Butler - Gender is Burning

• Gender is considered “performative.”

  • The understanding that gender is something consciously performed or done is incorrect.
  • Gender is not something that exists as a characteristic but rather something that manifests through actions.
    • It is not about having a core essence of gender, but rather gender is created through unconscious or conscious habitual behaviors.
    • Additionally, how others perceive and recognize gender based on these performances is also a factor.
      • This aligns with the concept of social constructivism.
  • Q. What about individuals who identify as a certain gender but do not express it through their actions?
    • This is a debatable topic.

• Instead of trying to understand everything, let’s extract the parts that can be used for an essay from the class discussions.

• There is a mention of hooks, so it might be useful.

  • Points of intersection with hooks:
    • The difference in perspectives, which can be directly applied to one’s own object of study.
    • The existence of “real love.”
    • References to pages 86 and 92.
    • The connection between Livingston and lesbianism.
      • The identificatory bond with being gay on page 93.
      • The act of directing the camera as an expression of love.
        • The camera makes realness feel real.
    • The presence of Livingston’s lesbian desire.
      • Mentioned on page 93.
      • The idea that Livingston’s femininity does not appear in the film.

• I also want to explore the layer of “what it means to operate a camera” in my UW Essay #2 (blu3mo).

• I don’t fully understand the meaning of “de-naturalization of the norm” mentioned on page 88, so I would like to discuss it during office hours (blu3mo)(blu3mo)(blu3mo).

• Topics to consider: class, race, gender

• Concepts: hegemony, oppression

  • Resistance

• Subversion

• Ideal

• Discussion on the realness of fantasy

  • The performances by queens

• Denaturalizing the belief that gender comes from sex

• How to deal with hegemonic norms

• Hooks