Paper Summary:

In this essay, the writer notes that explaining and critiquing Judith Butler's notion of gender as performance requires examining her article, "Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire" and comparing Butler's views to those of other feminists and sociologists. The writer points out that Butler's notion of gender as performance is primarily based on her interpretations of Foucault and Nietzsche and can best be described as calling upon women to challenge the language of internalization by physically signifying their very essence, style, and necessity. The writer concludes that Butler's approach to formulating a feminist language involves overcoming cultural constructs of gender by redefining gender as performance and rejecting outmoded forms of expressing gender identity and sexuality.

From the Paper:

"In practical terms, this means that acts, gestures, and expressions of desires create the illusion of a socially conformist gender identity, which reflects society's determination to regulate sexuality in accordance with traditional standards of acceptable conduct and behavior."
"Through insights such as this, sociologists like Butler have contributed to a broader understanding of gender issues, for they have studied unexamined aspects of gender such as the sexuality of women who have desires considered to be on the margins of society, and have examined manifestations of gender behavior that lie outside the traditional areas of social interaction. Some of their conclusions have stirred controversy, but this is to be expected in a prevailing social and cultural environment which discourages frank discussions about sexuality."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Butler, Judith. (1994). "Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire." In Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
• Douglas, Kelly Brown. (1999). Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective. New York: Orbis Books.
• Gudorf, Christine. (1994). Body, Sex, and Pleasure: Reconstructing Christian Sexual Ethics. New York: Pilgrim Press.
• Hartmann, Heidi, and Whittaker, Julie. (1998). "Stall in Women's Real Wage Growth Slows Progress in Closing the Wage Gap." Briefing Paper, Institute for Women's Policy Research.
• Nelson, James and Longfellow, Sandra. (1994). Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection. Westminster: John Know Press.

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