Sunday, April 24, 2011

Feminism and Gender Studies: Butler's "Gender Trouble"


    This is Nina Flowers, she’s a drag artist if you haven’t noticed.  According to Bulter’s theories, drag the Nine uses serves a potentially useful tool in the modification of gender stereotypes.  Characters such as Nina Flower serves as an imitation of the “feminine” in the form of a man dressed in women’s clothing.  They push the boundaries of gender and work to re-establish them. 
    Bulter, unlike many feminists, doesn’t hate men and avoid categorizing women into the broad terms of a “True Woman” “New Woman” or any other popular categorization of women, as all are different.  She encourages men to participate in the equality of women by blurring genders lines and discouraging violence.
    Bulter asserts that gender is not an accurate representation of, but it is rather a performance.  This goes to explain why many people that dress in drag primarily perform in drag shows and competition, it become a performance.  Although these men identify as men in regards to sex, they are able to push the boundaries in order to draw additional attention to the division in gender perception.
    If Butler is correct, the gender imitated by drag artists such as RuPaul does not truly even exist.  It is merely an imitation of an imitation of something that has never existed.  This means that drag imitates a gender role that has been created by a culture as a response to sex.  These gender definitions don’t accurately portray the sex they are attributed.  I’m not all that sure I completely comprehend this concept, but it certainly seems interesting.

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