Judith Butler, Judith Pamela Butler, born on February 24, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, is an American academic whose theories on the performative nature of gender and sex were influential in late-twentieth century Francocentric philosophy, cultural theory, queer theory, and some schools of philosophical feminism. She studied in Yale University and came out as lesbian when she was sixteen.
In this essay- “Imitation and Gender Insubordination”
written in 1991, she resists the homophobic regulatory oppression through rethinking
gender and sexuality. She claims that oppressive regulatory systems use
identity categories as a tool to propagate homophobic discourses. Butler
rejects the idea of fitting the term ‘sexuality’ into a clear-cut definition. She
questions whether there is a correct way to be gay and claims that asserting
this would be discriminatory toward homosexuals who do not fit into that
framework. Instead, she suggests that sexuality is ambiguous. She finds these
normative definitions uncomfortable and limits them in many ways- there is no
fluidity of self.
Butler also finds the concept of ‘coming out’ as problematic. Although coming out is like a social achievement for many, she finds it problematic and unclear- you come out of the closet only to move into another one.” If I claim to be a lesbian, I "come out" only to produce a new and different "closet." The "you" to whom I come out now has access to a different region of opacity.”, this is what she believes in.
Butler talks about the idea of how gender and sexuality is performative. Heterosexual is just natural and the norm however it is a ‘bad copy’ of homosexuality. Gender performance is done to look more authentic. She believes there is no ‘origin’ or ‘original or proper gender’, heterosexuality is just a copy of homosexuality. Homosexuality is programmed into us as much as heterosexuality is, but the majority of the heterosexuals kill the homosexual identities. She brings out the topic of ‘drag’, who are demonstrations of how gender can be performative. “Drag is not the putting on of a gender that belongs properly to some other group, i.e., an act of expropriation or appropriation that assumes that gender is the rightful property of sex, that "masculine" belongs to ‘male’ and "feminine" belongs to ‘female.’” In simple words Butler wants to convey that being a heterosexual does not cause one to act as a heterosexual. Rather, acting in ways that are associated with heterosexuality is what defines one as such. She maintains that heterosexuality is an imitation of an idealized concept of what heterosexuality is – an imitation of itself. As a result, even if homosexuality is a copy, it is only a copy of a copy because no original exists.
A part of Butler’s work which is a paradox is that she has problems in defining herself as a lesbian but later she wants to appear in political occasions as a lesbian. The oppression that she speaks about that homosexuals’ face is still relevant in today’s world. People often see homosexuality as unnatural as they feel that it goes against the nature of procreation and only think about their self- recreation. The feminist lesbian perspectives that she has expressed in this essay has sparked a lot of controversies however, it is still significant.
References
Imitation and Gender Insubordination by Judith Butler, 1991.
Britannica
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