Critical review of the article Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory by Judith Butler
Gender is a difficult term to define. Some people might think it is the external characteristics of a person what marks it, others believe it is what it is what you feel inside, and another may hold that is what society imposes them. This critical review examines an article that argues that “gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo”. The article, Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory was written by Judith Butler, who is a philosopher and gender theorist. We are going to see what major points the author does and how do they apply to the concept of agency. …show more content…
If we start from the idea that sex refers only to the biological characteristics of each person, gender becomes a series of patterns of conduct imposed by society, which people represent unconsciously. Consequently, it becomes clear that there are no inherent traits to the biological constitution of women and men, but they are social and cultural identities that are renewed, revised and reaffirmed throughout history. Thus, Butler used the sentence Simone de Beauvoir did in The Second Sex, stating that "one is not born, but, rather, becomes a woman" to explain that "woman" is a historical fabrication which is socially constructed by the completion of certain acts and not a natural
Gender is a difficult term to define. Some people might think it is the external characteristics of a person what marks it, others believe it is what it is what you feel inside, and another may hold that is what society imposes them. This critical review examines an article that argues that “gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo”. The article, Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory was written by Judith Butler, who is a philosopher and gender theorist. We are going to see what major points the author does and how do they apply to the concept of agency. …show more content…
If we start from the idea that sex refers only to the biological characteristics of each person, gender becomes a series of patterns of conduct imposed by society, which people represent unconsciously. Consequently, it becomes clear that there are no inherent traits to the biological constitution of women and men, but they are social and cultural identities that are renewed, revised and reaffirmed throughout history. Thus, Butler used the sentence Simone de Beauvoir did in The Second Sex, stating that "one is not born, but, rather, becomes a woman" to explain that "woman" is a historical fabrication which is socially constructed by the completion of certain acts and not a natural