Performance in regards to LGTBQ studies is defined as how we act in society, such as how we talk and how we dress. Performances such as dressing and speaking in determing ways, although seemingly mundane and everyday occurrences in society, is in fact, profoundly impacted by gender roles. Gender roles are ideologies and concepts that have been associated with specific genders, such as skirts for females and cologne for males. We as a society perform in specific ways to fit the gender roles of the dominating society around us, and in doing so propel gender roles continuation. However, continuing to perform in particular ways to suit gender roles affects not only its continuance in society but as well as the queer community. It affects the queer
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Another example of the consequence of being seen abnormal, is shown in past laws of the United States, in that those that challenged gender roles by performing outside of there considered normal gender role were arrested. This is shown by an ordinance from 1848 in the United States that forbade people from going out “in a dress not belonging to his or her sex.” The ordinance was created to target those that break the performance boundaries of gender roles the most, and that is the queer community. The creation of a law that polices performance shows society’s attempt to control those that perform outside what is deemed normal. Ultimately, being labeled abnormal goes further than the label itself, in that the law, and many other dominating constructs in society, such as the workplace, will punish and police those that aren’t considered performing normally. The separation of normal and abnormal leads people to feel as if they have to perform within the bounds of what is deemed to be normal in their dominating society or face the consequences and policing that come along with being considered abnormal. Those that perform outside of the gender roles allotted to them, such as many in the queer community do, face ostracisms and punishment for being themselves rather than what society has constructed for them, and that is a …show more content…
Drag performances, however, when analyzed are shown to parody the performative actions that have been categorized and ultimately deemed original to each gender role. Sarah Salih notes this of drag in On Judith Butler and Performativity saying, “it is the very notion of an original that is being parodied…” What Salih is attempting to convey in her statement is that the concept of there being an original way of performing gender and its roles is faulty as well as contradictory. It is faulty because what is considered original was socially constructed and in fact has changed throughout the years, and has not remained original, showing its contradiction. For example, wearing pink was masculine but after WW2 transformed to be dominantly worn by women, changing it association to femininity. Drag through the use of performing exaggerated “original” feminine or masculine actions proves how the performances to fit gender roles are created and can be changed as well as used by any gender. This can be noted in Caitlin Greaf’s article Drag Queens and Gender Identity, saying
“Drag queens allow a break in the heteronormative gender guideline while also reinforcing the social image of what it means to look like a woman. Although drag queens merely reflect the preexisting image of a woman, they still present an image
Another example of the consequence of being seen abnormal, is shown in past laws of the United States, in that those that challenged gender roles by performing outside of there considered normal gender role were arrested. This is shown by an ordinance from 1848 in the United States that forbade people from going out “in a dress not belonging to his or her sex.” The ordinance was created to target those that break the performance boundaries of gender roles the most, and that is the queer community. The creation of a law that polices performance shows society’s attempt to control those that perform outside what is deemed normal. Ultimately, being labeled abnormal goes further than the label itself, in that the law, and many other dominating constructs in society, such as the workplace, will punish and police those that aren’t considered performing normally. The separation of normal and abnormal leads people to feel as if they have to perform within the bounds of what is deemed to be normal in their dominating society or face the consequences and policing that come along with being considered abnormal. Those that perform outside of the gender roles allotted to them, such as many in the queer community do, face ostracisms and punishment for being themselves rather than what society has constructed for them, and that is a …show more content…
Drag performances, however, when analyzed are shown to parody the performative actions that have been categorized and ultimately deemed original to each gender role. Sarah Salih notes this of drag in On Judith Butler and Performativity saying, “it is the very notion of an original that is being parodied…” What Salih is attempting to convey in her statement is that the concept of there being an original way of performing gender and its roles is faulty as well as contradictory. It is faulty because what is considered original was socially constructed and in fact has changed throughout the years, and has not remained original, showing its contradiction. For example, wearing pink was masculine but after WW2 transformed to be dominantly worn by women, changing it association to femininity. Drag through the use of performing exaggerated “original” feminine or masculine actions proves how the performances to fit gender roles are created and can be changed as well as used by any gender. This can be noted in Caitlin Greaf’s article Drag Queens and Gender Identity, saying
“Drag queens allow a break in the heteronormative gender guideline while also reinforcing the social image of what it means to look like a woman. Although drag queens merely reflect the preexisting image of a woman, they still present an image