bashoGWSS1

Gender is a performance in which we interact differently with others and ourselves during a variety of situations. If I were to watch Sex and the City with my girlfriends, I would “perform� my gender by saying lots of inappropriate comments, and adding snippets like “Mr. Big is stupid.� But if I were to watch TV with my father, I would not even consider watching the show, nor would I say any inappropriate comments. This is gender performance. I choose to act this way in situations I face in life. By performing, I am recognizable, my friends view me as one of their girlfriends, and my father recognizes me as his daughter. My performance shows my identity, which tells people I am a female, and a daughter.

Society shapes gender. It has no original—society and time changes gender roles. However gender makes life real because it’s an expectation. We are expected to live woman, man—it takes up our every essence. We wear clothes to fit our gender, we check our gender in official documents, and we act feminine or masculine to fit our gender roles. Gender makes life real because we make it real. If it wasn’t real, we wouldn’t care about our clothes, identifying sex in documents, or how we act.

The way we present ourselves impact the way others treat us. During high school mock trial, I presented myself as a strong, independent female lawyer, so the others knew I was no ditz or pushover. I would sit up straight, wear my “object me� pumps, and speak with conviction. When I saw the male lawyer, his timid performance allowed me to treat him as if he was the ditz, and the pushover. I believe if we change the way we do gender, it will change our social conditions and our knowledge on gender. History proved from the way Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells, and other woman “did� gender, we would not be able to vote, wear pants, or even attend college. We know women have power; they have a chance to be the president, and have jobs that even fifty years ago was only a dream.