S & M Performative Act Essay

The act of S/M rejects the idea of gender construct and opens a door for exploration and performance of power. S/M in comparison to performative acts is a “theatrical exercise of social contradiction, it is self- consciously against nature, not in the sense that is violates natural law, but in the sense that it denies the existence of natural law in the first place” (McClintock 1993, 91). Therefore, these practices escape from the idea of being normal or socially appropriate. In regards to performative acts, the idea of being normal is the problem. If individuals choose to be normal then they force themselves to align within the guidelines of accepted gender behaviors. S/M stages for social power to be regained and also refuse the “natural” concept of performative acts that are fundamental to society. There is a double boundary between being normal or abnormal for both the male and female in subcultures of performative acts and S/M. …show more content…
There is nothing abnormal about that behavior for a man because people are allowed to perform behaviors indifferent to their specific gender. But in a world of gender expectations, after a theatrical act of S/M a man is “instantly transformed into a normal, confident, assertive man” (McClintock 1993, 97). Therefore, this adjusts social identities between two different worlds of gender constructs. S/M eliminates having a set role in a subculture, but comprises different genres of roles that make it possible for individuals to be whomever they want. They are given the power within their own gender roles to take a social risk and contradict the expectations of