Gender In Butler's Gender Trouble By John Butler
Butler's "Gender Trouble," addresses the problems of gender distinction and the inherent flaws related to current modes of thought. Butler begins by explaining how she will question the gender hierarchy. She notes that current feminism seeks to define gender. However, this is problematic.
The focus on defining gender and the perceived risks of failing to do so ignore the political issue that requires a distinction (2540). Gender itself is a performance - an artificial attempt that is accepted as natural. The proof she cites is Divine, a drag queen. The impersonation of women through drag suggests that gender itself is an impersonation. Men dressing as women proves to Butler that being a culturally accepted woman is a combination of the right …show more content…
But these types are subject to change within the cultures they are present, and thus this disproves the theory. Butler cites anal sex among homosexual males as a remarking of the body (2545). Butler moves on to discuss the concept of inner and outer. She references Foucault's idea that the soul is part of that outer inscription of the body. While the soul is understood as being invisible and within the body, its presence marks the body as a sacred vessel for the soul. Thus the soul is also what the body lacks, as the two are separate entities in that sense - enclosed within each other, but not one. It is therefore assumed that the body acts in accordance with the soul enclosed, and that the outer mannerisms are performing inner workings. Reality itself is therefore created by the interior - the unseen, hidden, invisible force (2548). Bringing her argument back to gender, Butler goes on to discuss Newton's Mother Camp, where Newton argues that drag reveals a "key fabricating mechanism through which the social construction of gender takes place" (2549). Butler extends this,saying that drag fully subverts the inner and outer, and questions the "true gender identity." She notes that traditional feminist theory treats drag as an imitation and the sex as original. While drag does portray a woman, it highlights the "falsely naturalized" elements (2550). Drag is the parody of the gender
The focus on defining gender and the perceived risks of failing to do so ignore the political issue that requires a distinction (2540). Gender itself is a performance - an artificial attempt that is accepted as natural. The proof she cites is Divine, a drag queen. The impersonation of women through drag suggests that gender itself is an impersonation. Men dressing as women proves to Butler that being a culturally accepted woman is a combination of the right …show more content…
But these types are subject to change within the cultures they are present, and thus this disproves the theory. Butler cites anal sex among homosexual males as a remarking of the body (2545). Butler moves on to discuss the concept of inner and outer. She references Foucault's idea that the soul is part of that outer inscription of the body. While the soul is understood as being invisible and within the body, its presence marks the body as a sacred vessel for the soul. Thus the soul is also what the body lacks, as the two are separate entities in that sense - enclosed within each other, but not one. It is therefore assumed that the body acts in accordance with the soul enclosed, and that the outer mannerisms are performing inner workings. Reality itself is therefore created by the interior - the unseen, hidden, invisible force (2548). Bringing her argument back to gender, Butler goes on to discuss Newton's Mother Camp, where Newton argues that drag reveals a "key fabricating mechanism through which the social construction of gender takes place" (2549). Butler extends this,saying that drag fully subverts the inner and outer, and questions the "true gender identity." She notes that traditional feminist theory treats drag as an imitation and the sex as original. While drag does portray a woman, it highlights the "falsely naturalized" elements (2550). Drag is the parody of the gender