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Performative Gender

It is a theory that Judith Butler coined in 1993. According to her, a performative gender is

an act that is done repetitively. It, therefore, produces a series of effects. She stresses the term

repetitiveness of the act rather than the biological view(Rose-Redwood). When we try to look at

it through the same lens as Butler, we find out that masculinity and femininity vary from time to

time, according to their cultural setting, race, and the context of the event. It brings us to a

standard that our culture shapes our behavior, how we talk, and how we carry ourselves since it

is culturally inscribed. We tend to imitate our immediate people. That is the society we live in

every day but not the biological determined as many people would think.

I seek to strongly agree with Butler's ideas on the performative theory since it can be

easily be argued that as a result of the repetitive nature of a particular aspect, it will lead to an

effect and a consequence in the end which will be an agent of change to an individual. Gender

can only be determined by the works or acts done and that they should be centered in the society

governed by the cultural norms (Shefer). However, this theory has received many critiques I still

choose to conquer with Butler. With all these discussions that are still ongoing on this topic, the

world today is culturally intersected since our cultural inscription shapes our worldview.
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How one behaves, communicates, dresses, and interacts with others depicts the type of

community and culture. Just like Butler argues, masculinity and femininity are still social,

meaning that it is birthed from society. When we try to compress the more comprehensive

statement into an understandable point, culture concerning it can be tied to social psychology, the

repetitiveness of an idea. Butler tries to draw the social structural approach about sex distinction

without opposing the biological approach to it regarding male and female scientific

understanding. According to sexual identity is viewed as a social identity that argues that one's

identity, different social groups are integrated into self-concept forming social identities; this is

then reflected in the behavioral patterns portrayed by an individual.

We live in a contemporary world today that men can perform the roles of women and

vice is also true, so it is a choice of one to have either masculinity or femininity, therefore

bringing a debate on unending controversies in personality between sexual identification.

In conclusion, this question has elucidated a lot of controversial debates. I can conclude

that it is not all about the natural way one way born but the destiny meaning the way you live,

may generate the idea more understandably. To sum it up, I will expound on the fact that once

born within a specific web of society. They cannot free themselves. They are tied within the

chains of society, race, and period in the happenings.

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Bibliography

Rose-Redwood, CindyAnn, and Reuben Rose-Redwood. "‘It definitely felt very white’: Race,

Gender, and the Performative Politics of Assembly at the Women’s March in Victoria,

British Columbia." Gender, Place & Culture 24.5 (2017): 645-654.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0966369X.2017.1335290

Shefer, Tamara. "Activist performance and performative activism towards intersectional gender

and sexual justice in contemporary South Africa." International Sociology 34.4 (2019):

418-434. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0268580919851430