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REPRESENTATION THEORY #5:

Gender Performativity
Judith Butler
KEY CONCEPT: sex vs. gender vs. sexuality

GENDER – a person’s
identification (based on
social characteristics)

SEX - the anatomy of an


individual’s reproductive
system (biology)
KEY CONCEPT: gender as performance
Judith Butler identifies that gender is nothing
more than a performance.
Our gender performance is fluid and changes in
different contexts and at different times.

‘there is no gender identity behind the expressions of


gender;… identity is performatively constituted by the
very “expressions” which are said to be its results’
- Judith Butler
KEY CONCEPT: gender as performance
Madonna has constructed multiple identities throughout her
career, including overt masculine and feminine ‘performances’.

Write a paragraph explaining how the representation of


Madonna links to Butler’s ‘gender performativity’ theory.
Use the below images as examples:
KEY TERM: social constructionism
Social constructionism
= people’s personality and behaviour are shaped
by society and culture. They can adapt and
change.

‘understand gender as a relation among socially


constituted subjects in specifiable contexts’
– Judith Butler
KEY TERM: social constructionism
Draw up a table of traditional gender
‘performances’ for males and females:
Traditionally male Traditionally female

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
• What are the traditional male and female gender roles?
• What stereotypes around each gender exist?
• What ‘character traits’ are expected of males and females?
• How are these character traits reflected through the
appearance and behaviour of men and women?
KEY TERM: subversive performances
Subvert
= to go against something established
= undermine the power and authority of something

The gender ‘performances’ you have written down are


simply patterns that have been repeated over time.
Nothing about gender is predetermined.

‘think through the possibility of subverting and


displacing those naturalised and reified notions of
gender that support masculine hegemony and
heterosexist power, to make gender trouble’
– Judith Butler
KEY TERM: subversive performances
‘think through the possibility of subverting and
displacing those naturalised and reified notions of
gender that support masculine hegemony and
heterosexist power, to make gender trouble’
– Judith Butler

It is important that we consider the specific ways


in which individuals in modern society make
‘gender trouble’
KEY TERM: androgynous
androgynous
= neither clearly masculine nor clearly feminine
in appearance

How is a person who ‘performs’ as androgynous


causing ‘gender trouble’?
What might be the ideological reasoning
behind such a performance?
KEY TERM: effeminate
effeminate
= qualities or characteristics more associated
with women than men

How is a person who ‘performs’ as effeminate


causing ‘gender trouble’?
What might be the ideological reasoning
behind such a performance?
TASK: causing ‘gender trouble’
Patrick Starrr is a professional make-up artist and YouTuber.
He regularly posts make-up tutorials to his YouTube channel.

Watch the below ‘THE POWER OF MAKEUP’ vlog and make notes
on the following:
• Give examples of how Starrr’s performance of gender is fluid
• What might be the relationship between context and gender
performativity in this video?
• Why might he be subverting established notions of gender?
• Is Starrr’s gender performativity effective? Why/why not?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiq3M5d5T_A
EXTENSION TASK: “ideology is invisible”
It is very easy to spot flaws in the ways other people live
their life, or how ‘the past’ was ‘different’
However, our own values and beliefs are often ‘invisible’
to us, unless we take the time and effort to reflect on the
strengths and weaknesses of our own culture and society

Quick Write down 3 bullet points to each of the


Task: following questions:
“check • What are some positive aspects to
living in the UK today? Why?
your • What are the unresolved issues in
privilege!” British society? Why?
EXTENSION TASK: “ideology is invisible”
‘Gay is to straight not as copy is to original, but, rather,
as copy is to copy. The parodic repetition of ‘the
original’[…] reveals the original to be nothing other
than a parody of the idea of the natural and the
original’– Judith Butler

How might contemporary society have cultivated a


broader range of gender identities? Give examples.
Consider Baudrillard’s Postmodernism theory…
PLENARY: “basically, yeah…”
Sum up Butler’s gender performativity
theory on one side of a post-it note.
Complete this sentence starter:
“basically, yeah, Butler’s Gender
Performativity theory is…”

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