Dancing Koalas, Burning Books, and “Fair Game”: Using Butler’s Concept of Performativity to Examine Rural Gender Performances

2021 ◽  
pp. 207-218
Author(s):  
Sherilyn Lennon
2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-111
Author(s):  
Alexandra Gueydan-Turek

This article explores the way in which masculinity and femininity are constructed in Algerian manga, an emerging, understudied sub-genre within the field of Algerian graphic art. Through the exploration of youth-oriented publications of shōjo and shōnen manga, I will demonstrate how these new local works offer a privileged form of expression for and platform to address disaffected Algerian youths. The primary focus of this investigation will be the differences (or lack thereof) between ideals of gender performances as expressed in Algerian manga and ideals of gender identity in society at large. This article will demonstrate that, while some differences manifest a desire for change on the part of both artists and readers, they certainly do not constitute radical revisions of the popular Algerian notions of masculinity and femininity. Ultimately, this study will demonstrate the limits of manga as an imported genre within an Arab-Islamic context, oscillating between the promulgation of alternative social ideals and the reinforcement of social norms.


Open Theology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 407-422
Author(s):  
Cat Quine

AbstractRecent research demonstrates that maternal grief functions paradigmatically to epitomize despair and sorrow in the Hebrew Bible. These literary uses of maternal grief reinforce the stereotype of womanhood, defined by devotion to children and anguish at their loss. In 1–2 Kings, narratives about unnamed bereaved mothers are used politically to create a contrast with named biblical queens who lose their sons but never grieve for them. Although 1–2 Kings names the queen mothers alongside the male rulers, these mothers have no agency or when they do, they act more like men than women. Neo-Assyrian inscriptions attest the masculinity of royal female power, and this article argues that conceptions of royal female power in Judah were similar. By contrasting the masculine queens with stereotyped “real men” and “real women,” traditional gender performances literarily overcome the institution of queenship. While the queens are polemicized, unnamed mothers emerge as the female heroes of Kings. Royal female power is demoted beneath reproductive ability and emotional responses to children, while the gender fluidity of royal power is circumscribed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Cassidy
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Sofía Pereira-García ◽  
Elena López-Cañada ◽  
Agnes Elling-Machartzki

Purpose: The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, and queer/questioning students normally occupy a marginalized and at-risk position in classes and especially in physical education. In this paper, the authors explore the ways in which queer tango can contribute to counteracting heteronormativity and opening up students to new interactions and identifications through the performance of different gender performances in Physical Education and Sport Tertiary Education. Method: A queer tango session was carried out with 111 university students (91 men and 19 women aged 19–22 years). Data were obtained from interviews, video records, and open questionnaires about the practice. Results: The findings reveal that the performance of dance roles that are contrary to the heteronormative order reinforced both heteronormativity and queer embodiments in Physical Education and Sport Tertiary Education. Conclusion: An isolated activity is not enough, and more queer pedagogical practices should be introduced in order to make meaningful changes to mainstream students’ ideology and behaviors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 139 (4) ◽  
pp. 739-757
Author(s):  
Christina Slopek

Abstract This article analyzes queerness in Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019), teasing out how the queer relationship at the core of the novel is framed. Ocean Vuong’s novel mobilizes queerness to straddle boundaries between cultures, gender roles and bodies. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous places the queer sexual orientations and gender performances of its protagonists, one Vietnamese American, one white American, in firm relation to the formative force of cultural contexts. Zooming in on two young boys’ queerness, the novel diversifies gender roles and makes room especially for non-normative masculinities. What is more, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous mobilizes the abject to showcase how queer sexual intimacy straddles boundaries between bodies and subjects. The article attends to language politics in connection with the novel’s coming-out performance, striated constructions of gender roles and their interplay with the abject and “bottomhood” (Nguyen 2014: 2) to come to grips with the novel’s diversification of queer masculinities.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Léonard KOUSSOUHON ◽  
Fortuné AGBACHI

<p>This paper is an attempt to examine the way male and female participants perform gender in 03 novels, <em>Everything Good Will Come</em> (2006), <em>Swallow</em> (2010) and <em>A Bit of Difference</em> (2013), by a contemporary Nigerian writer called Sefi Atta. The study draws on Gender Performative Theory as developed by the feminist Butler (1990/1999). This theory considers gender identities as being socially constructed. The study highlights the multiple ways in which male and female participants perform gender according to established social norms in the selected novels. Regarding the existing social norms in Nigeria, the findings by scholars like Fakeye, George and Owoyemi (2012), Mejiuni and Awolowo (2006), Bourey et al (2012), Gbadebo, Kehinde and Adedeji (2012), Okunola and Ojo (2012) exude that men are traditionally portrayed as career people, assertive, powerful and active, independent and violent while women are stereotypically depicted as housewives, submissive, powerless and passive, dependent and non-violent (or victims). Based on the above dichotomies between men and women, the study unveils the ideology that underpins gender performances in the novels.</p>


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