The Pressures of Traditional Gender Roles
In her piece, "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory," Judith Butler discusses the idea of gender as a result of behavior. She argues that gender is "a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo" (520), meaning that gender is essentially a result of certain actions and behaviors in society. If this is true, then traditional gender roles also help society define certain genders themselves.
After reading Butler's piece, I wanted to dive further into how traditional gender roles have negatively contributed to the progression of society. This is mainly because traditional gender roles tell a person exactly how they are "supposed" to act in order to be a meaningful contributor to society. Along the same lines, according to the traditional view, if a person does not fit into one of the traditional genders of male or female, they cannot be considered a meaningful member of society. I believe that many people, including Judith Butler and myself, would argue that this is absolutely not the case.
TO BE CONTINUED
Hi Natalie, I am interested in hearing further about how you think the people who do not
ReplyDeleteAct in accordance with the “traditional” gender roles properly still contribute to our society. I do agree with your take because I believe everyone on this Earth has an important role to play and they are here because they are important for how the world is being run today. Everyone doesn’t believe that they must have any kind of impact on the world because we think that if we’re not a celebrity, politician, or some other high entity, how could something we do, something as simple as getting up in the morning even contribute to how the world is running. But it’s quite true, we’re all important and vital for this Earth that is why we are here in this life. And I think that women who do have abided by their traditional gender roles like staying in the kitchen have paved the path for us to go out and be businesswomen, men who have decided to be a helping hand to their wife or girlfriend have shown other men that they can actually be a sidekick or support system to the woman instead of a pain in the neck or a aggressive dominating energy.