bashoGWSS1

Gender performance is very different than a performance in a play or even going to a themed party. With gender performances you cannot turn on the I’m going to perform this way switch on or off. Gender performance is done unconsciously and once you start gender performance the “gender switch� is permanently super glued into the on position. People do however; perform different gender roles in different situations. Gender performances are used to show the world and yourself that you fit into the categories that culture can identify you with. In our culture our brains cannot handle anything out of the norms and people “performing gender� easily allow others and the performers to place themselves into a category.
Gender is inauthentic because it is completely constructed by the culture that people live in. However, even though gender may be made up and inauthentic we are literally forced to use it in our lives making it a very real way of life. We may not like the gender categories or the fact that we have to choose the male or female box but we run into these REAL situations all the time. Gender is not considered a dream or a subject that we can avoid. If people ignore or try to change their gender they could face real life threatening situations.
The way we perform gender in each situation completely can impact the way a person judges or treats you. If women walk around bars in “sexy� outfits and bat their eyelashes the men are always attracted to them (where if they would do this in menswear they may not get a glance. If we changed the way we “do� gender absolutely there will be a change in how we think about the two gender categories and may change the norms.