LFTD Question- Butler
Evaluate the usefulness of Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity in understanding LFTD. (10)
Butler's theory of gender performativity outlines how she believes that gender is constructed through the actions and behaviours in which we carry out and not just the biological sex that we are born as. She believes that certain actions in which we carry out regularly can make us feel more feminine or more masculine and therefore determine who we are.
Butler's theory is useful in the understanding of the long form TV drama 'Stranger Things'. The character Eleven is mistaken for a boy in the show by the character Benny who owns a diner in which he witnesses Eleven eating his food. His judgement is partly due to her appearance but also the behaviour in which he witnesses. Eleven has shaven hair with no typical feminine clothing or accessories. The character then is seen to be eating with her hands and very quickly- again an unfeminine style behaviour. It is because of these characteristics that have allowed Benny to have constructed in his mind that Eleven's gender was male. Benny will have judged Eleven's actions and characteristics against his own masculine characteristics as he also has shaven hair, showing the actions that you take allow you to construct your opinions on gender- showing Butler's theory to be useful in understanding the gender constructs in Stranger Things. Stranger Things again shows gender to be constructed through character's behaviours and actions with the characters Nancy and Steve being good examples. Nancy is repetitively shown to be wearing nice clothes which are particularity associated with the female gender such as a pink cardigan and a skirt. This shows her to be carrying out the regular action of dressing in a typical female way therefore allowing her to construct her female gender. Steve also carries out actions which construct him to be shown as masculine such as him being shown to have been with a lot of girls and be attractive to the female gender. The actions of Nancy and Steve show them to construct their gender and shows that Butler's theory is useful to understand long form TV drama. However, the theory is not entirely useful as some characters seem to behave in way that wouldn't conform to typical gender performativity conventions. For example, when Mike asks his mother if his friends can stay longer she says 'no' so he then asks his dad who passes the power over to his mother by telling Mike to 'listen to his mother'. Stereo typically, it is an unexpected behaviour for a father to pass the power over to a mother so we would not expect this behaviour to conform to ideas about masculine gender in which Butler suggests.
Butler's theory is useful in understanding the long form TV drama 'The Killing'. The character Jan Meyer is seen as a very masculine figure through the actions in which he carries out such as: putting up a basketball hoop in his office and talking about guns and violence. These actions are typically associated with male interests so therefore these repeated actions of Meyer showing male interests, constructs him to be of a male gender. The character Sarah Lund is a contrast to Meyer as she shows more care and compassion as well as behaviours which associate her as being of female gender. When packing her things in the office, Lund takes down a picture which she had up of her son. This shows her to be a mother and her routine of motherhood may allow her to feel very feminine since the female gender are mothers whilst the male gender are fathers, therefore showing Butler's theory to be useful in the understanding of The Killing. Theis and Pernille can also be shown to construct their genders in The Killing. Theis is a working father and is shown to help his wife when she is vulnerable (such as when the dishwasher breaks). By Theis carrying out the regular act of working and providing for his family, this may allow for him to feel masculine as it use to be masculine trait that men would go out to work. Because of this, Pernille is constructed to be feminine as she is a stay-at-home mother and relies heavily upon her husband. Although the theory is useful in understanding aspects of the characters in The Killing, there are some conflicting actions and behaviours that Sarah Lund shows that do not conform to this theory. Even though Lund had a picture of her son on her wall which associated her with being motherly and therefore constructed her to be female, she is shown to be more work focused than maternal. Lund has a high up, risk-taking job which previously would have just been associated for the male gender. Lund also doesn't wear clothes that would associate her with being female- big jumpers and jeans. The regular actions of Lund not looking typically feminine and carrying out a job where she is the only female in her force may cause Lund to not feel very feminine whilst she still has some feminine characteristics, showing the theory of Butler not to be very useful when analysing The Killing, in paticular Sarah Lund.
Overall, Butler's theory is most useful to analyse the long form TV drama 'Stranger Things' as this product has most characters conform to gender performativity conventions which may be due to it being set in the 1980s where there was little allowance for exploring your gender or sexuality so therefore you had to carry out actions which show you to be feminine or masculine. Due to Butler being a representation theorist, it is also hard to analyse long form TV dramas from an audience, Industry or language perspective as this theory is not useful in them categories.
Butler's theory of gender performativity outlines how she believes that gender is constructed through the actions and behaviours in which we carry out and not just the biological sex that we are born as. She believes that certain actions in which we carry out regularly can make us feel more feminine or more masculine and therefore determine who we are.
Butler's theory is useful in the understanding of the long form TV drama 'Stranger Things'. The character Eleven is mistaken for a boy in the show by the character Benny who owns a diner in which he witnesses Eleven eating his food. His judgement is partly due to her appearance but also the behaviour in which he witnesses. Eleven has shaven hair with no typical feminine clothing or accessories. The character then is seen to be eating with her hands and very quickly- again an unfeminine style behaviour. It is because of these characteristics that have allowed Benny to have constructed in his mind that Eleven's gender was male. Benny will have judged Eleven's actions and characteristics against his own masculine characteristics as he also has shaven hair, showing the actions that you take allow you to construct your opinions on gender- showing Butler's theory to be useful in understanding the gender constructs in Stranger Things. Stranger Things again shows gender to be constructed through character's behaviours and actions with the characters Nancy and Steve being good examples. Nancy is repetitively shown to be wearing nice clothes which are particularity associated with the female gender such as a pink cardigan and a skirt. This shows her to be carrying out the regular action of dressing in a typical female way therefore allowing her to construct her female gender. Steve also carries out actions which construct him to be shown as masculine such as him being shown to have been with a lot of girls and be attractive to the female gender. The actions of Nancy and Steve show them to construct their gender and shows that Butler's theory is useful to understand long form TV drama. However, the theory is not entirely useful as some characters seem to behave in way that wouldn't conform to typical gender performativity conventions. For example, when Mike asks his mother if his friends can stay longer she says 'no' so he then asks his dad who passes the power over to his mother by telling Mike to 'listen to his mother'. Stereo typically, it is an unexpected behaviour for a father to pass the power over to a mother so we would not expect this behaviour to conform to ideas about masculine gender in which Butler suggests.
Butler's theory is useful in understanding the long form TV drama 'The Killing'. The character Jan Meyer is seen as a very masculine figure through the actions in which he carries out such as: putting up a basketball hoop in his office and talking about guns and violence. These actions are typically associated with male interests so therefore these repeated actions of Meyer showing male interests, constructs him to be of a male gender. The character Sarah Lund is a contrast to Meyer as she shows more care and compassion as well as behaviours which associate her as being of female gender. When packing her things in the office, Lund takes down a picture which she had up of her son. This shows her to be a mother and her routine of motherhood may allow her to feel very feminine since the female gender are mothers whilst the male gender are fathers, therefore showing Butler's theory to be useful in the understanding of The Killing. Theis and Pernille can also be shown to construct their genders in The Killing. Theis is a working father and is shown to help his wife when she is vulnerable (such as when the dishwasher breaks). By Theis carrying out the regular act of working and providing for his family, this may allow for him to feel masculine as it use to be masculine trait that men would go out to work. Because of this, Pernille is constructed to be feminine as she is a stay-at-home mother and relies heavily upon her husband. Although the theory is useful in understanding aspects of the characters in The Killing, there are some conflicting actions and behaviours that Sarah Lund shows that do not conform to this theory. Even though Lund had a picture of her son on her wall which associated her with being motherly and therefore constructed her to be female, she is shown to be more work focused than maternal. Lund has a high up, risk-taking job which previously would have just been associated for the male gender. Lund also doesn't wear clothes that would associate her with being female- big jumpers and jeans. The regular actions of Lund not looking typically feminine and carrying out a job where she is the only female in her force may cause Lund to not feel very feminine whilst she still has some feminine characteristics, showing the theory of Butler not to be very useful when analysing The Killing, in paticular Sarah Lund.
Overall, Butler's theory is most useful to analyse the long form TV drama 'Stranger Things' as this product has most characters conform to gender performativity conventions which may be due to it being set in the 1980s where there was little allowance for exploring your gender or sexuality so therefore you had to carry out actions which show you to be feminine or masculine. Due to Butler being a representation theorist, it is also hard to analyse long form TV dramas from an audience, Industry or language perspective as this theory is not useful in them categories.
Wow - a great response, pretty flawless - well done! Don't forget to mention, that because Butler is a representation theorist, we cannot use her to analyse Audience, Language or Industry which further limits her, but this is ace. Well done.
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