Gender is and is not

“Genders can be neither true or false, neither real nor apparent, neither original nor derived. As credible bearers of those attributes, however, genders can also be rendered thoroughly and radically incredible” — Judith Butler

This statement resonates with me for several reasons. I really like how Butler states that “genders can be neither true or false” (Butler, 141). I like this statement because they are saying how gender identify cannot be validated in some instances and not in others. They are simply saying that gender just is. I also really like how the first statement is worded. The first sentence sets up what gender is and what it is not. It sets up the parameters for gender. However, the main idea of this sentence is to show that gender cannot be define or put into a box. It just is.

The second statement is clarifying. The main idea is to stat that while gender cannot be defined into specifics, it can be “rendered thoroughly” (Butler, 141). My favorite part of this statement is how Butler states that gender is “radically incredible” (Butler, 141). It is fitting that these two statements end the section of “Subversive Bodily Acts”. I believe that Butler’s main idea in this passage is that gendered acts are performative and are used to signal “inner politics of the body” (Butler, 141). This idea is summed up beautifully by Butler when they state, “In other words, acts and gestures, articulated and enacted desires create the illusion of an interior and organizing gender core, an illusion discursively maintained for the purposes of the regulation of sexuality within the obligatory frame of reproductive heterosexuality” (Butler, 136).

The idea that there is no “gender core” and that expression of gender through the “surface of the body” is performative was groundbreaking for me (Butler, 136). My experience on this earth has been being defined as a woman. I wear feminine clothing and I overall purposefully dress specifically for the male gaze. Yes, I am that girl who will probably have a predictable life in the suburbs with 2.5 kids. Which to most people in this class will sound anti everything we have talked about the entire semester. It is the embodiment of a heteronormative lifestyle (I am not saying that this is a good thing by any means). I write these statements to not push forward the agenda of making this lifestyle seem like the only right one (It is far from it). I write these statements to communicate that what Butler has stated about how “the gendered body is performative” has made me rethink how I present myself to the world (Butler, 136). To be honest, I am frustrated with the fact that I have been brought up with the idea that my insides are gendered and that my outsides should reflect what is on the inside. I wonder what my life would look like if I presented myself to the world as a human rather than a future wife and mother. Anyways, back to Butler. Gender is and is not a lot of things. Gender just is.