Gender performativity PDF

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Gender is not about expressing someone’s biological sex, but about an act constructed within culture where culture dictates what attributes either of the sex should have (Butler, 1990:6-7). Gender, therefore, determines whether a person can be masculine or feminine. Our everyday tasks and languages itself are gendered, forcing each gender to walk, talk, perform duties, etc., in a gender specific and suitable manner (Holmes, 2009:2). For example, sewing and taking care of children are considered feminine tasks whereas weightlifting and bodybuilding are considered masculine tasks. When males and females imitate these existing gender ideals every day, they create an ‘illusion of an abiding gendered self’ (Butler, 1998:519). This normalises the gender differences in our society and forces one to question whether gender is inherent or something that we learn to do throughout our life? This is the core of gender performativity theory introduced by Judith Butler. Performativity is an ongoing process whereby people are constantly reiterating gender specific behaviours in order to fit into the expectations of the ‘wider imagined community and its traditions’ (McKinley, 2010:235). This has effects on society since this ‘regularized and constrained repetition of norms’ (Butler, 1993:95) makes us see gender roles/differences as natural. It is important to understand how this is different from a performance because in a performance the actor has authority over playing a role even if he is repeating his actions. Contrarily, performativity does not offer us agency, the ability to make our own decisions regarding our gender role. Instead it hinges on the ‘reiteration of authoritative constructs’ (Mckinlay, 2010:236) of gender created by society. Gender then, is not a role that we can pick to enact, but rather a series of acts that the body performs which are ‘renewed, revised and consolidated through time’ to appear as natural (Butler, 1998:523). Therefore it is our acts which inform our gender instead of gender informing our acts (Butler, 1990:25). Gender performativity is also largely influenced by gender discourse/language. Language helps us to signify people based on their sex and their actions. It presents us with two viable gender options of male and female to choose from. This helps us to understand others and ourselves as subjects, thereby forming our subjective identity in the process. The power of language in gender performativity can be explained through the speech-act theory by JL Austin. The speech-act theory states that speech creates what it names (Butler, 1993:13). This type of speech is performative because it is doing what it is saying (Austin, 1975 in Claeys, 2010:6). In other words, by calling a child with a penis a ‘male’, language instils gender from the moment of birth. Ergo, language does gender since the words male or female bring with it certain gender ideals which the child has to abide by. Thus the act of understanding gender through language, the act of calling someone a gender and the subject performing that gender is what makes language a big part of gender performativity.

Therefore language is essential since language and discourse ‘do’ gender (Salih, 2002:56). We are the effects of language/discourse rather than the cause for it (Salih, 2002:56). By mistaking us as the cause for creating gender discourse, we conceal gender’s constructive origin. Although, it is also important to know that language alone does not contribute to performativity. Several other factors are involved such as socialisation and media, but language is essential in starting the process of gender performativity. By calling a child male/female at birth, society expects it to cite a particular gender behaviour and incorporate that reality of male or female in their everyday actions. When this reality is incorporated on a mass scale, it comes to appear as a natural trait, thereby contributing to gender performativity. Therefore we do not create gender discourse, but gender discourse/language creates gender. One of the most significant factors behind gender’s performative nature is the socialisation process. Socialisation is a process through which family and institutions such as media, education and government teach us how to act appropriately in a society (Holmes, 2009:36). For instance, video games are a part of popular culture which help in gender socialisation among the youth. Content analysis of video games characters shows that males are portrayed as aggressive, powerful and dominant but women as curvaceous, objects of gaze and recently, seldom violent (Dill and Thill, 2007:861). While this could hint towards female liberalism in today’s world, female characters are still an object of male gaze in the form of ‘eroticised aggressive’ characters since they are often sexualised (Dill and Thill, 2007:859-861). Even those who do not play games agree with these descriptions since they come across such characters on TV, online or magazines. This serves as a source of gender self-conception and stereotypes to the youth. Gerbner’s cultivation theory can be used to support how socialisation through popular culture is leading to gender performativity. Cultivation theory states that exposure to media increases the likelihood of people accepting the distorted worldview created by the media rather than the actual reality itself (Dill and Thill, 2007:854). Therefore, by coming across such gendered behaviours through games, men are encouraged to be dominant and females are encouraged to appear strong yet beautiful and curvaceous in order to increase their social desirability (Gutierres et al., 1999 in Dill and Thill, 2007:853). Since youth are impressionable, video games create unrealistic expectations about gender ideals which they feel accustomed to follow (Bandura and Bussey, 2004 in Dill and Thill, 2007:854). They reiterate that behaviour in real life and police any deviant behaviour that they notice. This aids in gender performativity since repeating such ideals over time makes it appear as natural gender ideals instead of something constructed for entertainment.

Similar to socialisation is symbolic interactionism which states that gender is carried out and learnt in presence of others while interacting with them (Holmes, 2009:48; Butler, 2004:1). Rebecca Brown presents a relational model to show how personal interactions/relationships help foster a gender identity (Xhonneux, 2013:303). From birth, we are forced into gendered practices in terms of toys, subjects, sports, clothes, etc., because parents have a perceptual bias and a certain expectancy of their child’s competencies based on the child’s gender (Eccles, Jacobs and Harold, 1990). For example, the research by Eccles, Jacobs and Harold (1990) shows that a child’s gender affects whether the parent thinks their child is good at math or English. This causes the child to have a selfperception of his/her own abilities and interests, which then differentiates the type of educational or professional field they get into. Thus symbolic interaction with parents contributes to gender differences. This then leads to performativity since repeating such gender differences everyday on a mass scale makes it appear as natural. While Brown focuses on personal relationships, Butler suggests that it takes more than that to inform us of our gender. She claims that our interactions with other members of the society as well as popular culture, traditions, laws, etc., inform us of our gender roles. By interacting with other genders or popular culture texts, we pick up cues about gender expectations (Kessler and Mckenna, 1985/78:15). Society, through its laws, culture, religion, etc., hands out social scripts to individuals and asks them to perform as ‘feminine women or masculine men’ (Goffman 1979 in Holmes, 2009:49-51). If something does not fit the expectations, society polices us by interacting with us and reminding us of the right behaviour and possible punishments for deviating from the norm (Lorber, 1990:102). Thus interaction is not only key in order to re-produce gender in our society but also in us learning about how to perform as feminine or masculine (Holmes, 2009:54). Although the approach by Brown focuses on a micro-scale interactionism and that of Butler’s on a macro-scale, both tend to suggest that symbolic interactionism is key to gender performativity. Our gender identities are built by the invasion of others’ gestures, who refer to other others in order to derive their own gender identity (Diprose, 1994:120 in Sulllivan, 2003:93). This social nature of passing on and understanding gender identity through interaction shows how gender identity is not only socially constructed but also proves how it is performative because the constant reiteration of gender specific behaviours by others makes us believe that the differences are normal. A Canadian TV drama called Degrassi is one example which shows how socialisation or symbolic interactionism reiterate gender ideals and do not allow for any deviation to persist. Degrassi revolves around various issues that teenagers face ranging from teen pregnancy, death, queerness, etc. One transgender character called Adam Torres takes the viewers through the problems that he

faces as he transitions from female to male. We see Adam appropriate gender specific ideals such as wearing baggy pants, having short hair, taping down his breasts, using the male toilet, having a cucumber in his pants to create an impression of a penis, etc. He tries to imitate the ideal male behaviours, appearance and practices in order to fit into what our society believes to be the right way to perform. Over time he is no longer harassed for being a transgender since his appearance and acts suggest that he is male despite his real sex (Leavy and Trier-Bieniek, 2014:10). Firstly, this proves how gender is socially performed through our everyday actions and that it is not something innate. Just dressing and acting differently can affect how people see our gender (Lorber, 1990:100). Secondly, it shows how having a gender binary forces transgender people to belong to either of the exclusive categories. Queer theory proposes that socialisation and symbolic interactionism through family, media, education, culture, etc., teaches us that the two sex categories of male and female are normative. That anyone with a penis must behave like a man and anyone with a vagina must behave like a woman. Since transgender individuals live life as both genders, they challenge the gender binary. They perform the opposite of what their sex dictates and hence highlight the constructedness of gender and expose how gender identity is tied to sex. They are a living example who prove gender identity and sex are not mutually inclusive, especially when a man can appropriate a feminine identity if he is a transgender. Moreover, the very fact that they try to fit into either of the exclusive categories is testament to how gender is performative because these people feel the need to belong to either of the ‘natural’ gender categories (Leavy and Trier-Bieniek, 2014:10). However, undergoing a transformation to meet the gender ideals, like Adam from Degrassi, is not limited to just transgender/sexual people. Both males and females undergo plastic surgery in order to meet the gender ideals. Given media’s power to set the dominant discourse and influence our reality (Leavy and Trier-Bieniek, 2014:13), the media greatly aids in gender performativity. For instance, watching self-help makeover shows reiterate the idea of the ideal feminine or masculine body. Such shows encourage people to alter their body parts in order to look the part they are playing as male or female. For example, Franco (2008) studied the television show Extreme makeover to investigate how such shows make a feminine subject. In her study she found that such shows are intimately linked with consumption of plastic surgery since women are noticed for their physical appearance rather than their feminine identity (Franco, 2008:471). This shows the highly performative and constructed nature of gender since people are adding more elements to live up to the expected gender ideal. Hence media is constantly reminding us, through such makeover shows, what a feminine or

masculine person must look like. Moreover, the growing trend of such shows (Paoli, 2009) not only works to normalise male and female differences but also convinces the audience to take part in such activities and contribute to making such differences appear as natural. Most of the aforementioned examples emphasise on how reiteration of the expected gender ideals causes gender performativity. However, satire and parody are equally useful in highlighting gender’s performative role. These genres expose the constructed nature of gender by showing that gender is not inherent but rather a social and cultural construct. Man’s world, an Indian web-series, is one such example. The misogynist protagonist believes that men are treated unequally since women get all the benefits by using the ‘weaker sex label’ (YFilms, 2015). He wishes for an alternative world to enjoy benefits such as reserved seats in buses, men opening the door or lifting heavy weights for women, etc. However, when that wish comes true and the gender roles are swapped, he also gets to experience the horrors of eve-teasing, discrimination with job and salary, marital rape, etc. The show, through highly exaggerated stereotypes, gets the point of gender inequality across in a comic way. Through the flipped world, the audience is made to realise how their own gendered behaviours and cultural values contribute to gender inequality. Firstly, the protagonist and the audience are the only ones who know that this is a flipped world. The protagonist is just as smart and strong as he was in the real world. But because he lives in a world which is sexist and dominated by women, he is deemed unfit for senior positions and high salary in his office. Secondly, sex/gender roles differ because of the way we use our body (Holmes, 2009:30). For example, since men are expected to pick heavy weights and do labour intensive tasks, their bodies appear muscular over time, giving the illusion of men being naturally strong. But in this flipped world, women appear more masculine because they undertake tasks such as driving trucks, being police officers, goons, etc. The only reason women do not get involved in manual labour in this real world is because society works on predictable division of labour (Lorber, 1990:101). Society views women as soft, caring, nurturing, etc. and hence expects them to be a homemaker and not partake in physical tasks (Lorber, 1990:103). These instances show that being masculine or feminine is not inherent but rather learnt as a behavioural trait through our actions (Holmes, 2009:30). All this might suggest that gender performativity ensures that gender expectations remain constant and appear natural. However, gender expectations do transform over time. But even if these expectations change, gender can still be performative. The theory of gender performativity states that norms act on us before we can act on them and if we do happen to act on them, they are always in relation to the preceding norms (Joy, Belk and Bhardwaj, 2015:1742). The two theories mentioned

below help illustrate how gender can change over time and the following example shows how despite such changes, gender can still be performative. Two theories go hand in hand to show how gender can change progressively. The cohort replacement theory proposes that attitudes towards gender expectations change as an older generation is replaced with a newer one (Brooks and Bolzendahl, 2004:110). This theory focuses on how early socialisation affects how each generation views gender identities. Older generations grew up with certain expectancies regarding gender. But newer generations view gender roles differently since they grow up with different childhood experiences and parenting techniques. This happens due to reasons such as technological changes, economic changes or educational changes in the society. The social structure theory adds depth to the cohort replacement theory by suggesting that when such aforementioned changes are experienced at an older age, that can change gender expectations too (Brooks and Bolzendahl, 2004:110). For instance, the increase in single-parenting due to increase in divorces in 1980s led women to enter the workforce to support themselves and their children (Cherlin, 1992 in Brooks and Bolzendahl, 2004:111). This increasing trend led to the acceptance of liberal conceptions of gender such as women being the breadwinners instead of men (Mason and Lu, 1988 in Brooks and Bolzendahl, 2004:111). Thus the older generation of women, when exposed to such social structural changes like that of divorces, adapted to the situation by altering their behaviour or skill set. This affected how they performed their own gender. Since the newer generation grew up in a world where women could be economically independent, they perceived gender roles much differently than what the older generation would have when they were younger. One example which shows that despite changing gender expectations, gender can still be performative is the history of women’s education. Women of yesteryear were not allowed to be highly educated since it was believed education would affect women’s reproductive system (Burstyn, 1973:79). But educated women proved that these were illusionary conceptions put in place by men to keep women under control (Burstyn, 1973:79). This is supported by a study by Sudha which (2000:126-9) showed that education helped women learn about their rights, reject myths, raise their status in society, fight against injustice, etc. Moreover, data collected from college freshmen found that in 1970, 48% college students agreed that women should be limited to home but in 2001, only 21% agreed with this statement (US Census Bureau, 1996; Chronicle of Higher Education, 2005, in Newman and Newman, 2015:180). Moreover, the increased opportunity for women in education and the economy increased the chances of women getting jobs, leadership positions or promotions (Newman and Newman, 2015:180). This made such women role models to younger generation girls. Therefore newer generation girls learned

how to be ‘assertive, competitive and achievement oriented’ (Newman and Newman, 2015:180). Such changes in outlook towards women’s education changed the expected gender behaviour. Women from the new generation were no longer expected to stay at home, but rather work to contribute to their family. Therefore this example shows how changing gender expectations can still lead to gender performativity since new norms are based on preceding norms. The preceding norm was education for men but not women. However, societal and economic changes allowed for growing popularity of women’s education. This allowed women to act on the existing norm of gender based education. This shows the performative nature of gender in two ways. Firstly, we do not have agency in determining a completely new and unrelated gender identity. We are still reiterating existing gender norms, except that they have been modified a bit. For instance, instead of just men being enrolled for education, today even women are allowed. Secondly, while gender roles and expectations can change over time, they usually take hundreds of years to take place. But within those intermediate years, gender roles are reiterated and constantly reflected by the society to appear as normal, showing its performative nature. The theme emerging from this discussion is that ‘performativity is the connection between gendered embodiment, gendered experience and gender’s discursive force’ (Gerder, 2014:149). The power of gender discourse was seen through how language starts the process of gender performativity. This causes parents, society or the media to understand us as gendered subjects and then guide us through socialisation and symbolic interactionism about our expected gender behaviour. This is gender embodiment since we appropriate such taught behaviours. Gender experience, on the other hand, was shown through the way transgender peo...