Judith Butler

Judith butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist. Her essay "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution" (1988) suggested that gender is performed and that it is someones's identification (based on social characteristics). She goes further to distinguish someone's sex and sexuality. A person's sex is there anatomy and a person's sexuality is their emotional, romantic or sexual attraction.

Gender as performance

Judith butler suggests that gender is performed based upon social constructionism, behaviour and characteristics represented in society and culture which can adapt and change.

'understand gender as a relation among socially constituted subjects in specifiable contexts'
 –Judith Butler

There are certain behaviours, clothing items, hobbies, just to name a few, that were and perhaps still are gendered in modern society.

Subversive performances

The table (right) shows repeated performances of gender of time, nothing about gender is predetermined.

subvert= undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution)

 ‘think through the possibility of subverting and displacing those naturalised and reified notions of gender that support masculine hegemony and heterosexist power, to make gender trouble’ 

–Judith Butler

Androgynous and effeminate are two terms that are very similar. They describe a performance which isn't of the 'typical' sex-gender. Madonna is an example of someone who is perhaps androgynous. she often dresses in suits which are usually worn and tailored to men. Effeminate is a term given to men who act with typical 'feminine' qualities rather than the typical masculine behaviour.