Jestina Ortega

WGS 297

Judith Butler

                                                            Gender Trouble

            In Judith Butler’s book, Gender Trouble, she presents the theory that sex is socially constructed and that gender is a performance. This implies that sex is biological and gender is social. For example, the distinction between being female and being a woman, set the stage for the difference between sex and gender. I agree that because not everyone is biologically male or female (and can be non binary), gender is social and only real to the extent it is performed.

            As mentioned in Gender Trouble, the two sex system didn’t become dominant until the 18^th Century. There are various cultures that experienced and still experience gender beyond the restricted two sex system such as Egyptian, Ethiopian, Turkish and Native American societies to name a few. Although this is true, these cultures were vastly influenced by Westernized gender norms through mass media. Therefore, the gender- variant identities worldwide eradicated acceptance in certain areas of the world and/or their practices were silenced. Silencing another culture’s rejection to the Western gender binary is a form of imperialism. If we can’t see that a society with members who are transgendered can thrive, how do we protest the gender binary currently in society today? Silencing a different culture with different values, works toward silencing American citizens into thinking what is current is most successful and practical. We as a society need to push back against this imperialistic tactic in order to question the validity of gender being directly connected to sex.

            We as a society tend to act out our gender. Masculinity and femininity are instructed rather than inherited. For example, there are two newborn twins in the room and both are wearing pink. The parent’s friends are appalled that the newborn boy isn’t wearing blue because it goes against gender norms. The onlookers might also state that the boy will be a strong fighter while the daughter looks like a dancer even though both newborns look the same and are making identical movements. The adults are continuing to turn the wheel on societal norms and coming up with how these children will behave and who they will desire even if the babies are less than a year old. These gender roles given to the babies by their parents and friends are a direct result of biology. Although gender pressures are consistent since birth, it doesn’t mean girls won’t like playing sports and boys won’t enjoy wearing makeup.

            Gender isn’t something we have or are, it is something we do. Gender is a performance; gender is a source of pleasure and performance is a source of anxiety. In performing gender, you are either actively doing what you’re told by societal means or actively rejecting social norms and being self creative. I found while reading this that there can be critique in stating gender is a performance by the interpretation that we can choose our gender since we can choose how to perform. Performing and gender are linked but not to the point where we choose our gender. For example, I feel like performance is a source of pleasure and is also used to attract people you are sexually attracted to in order to grasp their attention. For example, Laverne Cox is a trans woman who wears heels and blonde wigs. Although she states that her attire may be problematic in the sense that is the image feminists have been trying to stray away from for years, it’s also empowering for her. In my opinion it is also used to grasp the attention of men who admire that image in order to find her sexually attractive and that is where the source of pleasure may also stem from.