Week Two Blog
“Gender is a performance.� Everyone “performs� gender because it is an essential part of the identity that we form from birth – the identity that we give to ourselves and others to recognize us. The reason it is only a performance is that it is not a true biological trait – the chromosomes we have do not determine whether or not we act feminine or masculine. They only allude to the norms that society will teach us. We must perform gender, not only to belong, but also to have a sense of being. We, as human beings, cannot be nothing. We must be categorized, even to ourselves.
Although this performance is “inauthentic� in the sense that there is no innate sense of gender from birth, it becomes real to us. We cannot separate gender from identity, no matter how hard we try. Classifying people is how our society is structured, what we have been taught throughout our lives from relatives, friends, and strangers. As mentioned above, gender becomes our sense of self. I am a woman. I am a man. Not, I am something. Even the former statement would be a classification. It is impossible for us to not classify or identity ourselves or others. It determines our place in society and even our expectations.
Women are expected to be a certain way. Men are expected to be a certain way. We act differently in different situations in accordance with how we identify ourselves and others by their gender. The performances of gender interact unintentionally if ever social situation. How we are approached and treated is in response to our gender identification. Without it, we would be outcast and isolated. Perhaps we could move to change these performances, but it would take an effort more powerful than our subconscious. And so, it is not foreseen in the near future.