Background:
Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble approaches gender from a postmodern perspective. Using bricolage, Butler dissects Freudian theory to assert that gender is more than just a social construct rather, gender is a performance. Likening the theory of gender performance to drag, Butler states that gender is instituted through a stylized repetition of acts. As such, gender, is a double inversion that reifies the illusion of appearance (Butler 2497). In turn, Butler’s theory lends itself to the exploration of the transient nature of gender identification and the consideration of the role of drag as it relates to the production of representations of both masculinity and femininity (Shail 1).
Butler argues that our perception of our interiority, of our soul, is not trapped within the boundaries of the body, rather, interiority is constructed by and through cultural inscriptions upon the corporeal body. In regards to the limitations of the corporeal body, Butler states, “the very contours of ‘the body’ are established through markings that seek to establish specific codes of cultural coherence” (2492). As “the body” is an outward entity, observable by society, it is subject to cultural inscription.
In turn, Porter's Magic can be viewed as a metaphor for gender confines. Metaphorically speaking, the "Fancy House" comes to represent the confines of patriarchy. Within these confines women serve the highly feminized position of subordination through sex. Moreover, when Nicolette runs away (an act of independence as well as one that directly rebels against patriarchy) she is forced to return by supernatural means (which can come to represent social constructs).
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1 comment:
The idea of gender as a performance rather than a social construct interests me, but I'm not sure I completely agree. I feel like women--like Ninette--in Magic do perform actions that confirm their gender, but those actions are a consequence of the demands of society; therefore, gender is, again, a social construct. The way Madame treats Ninette only reinforces the restraints men put on the gender of women. Madame adheres to men and their bribe of money, and in turn subordinates the women she commodifies, all for the pleasure of men who value women based on their utility.
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