Gender Instability and Lived Experience
Man or Woman
'The social meanings of what it is to be a man or a woman are not yet settled.'
-Judith Butler[1]
Butler’s assertion is fundamentally flawed. The word ‘or’ implies exclusivity; that man and woman are the only options, which is not the case. It might be more pertinent then, to discuss an altered statement:
The social meanings of gender are not yet settled.
We begin by asking: what is gender? Gender can be broken down into three categories: ‘gender identity’ (‘who you in your head know yourself to be’), ‘gender expression’ (‘the ways you present gender through your actions, dress and demeanour’) and ‘biological sex’ (‘the physical characteristics you're born with’)[2]. Contemporary theories of gender time and again fail to engage fully with these categories. I hope to propose a new theory of gender that encapsulates sex, expression and identity; one grounded in both lived experience and post-structuralist as well as Marxist ideological theory.
Essentialism
‘Unsex me here’
Macbeth, I. V. 40[3]
To answer the question posed earlier, we must first establish that gender is not equivalent to biological sex. The idea that they are equivalent- Gender Essentialism- is easily dismissed by the existence of gender norms, which are subject to change over time and not always consistent between cultures. In Britain, the necessities of World War One forced women to work in factories, something that had been reserved for men in the past. Conversely, biological sex is not subject to change over time or cultural influence, and it cannot be said that wartime alterations in industry were related to sexual organs or XX/XY chromosomes. Thus, gender is obviously not synonymous with sex.
Social Construction
‘Come, be a man. Drown thyself? Drown cats| and blind puppies!’
Othello, I. III, 341-342[4]
Twentieth century feminists including Butler and Simone de Beauvoir suggest that gender is a social construct: "One is not born, but rather becomes, woman”[5]. For these theorists, there is no ‘'essence' that gender expresses’[6]. ‘[B]ecause gender is not a fact, the various acts of gender [create] the idea of gender, and without those acts, there would be no gender at all’[7]. These ‘acts of gender’ form an inescapable ideology. When Iago urges Roderigo to ‘be a man’, he speaks to an Elizabethan, and still present, conception of masculinity formulated by the ‘stylized repetition of acts’[8]; in this case, male suppression of strong emotion. Roderigo should suppress his emotion not because he has a penis, but because society tells him to. In structuralist terms, the signifier ‘man’, derives value from difference from other signifiers within the structure of gender, such as woman, non-binary, gender-fluid etc. It signifies masculinity. Therefore, within cultural ideology, gender is equivalent to gender expression. However, it might be said that ‘social’ is where cultural and personal meet. This is where Butler’s theory of performativity becomes problematic.
Problems with Performativity
“All the world's a stage,| And all the men and women merely players”
As You Like It, II. VII. 146-147[9]
Performativity can be understood in the above Shakespearean terms. Butler argues that on the personal level, ‘to be a woman is… to compel the body to conform to an historical idea of 'woman,' to induce the body to become a cultural sign’[10]. This privileges expression over identity, overlooking the growing prevalence of gender non-conformity (performing gender as you like it, against societal norms). Performativity seems to equate cross-dressing to being transgender[11], which we know to be false as, if this were true, it would follow that the boys playing women in Shakespeare’s plays were women on stage. Butler attempts to account for a difference between performance on stage and performance in life, arguing that the first is ‘just an act’[12], while the second is closer to reality, but gender expression is always an act regardless of how it aligns with cultural ideology. Evidently, wearing a dress would not make me a woman.
Significance of Gender
‘If I had known the term “transgender” when I was a teenager in the 1970s, I’m sure I would have grabbed hold of it like a life jacket on rough seas.’
-Jack Halberstam, Trans*[13]
If gender is a social construct, is it outdated and unnecessary? Should we hold a gender-neutral perception of society?
Gender neutrality raises two key issues. Firstly, a genderless view of the world is implicitly androcentric; it ignores the hardships faced by non-males in the patriarchy. Secondly, if we attempt to strip gender of any meaning, we disregard its significance as a means of personal identification. Devaluing gender overlooks the struggles of non-cis people who face rejection and violent oppression in pursuit of authentic gender identification. For these reasons, we pose the question again: what is gender?
Time and Space
‘Let us begin again.’
-Jacques Derrida, Différance[14]
We return to the literature. Cixous begins Sorties, ‘Where is she?’[15]- here, gender is spatial. Meanwhile, Simone de Beauvoir asserts that ‘One is not born, but rather becomes, woman’[16]. ‘Become’ implies a development, a progression that ends in the status of woman- significantly, it makes gender temporal. Further than this, Halberstam exorcises the finished product. He writes: ‘I think of myself as perpetually in transition’[17]. ‘Perpetually’ suggests that Halberstam’s gender, the personal meaning of being trans, is ever present.
Thus, instead of asking ‘what is gender?’, we might ask ‘where and when is gender?’. We cannot locate the meaning of gender in a sex organ or an item of clothing- any one time or place- because it is everywhere and all the time, it is in us and in ideology. I identify as a man, but if I had never heard the term, clearly I could not identify with it. Thus, gender identity necessitates a personal encounter with gender ideology. Saussure tells us that meaning lies in difference[18], so my theory is as follows: gender identity is dependent on the differences between how individuals experience and react to ideological interpellation.
Ideology: Experience and Reaction
‘I didn’t hate being a boy, I just knew I wasn’t one…’
-Paula Stone Williams[19]
An experience with gender ideology can be anything from being told that girls play with dolls and boys do not wear makeup, to accusations that you are only ‘pretending’ to be genderfluid for attention. Gender lies even in the colour of a shampoo bottle marketed to men (blue, black, red or green, obviously).
A trans person is trans because they identify with the essential experience of the being trans, that is, being exposed to gender ideology and realising that their gender identity does not align with their biological sex, i.e. that they have been misgendered. When their gender expression does not align with their biological sex, an essential part of trans identity is to be chastised by the ideological state apparatus. We see this when Halberstam writes: ‘I was constantly taken for a boy, and my parents were frantic to intervene in the relentless gendering of me as male.’[20] The ISA attempts to correct his non-conforming gender expression. In response, one might argue that a trans man and a cisgender tomboy would have similar experiences with gender ideology; both express masculinity and would be chastised accordingly. The difference- that which gives the signifier ‘trans’ meaning- lies in their reaction to ideology. Although the tomboy prefers to express masculinity outwardly, she relates to other aspects of femininity enough to identify as a woman. Conversely, a trans man does not, and instead identifies as a man, relating more to the ideology of masculinity. Therefore, the meaning of Halberstam’s ‘trans-ness’ lies in these encounters with ideology. His perpetual transition is scattered throughout time and space, it is differed and deferred, never being entirely present, but always in development.
To summarise, gender identity is dependent on the differences between individuals' experience of and/or reaction to gender ideology. A cis man and a trans woman have the same experience of gender ideology, i.e. they are told that they are men, but they react differently i.e. the former accepts this label, the latter rejects it, hence the difference in gender. Likewise, a cis man and a trans man have the same reaction to gender ideology, i.e. they identify as men, but their experience is different, i.e. the former has been told they are a man since birth, the latter has been told they are a woman, hence the difference in gender.
Conclusion: The Milk Can
‘The social meanings of gender are not yet settled.’
Maxwell Savage, Gender Instability and Lived Experience
Savage’s assertion is fundamentally flawed. ‘Yet’ implies the meanings of gender will one day be settled, which is not the case. As we have established, the social meanings of gender are deeply personalised and dependent on cultural ideology, which is fluid and inescapable, like the contents of Houdini’s milk can. Though Harry’s miraculous escape will forever elude us, we only hope that in the future, increasingly progressive attitudes to gender will allow those of us that identify as gender queer to hold their breath.
Endnotes
[1] Alona Ferber, "Judith Butler On The Culture Wars, JK Rowling And Living In “Anti-Intellectual Times”", Newstatesman.Com, 2020 <https://www.newstatesman.com/international/2020/09/judith-butler-culture-wars-jk-rowling-and-living-anti-intellectual-times> [Accessed 21 November 2020].
[2] TEDx Talks, Understanding The Complexities Of Gender: Sam Killermann At Tedxuofichicago, 2020 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRcPXtqdKjE&t=126s> [Accessed 21 November 2020].
[3] William Shakespeare and Roma Gill, Macbeth (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 15.
[4] William Shakespeare, "Shakespeare's Othello - Act 1 Scene 3 Othello Leaves For Cyprus", Shakespeare-Online.Com, 2020 <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/othello_1_3.html> [Accessed 21 November 2020].
[5]Simone de Beauvoir and others, The Second Sex (London: Vintage Books, 2011). p. 330
[6] Judith Butler, "Performative Acts And Gender Constitution: An Essay In Phenomenology And Feminist Theory", Theatre Journal, 40.4 (1988), 519-531 <https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893>. p. 522
[7] Butler, 1988, p. 522
[8] Butler, 1988, p.519
[9] William Shakespeare, "As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7 | The Folger SHAKESPEARE", The Folger SHAKESPEARE <https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/as-you-like-it/act-2-scene-7/> [Accessed 21 November 2020].
[10] Butler, 1988, p. 522
[11]Butler, 1988, p. 527 [‘Indeed, the transvestite's gender is as fully real as anyone whose performance complies with social expectations’]
[12]Butler, 1988, p. 527
[13] Jack Halberstam, Trans* (Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2018). p. 1
[14] Jacques Derrida, "Differance", in A Critical And Cultural Theory Reader, 2nd edn (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004), p. 128.
[15] Helene Cixous, "From 'Sorties'", in A Critical And Cultural Reader, 2nd edn (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004), p. 157.
[16] De Beauvoir, p. 330
[17] Halberstam, p. 154
[18] Ferdinand de Saussure, "From Course In General Linguistics", in A Critical And Cultural Theory Reader, 2nd edn (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004), p. 5.
[19] Tedx Talks, I've Lived As A Man & A Woman -- Here's What I Learned | Paula Stone Williams | Tedxmilehigh, 2017 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrYx7HaUlMY&t=77s> [Accessed 21 November 2020].
[20] Halberstam, p. 45
References
Beauvoir, Simone de, ed. Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, and Sheila Rowbotham, The Second Sex (London: Vintage Books, 2011)
Butler, Judith, "Performative Acts And Gender Constitution: An Essay In Phenomenology And Feminist Theory", Theatre Journal, 40 (1988), 519-531 <https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893>
Cixous, Helene, "From 'Sorties'", in A Critical And Cultural Reader, 2nd edn. ed. Easthope, Anthony; McGowan, Kate (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004), p. 157
de Saussure, Ferdinand, "From Course In General Linguistics", in A Critical And Cultural Theory Reader, 2nd edn. ed. Easthope, Anthony; McGowan, Kate (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004), p. 5
Derrida, Jacques, "Differance", in A Critical And Cultural Theory Reader, 2nd edn. ed. Easthope, Anthony; McGowan, Kate (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004), p. 128
Ferber, Alona, "Judith Butler On The Culture Wars, JK Rowling And Living In “Anti-Intellectual Times”", Newstatesman.Com, 2020 <https://www.newstatesman.com/international/2020/09/judith-butler-culture-wars-jk-rowling-and-living-anti-intellectual-times> [Accessed 21 November 2020]
Halberstam, Jack, Trans* (Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2018)
Shakespeare, William, and Roma Gill, Macbeth (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 15
Shakespeare, William, "As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7 | The Folger SHAKESPEARE", The Folger SHAKESPEARE <https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/as-you-like-it/act-2-scene-7/> [Accessed 21 November 2020]
Shakespeare, William, "Shakespeare's Othello - Act 1 Scene 3 Othello Leaves For Cyprus", Shakespeare-Online.Com, 2020 <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/othello_1_3.html> [Accessed 21 November 2020]
Tedx Talks, I've Lived As A Man & A Woman -- Here's What I Learned | Paula Stone Williams | Tedxmilehigh, 2017 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrYx7HaUlMY&t=77s> [Accessed 21 November 2020]
TEDx Talks, Understanding The Complexities Of Gender: Sam Killermann At Tedxuofichicago, 2020 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRcPXtqdKjE&t=126s> [Accessed 21 November 2020]
