Book Review: Gender Trouble

Date started reading: Early 2015
Date finished reading: 12 February 2015


This book does not do that much to my life. I am a girl with straight sexual orientation. It does not mean I can't read it, right? I read this book months ago when I was compiling my thesis, which is entitled An Analysis of Gender Stereotypes and Performativity in Brave Movie. This Gender Performativity is a new phrase, spoken by Judith Butler. And this book helps me to see better about patriarchal system, which has already prevented women, or matriarchal system to rule. Then why do we see gay people then? If these cavemen think women should be submissive, weak and fragile, while men are built to be the strong, bold, and brave ones, then what about these people who were born as male (genitally) but they tend to cry and have more sensitive feelings compared to women? Aren't they counted as 'normal' people too? Because we know, this gendered people also come with a set of roles, behaviors, and standards demanded to perform. It would then lead to women and men roles where the ones of Venus should be weak, nurturing, fragile, and so on, while Mars should go with brave, strong, and other developing traits. If gender is defined to follow the sex, then what about them, who I mentioned previously?



Butler then questions this thing through her book. She sees this gender as a fluid thing, instead of solid or stable thing. There is never a question of what gender are you? People tend to gender a person by following this biological construction. If you were born with a penis, then you certainly (have to) perform as male, with its masculine traits. And the same thing happens to those who were born with vaginas. Her remarkable saying, "Masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed, but socially constructed." So if you want to create your own gender, you need to do some of these roles come from society and repeat.

This book also leads to a new term, genderless. Parents nowadays have been planning to have genderless kids where the need to assign a newborn's gender is unnecessary. These parents more like letting their kids to eventually (gradually) find out what their gender are, despite of their genital organs. They don't push them to act like a woman, or vice versa. 

In my opinion, it is okay if there are actually people who question their gender, which most of all are walking towards this changing sexual orientation. That is exactly what Butler tries to compile through the book, that in fact, gender is socially constructed.  But it doesn't mean one cannot go against it and decide their true gender. Because in the end, it is socially constructed. To decide your own, it is only your consistency to go with it without being afraid of getting the alienation by society. Well, I'm straight, and a proud Muslim, so I try my best to swallow the fact that everything happens for a reason, that everything has already its own place.



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