Discuss how gender identity can be theorised as a social construct and demonstrate the ways in which performance can amplify this

Gender Essay

Discuss how gender identity can be theorised as a social construct and demonstrate the ways in which performance can amplify this.

Gender is a social performance; a way of communicating our identities within the social and cultural realm in which we live in. We perform socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a particular society deem appropriate for men and women. Our gender identities have therefore been bred into us as acceptable ways to perform which sex we are. We have been restricted to these distinct roles by society through history as predetermined behaviours for the different sexes have always been prevalent within our society. Kessler and McKenna 1978, in Wharton 2005 state that gender is the “psychological, social, and cultural aspects of maleness and femaleness” (p.6). This description could be too narrow however, as some would argue that gender and sex are inextricably linked and there are “important biological or genetic differences between women and men” Wharton (2005, p.6) – the natural or genetic influences and the social or cultural aspects of identity formation cannot be separated cleanly. They both influence each other as gender is not an exclusively individual characteristic; certain behavioural dispositions or traits that people possess are not based on their allocation to a particular sex. Gender is something attained as we encounter social life and culture through socialisation.

Issues between genders have always been a problem in society due to the hierarchal force of the masculine that came from patriarchal ideologies formed throughout history. Patriarchy supports the opinion of masculinity and the male being the dominant position in society. This is how society has lived and evolved over the years and identity formations have embodied this idea. We have all generated our own gender identities from pre-determined roles ascribed to men and women without questioning it. However, postmodern thinking rejects this as a grand narrative as scepticism to conventions has allowed choice to become a possibility; our identity formations no longer have to prescribe to pre-determined roles.

Certainly, there are many things that influence our gender identity formations and the way in which we perform them. From an early age we learn to observe the actions that our mother or fathers perform and copy and repeat them until they become a part of our physical system. This process of acquiring gender could be construed as a repeated performance; “[...] a re-enactment and re-experiencing of a set of meanings already socially established [...]” Butler (1990, p.140), from our parents. Once established, this identity follows us through our lives and we re-observe at adolescence with the help of other sources such as friends, extended family and the media etc. The media is a strong force and often patriarchal views are re-enforced through such outlets, for example, the glorification of women in magazines and newspapers that communicate a subjective role that women fir into. The subject is a victim of the male gaze; a metaphorical lens that represents a male audience’s eyes.

It has never escaped the attention of society that men are perceived as the more dominant sex in culture. From an early point in history a masculine perspective has been the prominent point of view and male ideas have been exchanged through the western culture. “[...] patriarchal values and ideologies [...] inform, sometimes in silence, sometimes in an overly cocksure fashion, the prominent work of the masculine canon – the body of works that patriarchal culture has made dominant.” Fortier (2002 p.108). Because the patriarchal culture we have been living in has embraced supremacy of masculine power, women have been indoctrined in masculine values; a process called immasculation. This deals with the issue of women being represented in an exclusively male social economy which has been an established part of our culture for centuries as throughout history women have been seen as inferior and beneath men. Immasculation is also present when women accept or even embrace the inferior roles and allow themselves to become subjects and the subservient sex. Through this the distinct roles and behaviour adhered to us give rise to gender inequalities; differences between men and women that systematically favour one group. In turn, such inequalities can lead to inequities between men and women. Wharton (2005, p.10) speaks about gender inequality as a means of our social lives:

“While inequality does not just happen, [...] gender must be viewed not simply

as a property of individuals, so too, gender inequality must be understood as the
product of a [...] complex set of social forces. These may include the actions of
individuals, but they are also to be found in the expectations that guide our
interactions, the composition of our social groups, and the structures and
practices of the institutions we move through in our daily lives.”

These forces can change and they are not always known or understood, their mystery or invisibility is what holds their power over us. We learn how gender operates unconsciously, it can be reproduced and inequalities can be subtle, often without conscious intent and we challenge to remake the world in ways that we wish.

The differences in gender and gender inequality can come from the implication that men and women belong to completely separate categories, with people often referring to men and women as the “opposite sex” – a social norm prescribed to us through cultural socialisation. But how opposite are men and women? Is it just the biological characteristics that signify sex all that distinguishes us as “opposites”? If so, how do we class hermaphrodites and transgendered individuals within society? The Intersex Society of North America (INSA) are an organisation that help inter-sexed people – infants that have been born with ambiguous genitals, genitals that are not “normal” or do not match a particular sex category. INSA helps people gain social acceptance for the right to remain inter-sexed as they claim: “Intersexuality is primarily a problem of stigma and trauma, not gender” (INSA, 2008). Members of INSA therefore do not believe there are only two sex categories for people to fall into and they imagine a world where genital variation is accepted. However it is difficult to imagine a world where genitals and sex do not anchor understandings of maleness and femaleness; this underlines the closeness sex has to determining gender, especially in the western culture. The imagined world of INSA could be argued to have already started with the issue of transgendered people being accepted into the “opposite” sex they were actually born into. So is the way we understand gender and what we accept to be “the ‘natural attitude’ toward gender” (Hawkesworth 1997, in Wharton 2005, p.19) about to change?

However, we can only look at the outlets that influence our gender and identity and observe the power they have in tackling the issue of what we accept to be our natural attitudes of gender. An outlet that has the capability to influence its audience because of its strong position in making statements and explore different worlds through different means to communicate diverse audiences is the outlet of performance. Goodman (1998 p.1) states that together gender and performance are “[...] concepts to be explored with reference to history, with reference to the critical reactions and roles of spectators, the responses and interpretations of each reader and viewer.” It is the audience that performance is made to influence and it is the audience’s responses and their readings that influence them and the world they may live in. Throughout history in western theatre, performing gender is a subject of controversy from the early stages of theatre in which women were not allowed on stage to today when gender is something of a contradictory subject within society. Theatre and performance reflect society and issues within culture are explored through this outlet in different ways. Exploring the contradictory notion of gender within the postmodernist world we live, with the blurs in distinction, could prove confusing. Fiona Shaw states that she looks forward to when “[...] the inclusion of gender is embraced and accepted, and the imagination can dance elsewhere.” (Shaw 1998, in Goodman 1998). Here, Shaw envisages a perfect gender-balance for imaginative boundaries; a balance in society that in reflected in performance and in turn reflected through the people influenced by performance.

Performance has the power to amplify the attitudes towards gender, the same way it has the power to influence people in many manner of respects. It is through looking at the history of theatre and performance that we gain insight into the signification of gender within it. Since the beginnings of the theatre tradition in ancient Greece, women have been suppressed from the stage. During this time and through the Renaissance period and the Shakespearean era, cross-dressing on stage was popular as men had to play women. This fact attracts the works of feminist scholars as even from these early periods in history we see the power of man and the influence of the hierarchal male pre-determining roles for women in theatre. The fact men were cross dressing questions the stability of gender and the female; “[...] what is female is pre-determined by the principle of what is male.” Aston (1995 p.19). Elaine Aston claims that all of women’s roles; in theatre and in society have been pre-determined by the phallus, the male – the generative power in nature. But if a man can play a woman in theatre and be believed as a woman, how stable is the notion of gender? Gender is therefore just a construct for being, it doesn’t need to be defined of classified; anyone can be anything.

This is of course true in pantomime theatre with the camp nature of that type of work and with the majority of characters having been crossed dressed. Cross-dressing and drag can show that gender is very much a performative action. Our natural, biological state can determine our gender and behaviours in which through repetition and mimicry we stylise our movements and identity. But the choice we can make as to whether we want to deconstruct this gender identity reveals that the gender before was actually an ‘act’; “Rather than representing a ‘poor copy’ of the signs that denote gender and so reinforcing the naturalness of the ‘original’, drag can be read as revealing that the original itself is already an ‘act’.” Harris (1999 p.58). This notion along with the notion of patriarchy and feminism is explored and reflected within the play Cloud Nine (1985) by Caryl Churchill with the elements of sexism and heterosexism. Betty, the wife of the colonial Clive, is both oppressed an unknowing of her position within the immasculation by her hierarchal husband. Betty is played by a man in the play; challenging the dominant ideology of the suppression of women with the use of drag showing the deconstruction and subversion of gender within a ‘mans world’. Clive’s son is homosexual and is played by a woman which opposes both the male gaze and belies the entire structure of heterosexual culture. Clive’s daughter is portrayed with a dummy; an appropriation of the extent patriarchal values can stretch to. Cloud Nine is essentially an attack, a way for Churchill to make a statement about the issues of gender identity. Do men acting on stage as women “[...] strongly point out how ‘women’ on stage were a product of masculine imagination and fabrication?” Fortier (2002 p.125). And so through this fabrication, did the representation of women show the hypocrisy and intricacy of gender identity?

Gender identity is a subject of complexity, contradictions, issues and the unknown. What is gender? It seems the term is hard to define as the blurs in distinction have always and will always be prevalent. The body is not a fixed essence, it is a spectacle of struggle and change and it is with this struggle that feminist movements can fight for the ‘lost’ tradition of woman and some women will always be unknowing; unknowing of their immasculation within the world of subjectivity, or their acceptance of their ‘unknown’, happy with the way the world sees them. Either way, performance will continue to amplify the situation society deems for itself, contradicting, reflecting and making statements; political and personal, to inform the audience of their opinion and allow them to make theirs.

Bibliography

Aston, E. (1995) An Introduction to Feminism and Theatre London: Routledge

Butler, J. (1990) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity London: Routledge

Fortier, M. (2002) Theatre/Theory: an Introduction London: Routledge

Goodman, L. (1998) The Routledge Reader in Gender and Performance London: Routledge

Harris, G. (1999) Staging Femininities: Performance and Performativity Manchester: Manchester University Press

The Intersex Society of North America (INSA) (2008) Home: Our Mission [online]. California: INSA. [Accessed 14 April 2011]. Available at: .

Wharton, S.A. (2005) The Sociology of Gender: an Introduction to Theory and Research Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.