bashoGWSS1

Gender performance, looking at this phrase might confuse someone who has not taken a gender studies course. Gender performance is the way that humans act in their interactions with one another that help the other person categorize the "actor" into a gender category. The sum total of our interactions is our performance of gender. We might not realize that we are performing or the fact that each of our actions is based upon a category that we decided to place ourselves in. The performance is used to not only let others know which gender category we belong in but also to let others know that they will also be judged by the performance they make. Like many things in life, gender is a social construction that allows us to reason through the natural world. It is one of many things that were arbitrarily assigned a value so that we could use it as a basis to deconstruct nature. By using gender as a 'ruler', we are able to assign values to other social interactions and constructions. I'm not sure that gender alone makes life 'real'. I believe that gender allows for a view of the world that matches well with who humans like to think (binaries). All social interactions are determined by how we perform gender. Women and men are accorded different attitudes of interaction and attitude ultimately affects how we are treated by others. A change in the way we 'do' gender would affect our culture very deeply. One example of this is the way that gays are treated in our culture. The way that they 'perform' gender is threatening and unsettling to some members of society and that in itself is shaking how culture and individuals treat gays.