was first introduced to cosmetics and makeup through his close female cousins. They certainly have an influence on him, but he was the one that found makeup interesting and kept coming back to it. Given he was assigned male at birth, the way he acts gender conforms and contests the expected gender identity at the same time. Though he does not conform to the normative culture, he has broad shoulders and a deep voice, and he does not “feel feminine” enough to consider himself effeminate. He also had a female partner in the past but he came to the realisation that that kind of relationship would not work out for him. It is his historical and lived experiences that progressively and continually shape him into doing what he does. There was definitely a shift in his gender identity though he as the subject is not entirely in
Judith Butler’s concept of gender being performative focuses on how it creates a sequence of effect or impression. Human have a consistent way of talking about their gender as if it were something that is simply a fact. People go about their lives following patterns that are interconnected with their male or female appearance. They get very settled in the expected behaviors and common attributes of male or female, without recognizing that gender is a social construction. It is difficult to wrap your head around the idea that gender is always changing and being reproduced because it is conversation that often goes unnoticed. Butler realizes that it will be a struggle to get people to grasp the idea that nobody actually is their gender and that
The clusters of social definitions used to identify persons by gender are collectively known as “femininity” and “masculinity.” Masculine characteristics are used to identify persons as males, while feminine ones are used as signifiers for femaleness. People use femininity or masculinity to claim and communicate their membership in their assigned, or chosen, sex or gender. Others recognize our sex or gender more on the basis of these characteristics than on the basis of sex characteristics, which are usually largely covered by clothing in daily life.
The Ridgeway concept of gender as a frame and background identity also designates power and agency of groups in establishing and enforcing the cultural knowledge and norms applied in the construction of identity within interactions and relations. Deutsch shifts agency back to the individual while examining the concept of undoing gender. Her research finds that attempts to undo gender and challenge the legitimacy of the sex binary are undertaken by individuals in interactions. Individuals can seek change and gains towards equality by reclaiming agency and actively rejecting gender norms and expectations in their interactions. Connell’s research on transgender individuals in workplaces also explores the agency of individuals who attempt doing, undoing and redoing gender. She finds that only undoing gender is the agency of the individual and that many transgender people challenge sex but reinforce gender norms in their interactions. Social groups and institutions have the power and agency over individuals doing gender. The power to inform cultural norms and expectations still belongs to the groups and institutions when individuals undo gender but the individuals express agency in their attempts to undo gender and challenge the binary
“Doing gender” is the idea that gender is a social construct that is ingrained within us from an early age rather than a biologically innate quality of individuals. In the documentary “The Mask You Live In”, sociology, psychology and education experts discuss the idea that growing up, young boys struggle against the socially ingrained, and often harmful expectations of masculinity. This definition prescribes masculine traits as emotionless, aggressive, physically fit, competitive, in control, tough-skinned creating an extremely narrow mold that not every boy fits in with. This film teaches us that “doing gender” has created a toxic atmosphere in which boys who do not fit the mold of masculinity are stigmatized and led to making harmful life
Throughout today’s society, almost every aspect of someone’s day is based whether or not he or she fits into the “norm” that has been created. Specifically, masculine and feminine norms have a great impact that force people to question “am I a true man or woman?” After doing substantial research on the basis of masculine or feminine norms, it is clear that society focuses on the males being the dominant figures. If males are not fulfilling the masculine role, and females aren’t playing their role, then their gender identity becomes foggy, according to their personal judgment, as well as society’s.
This article was written to bring attention to the way men and women act because of how they were thought to think of themselves. Shaw and Lee explain how biology determines what sex a person is but a persons cultures determines how that person should act according to their gender(Shaw, Lee 124). The article brings up the point that, “a persons gender is something that a person performs daily, it is what we do rather than what we have” (Shaw, Lee 126). They ...
If we try to categorize human by the term “gender”, people will be divided into two groups, males and females. Using this kind of categorization, it is considering people who belong in the same group are similar, and these two groups are very different from each other. However in real life, men and women’s characteristics tend to overlap (Crespi) . Even people who are in the same group may have different characteristics and personalities which are formed influencing by the environment and experiences.
Gender is not a binary system based on the sex organs that we possess; gender is a human creation intended to segregate males from females and identify ‘abnormal’ people in society. It is a social construct in which we define and organise people into categories based off of socialisation and cultural stereotypes. Connell’s theory discusses the idea that gender is, “a pattern in our social arrangements” [Connell: 2009: 10]; the gender of any particular person is determined by the physical traits that we display that either depict masculinity or femininity. However, these displays of physical traits are independent to the genitals that we hold. Human biology does not dictate the choices we make that determine our femininity and masculinity; this notion supports Connell’s theory because these choices are made by everyone, every single day.
Gender refers to psychological and emotional characteristics that cause people to assume, masculine, feminine or androgynous (having a combination of both feminine and masculine traits) roles. Your gender is learned and socially reinforced by others, as well as by your life experiences and g...
Livingston conducted many of their interviews one-on-one in the personal homes of the interviewee. Typically there was no background music so that the viewer could focus on the words coming from the drag queen. Occasionally, she would just do a voice over with the drag queen but still always managed to cut back to the person speaking. I believe she chose her interview settings and what that speaker would look like to better emphasize whatever concept was being discussed. Her interview techniques and juxtaposition of scenes were just two ways she exposed the performativity of gender. At certain points in the film, she records a drag queen walking around normal society. While switching back and forth was a good technique to ease in to the
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them, they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s gender and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision, whether accidental or genetic, can affect that child’s lifestyle views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors. It is always said that boys and girls are complete opposites as they grow.
Gender has been around throughout history; however, within recent years, gender has separated itself from the traditional view of sex, e.i., male or female, and has become centered on ones masculinity or femininity. Of course gender is more than just ones masculinity or femininity, gender has become a way for one to describe, he or she, in a way in which they are different from everyone else. Gender has turned into a sense of identity, a way for one to feel different and fulfilled among all of those around them. Of course gender’s sense of freedom would seem outside of structure and only affected by one’s own agency, however, structure is a key component in establishing gender. We can look into both ethnic Mexican’s culture practices regarding sexuality, children songs and games, and see that cultural traditions still heavily influence gender, creating what is masculine and what is feminine and what is the role of each gender, as well as challenging the notions that gender is solely based on agency.
In order to grasp the concept of social construction of gender, it is essential to understand the difference between sex and gender. Biologically, there are only two reproductive genital organs that are determinants of sex: the vagina and the penis. Sex is established solely through biological structures; in other words, genitalia are the basis of sex. Once a sex category is determined, gender, a human categorization socially attached to sex, is assigned based on anatomy. Gender typically references social or cultural differen...
We may be personally responsible for our own misconceptions of gender and masculinity. Our actions about these topics speak louder than words. Sociologist, Ann Oakley argues that parents often mold their children around certain behaviors, with positive and negative consequences, to adhere to the standards that are socially acceptable. Oddly there is a strong back lash to this sort of treatment in females. In a study done conducted by Michael Messner, when asked who was a tomboy and who was a sissy as children, women raised their hands more often to identify with the tomboy image. The tomboy trait celebrates masculinity and restricts femininity. Often children explore many traits about themselves, as Allen explained to Pascoe, “When you’re younger…you’re a kid. You are wide open…You just do what you want” (Pascoe 118). Darnell, a football player, stated “Since you were little boys you’ve been told, ‘hey don’t be a little faggot’” (p 55). Darnell showcasing that males are conditioned very early like females about their roles of masculinity. These children are taught about how masculinity works. In the school Pascoe researched, a faculty member, Mr. Ford, reminded males students through his reply to a backhanded comment made to him from another student that men should engage in sexual actives with women, not men. Another...
Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male regardless of which sexuality they fall under. The males are superior over the females and gays superior over the lesbians, however it different depending on the place and circumstances. This paper will look at the gender roles and stereotypes, social policy, and homosexuality from a modern and a traditional society perspective. The three different areas will be compared by the two different societies to understand how much changes has occurred and whether or not anything has really changed. In general a traditional society is more conservative where as a modern society is fundamentally liberal. This is to say that a traditional society lists certain roles depending on the gender and there are stereotypes that are connected with the genders. One must obey the one that is dominant and make decisions. On the other hand, a modern society is lenient, It accepts the individual’s identity and sexuality. There is no inequality and everyone in the society is to be seen as individuals not a part of a family unit...