Performative Acts

by Judith Butler

Genres: Feminism, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Essays, LGBT, Queer, Read For School

ebook

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Judith Butler is an American philosopher, feminist, and queer theorist whose work has profoundly shaped gender studies, political philosophy, ethics, psychoanalysis, and literary theory. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish family, Butler was raised in a Jewish cultural and ethical environment that fostered an early engagement with philosophy, ethics, and questions of identity, attending Hebrew school and specialized ethics classes as a teenager. They studied philosophy at Bennington College before transferring to Yale University, where they earned a BA in 1978 and a PhD in 1984, focusing on German idealism, phenomenology, and French theory, including Hegel, Sartre, and Kojève. Butler taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining the University of California, Berkeley in 1993, where they co-founded the Program in Critical Theory, served as Maxine Elliot Professor, directed the International Consortium of Critical Theory, and also hold the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School. Butler is best known for Gender Trouble and Bodies That Matter, works in which they introduced the theory of gender performativity, arguing that gender is constituted through repeated social acts rather than a fixed identity, a concept that became foundational in feminist and queer theory. They have also published Excitable Speech, examining hate speech and censorship, Precarious Life, analyzing vulnerability and political violence, Undoing Gender, on the social construction of sexual norms, Giving an Account of Oneself, exploring ethical responsibility and the limits of self-knowledge, and Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, addressing public protest and collective action, while their 2020 book, The Force of Nonviolence, emphasizes ethical engagement in social and political struggles. Butler has engaged in global activism, supporting LGBTQIA rights, opposing anti-gender ideology, advocating for Palestinian rights, critiquing aspects of contemporary Israeli policy, and participating in movements such as Occupy Wall Street, while navigating controversies including critiques of their comments on Hamas and Hezbollah, debates over TERF ideology, and disputes over the Adorno Prize, illustrating the intersections of their scholarship and public interventions. Their work extends into ethical theory, exploring vulnerability, interdependence, mourning, and the recognition of marginalized lives, as well as the performative dimensions of identity and the social construction of sex and gender. They have influenced contemporary feminist, queer, and critical theory, cultural studies, and continental philosophy, shaping debates on gender, sexuality, power, and social justice, while also participating in public discourse and advocacy around education, political violence, and anti-discrimination. Butler is legally non-binary in California, uses they/them pronouns, identifies as a lesbian, and lives in Berkeley with their partner Wendy Brown and their son.

Reviews

[Simran Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

quick question to Butler, if everything is an act and identity (and extensively gender and sex norms) is tenuously constituted in time through stylized acts of repetition, why are these norms incredibly standard across different and varying cultures and in different points of history?

there's a lot to digest here: sex from a phenomenological view, heterosexual contract, etc. what i do instantly admire about this essay is that she goes beyond beauvoir. very dense. very radical. very cool. nothing particularly eye-catching since all of this has already pretty much percolated into current feminist discourse. but still an essential reading.

[maité · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐— fascinating text but so difficult to get through. I i think'll have to read it a few times more to really get the essence of it all.

[Lenne Veireman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aanrader voor iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in het lezen van een genuanceerde, inclusieve en sterk onderbouwde performative-historische visie op gender.

[Kim Visser · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The authors of gender become entranced by their own fictions whereby the construction compels one’s belief in its necessity and naturalness”

[Wies Ballekens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking good! 🧡

[tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it slayed it 10/10

[María · Rating 4 out of 5]

gracias judith butler por decidir regalarme frases comprensibles en esta ocasión 🙏

[Max Dewaele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, and very well written. This is a must read for anybody interested in feminism and queer theory, especially if you enjoy philosophy. It just brings up so many questions too: what ways can a better gender system be built? would it be beneficial to render gender itself as illegible, to abolish gender? If we can challenge our own gender performances, how do we challenge the gaze of the Other that looks upon these violations of gendered actions as simple failures? In what ways does this theory apply to race? How do gendered acts coincide and conflict with capitalism?

[Liz Gp · Rating 5 out of 5]

ill definitely need to reread this once to really get it, but this is genius work! they really go into the performative nature of gender and while yes, this is on the denser side, it is from an academic journal--keep that in mind as you read this. if youre not interested in reading something in academese, this is probably not for you and id point u to butlers 13 minute youtube video where they explain gender theory in concise and easy terms

otherwise, very insightful and quite short as far as feminist theoretical texts go!

[rebeca ravara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"that culture so readily punishes or marginalizes those who fail to perform the illusion of gender essentialism should be sign enough that on some level there is social knowledge that the truth or falsity of gender is only socially compelled and in no sense ontologically necessitated"

[Julia Deptuła]

*lit theories*

[Drew Witte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fichte’s strongest soldier

[minj · Rating 3 out of 5]

great ideas about the performative nature of gender but so dense.. hohoho not an accessible text at all

[naisokram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Բաթլերին միշտ մի տեսակ վախով եմ մոտենում, որովհետև շատ բարդ ա գրում: Բայց քանի որ շատ կարևոր դիտանկյուն ունի, այնուամենայնիվ, մոտենալ պետք ա: Էս հոդվածը գրել ա իր հայտնի “Gender Trouble” գրքից առաջ ու հենց ստեղ ա դնում իր տեսության հիմքերը:

Բաթլերը պնդում ա, որ գենդերը բնական, հստակ ինքնություն չի, որ մեր ներսում ա, այլ մի բան, որը մենք «խաղում ենք»` մեր քայլերի, գործողությունների, ժեստերի, բառերի ու պահվածքի միջոցով: Այսինքն, պատկերացրեք, որ կա սցենար` գրված հասարակության կողմից, ու մենք ամեն օր խաղում ենք մեր գենդերային դերը էդ սցենարով` առանց նկատելու, որ խաղում ենք: Ու էդ ամենօրյա կրկնություններն էլ ստեղծում են գենդերը, ոչ թե գենդերն ա ստեղծում ամենօրյա կրկնություններ: Առանց էդ գործողությունների/կրկնությունների գենդեր չէր լինի:

Գենդերը պերֆորմանս ա, բայց հստակ պատժիչ հետևանքներով: Պատժվում են բոլոր նրանք, ովքեր հրաժարվում են կատարել էդ պերֆորմանսը, իրենց դերը: Բայց Բաթլերը պնդում ա, որ անհատական պայքարի միջոցով հնարավոր չի ազատվել գենդերից. պետք ա փոխել էն հասարակական պայմանները, որոնցում իրականացվում ա գենդերային պերֆորմանսը:

Մի կարևոր հարցի էլ ա անդրադառնում էս էսսեն, որը կարելի ա անվանել ֆեմինիզմի պարադոքս: Իրավունքներ պահանջելու համար ֆեմինիստները կանանց դիտարկում են որպես քաղաքական ու գենդերային կատեգորիայի: Օրինակ, երբ ասում ենք, որ կանայք պիտի հավասար վարձատրություն ստանան, ենթադրում ենք, որ գոյություն ունի կանանց կատեգորիա, որը պիտի հավասար վարձատրվի: Բայց մյուս կողմից` կին կատեգորիան ստեղծվել ա հայրիշխանության կողմից, ու էդ կատեգորիայի հստակ հատկանիշներով անձինք են համապատասխանում (տրանս կանայք չեն համապատասխանում, ոչ բինար անձինք չեն համապատասխանում ու էսպես շարունակ): Բաթլերը հետևյալ լուծումն ա առաջարկում. կնոջ կատեգորիան ընդունել որպես ժամանակավոր ռազմավարական գործիք, այլ ոչ թե այն համարել բնական ինքնություն: Նաև` թույլ չտալ, որ այդ կատեգորիայի որևէ հստակ սահմանում դոմինանտ դառնա մյուսների հանդեպ: Ու, վերջիվերջո, ընդունել, որ ֆեմինիզմը միշտ էլ ունենալու ա էս խնդիրը, քանի դեռ չի լուծել իր հիմնական խնդիրը:

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lines I Loved:

“‘Woman,’ and by any extension, any gender, is an historical situation rather than a natural fact.”

“the body is a historical situation…and is a manner of doing, dramatizing, and reproducing a historical situation.”

“To be female is, according to that distinction, a facticity which has no meaning, but to be a woman is to have become a woman, to compel the body to conform to an historical idea of 'woman,' to induce the body to become a cultural sign, to materialize oneself in obedience to an historically delimited possibility, and to do this as a sustained and repeated corporeal project.”

“In other words, the acts by which gender is constituted bear similarities to performative acts within theatrical contexts.”

“In the theatre, one can say, 'this is just an act,' and de-realize the act, make acting into something quite distinct from what is real. Because of this distinction,
one can maintain one's sense of reality in the face of this temporary challenge to our existing ontological assumptions about gender arrangements; the various conventions which announce that 'this is only a play' allows strict lines to be drawn between the performance and life. On the street or in the bus, the act becomes dangerous, if it does, precisely because there are no theatrical conventions to delimit the purely imaginary character of the act, indeed, on the street or in the bus, there is no presumption that the act is distinct from a reality; the disquieting effect of the act is that there are no conventions that facilitate making this separation.”

[Broa de Centeio · Rating 4 out of 5]

É interessantíssimo abordar teoria feminista através da perspetiva fenomenológica e performativa de Judith Butler. Realmente, tal como Butler reforça, as narrativas feministas muitas vezes, politicamente, contrariam-se e perdem a compostura quando identificam a diferenciação sexual como o principal alicerce distintivo para as suas teorizações - "O discurso feminista muitas vezes baseou-se na categoria “mulher” como um pressuposto universal de experiência cultural cuja universalidade proporciona a falsa promessa ontológica de uma eventual solidariedade política."

Mas a verdade é que isto está realmente a criar algumas inconstâncias - também elas sintomáticas do sistema patriarcal e sexista vigente -; citando agora do texto - "quanto à diferença sexual se transformar numa reificação que preserve involuntariamente uma restrição binária da identidade de género ou num quadro de referência implicitamente heterossexual da descrição do género, da identidade de género e da sexualidade (...) Apesar do caráter tão arraigado do patriarcado e da frequência com que a diferença sexual é utilizada como uma distinção cultural operatória, não existe nada dado num sistema de género binário.".

Butler vai, assim, desestabilizar e enterrar as categorias naturalizadas da sexualidade, da identidade e obrigar-nos a repensar na própria noção de diferença sexual, e na (frágil) estabilidade da dicotomia entre feminino e masculino.

[Mati · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The prescription is invariably more difficult, if only because we need to think
a world in which acts, gestures, the visual body, the clothed body, the various physical
attributes usually associated with gender, express nothing."

One can only hope we can reach such a world in our lifetime.

"Gender is not passively scripted on the body, and neither is it determined by
nature, language, the symbolic, or the overwhelming history of patriarchy. Gender
is what is put on, invariably, under constraint, daily and incessantly, with anxiety
and pleasure, but if this continuous act is mistaken for a natural or linguistic given,
power is relinquished to expand the cultural field bodily through subversive performances of various kinds."

Genuinely so beautiful it brought me to tears. I'm so glad I read this. Some bits of this paper definitely flew over my head, as I'm not familiar with feminist, let alone phenomenological theory and philosophy, but nonetheless many ideas here resonated deeply and intensely with me.
Time to subvert until we're all free from the shackles of the gendered and sexed body I guess ^_^

[greta long · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know. I remain unconvinced. I feel like this left me with way more questions than answers, and not in a good liberal-education kind of way. In a "what are we even talking about right now" kind of way. If gender is really a "performance," what gave us the information to say that "such-and-such constitutes the performance of womanhood/manhood?" And what of women/men who do not conform to the standard "performances" of gender yet still identify with their biological sex. I also watched a video where Butler says that if we don't adopt something in the realm of her theory, then democracy will fall apart. This seems so... dramatic to me. Also uninformed. Isn't a key part of liberalism (which, to be fair, I'm assuming is also something Butler wants to uphold) enacting boundaries before letting the reigns loose? I feel like definitions of gender and humanity are the basic building blocks of a strong society. If we can't define our terms properly, how will we ever survive?

[matías saavedra · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Significativamente, el género es instituido por actos internamente discontinuos, la apariencia de sustancia es entonces precisamente eso, una identidad construida, un resultado performativo llevado a cabo que la audiencia social mundana, incluyendo los propios actores, han venido a creer y a actuar como creencia. Y si el cimiento de la identidad de género es la repetición estilizada de actos en el tiempo, y no una identidad aparentemente de una sola pieza, entonces, en la relación arbitraria entre esos actos, en las diferentes maneras posibles de repetición, en la ruptura o la repetición subversiva de este estilo, se hallarán posibilidades de transformar el género (...) Que la realidad de género sea performativa significa, muy sencillamente, que es real sólo en la medida que es actuada».

[Millie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2
liked the points made in the introduction and in the second section where they discussed the relationship that heterosexuality has in reinforcing gendered binaries, not too convinced on the point about a bodies history being predetermined and coming before its natural state and some other points were a bit muggy. Butler focuses more on constructivism rather than feminism/gender studies at times, but doesn't let it take over from their points and uses it instead as a lens to consider gender as yet another construction. I would still like to read more Butler, I think their work in a book form rather than essay would be more enjoyable.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing text. The emphasis on gender being neither a radical choice nor a passive inscription of social codes on a passive body is peak.

Honestly, the most egregious mistake Butler made was not consulting more with trans theorists in the 90's. I feel like a lot of the misunderstandings and misreadings of their works could've been avoided had they formulated their terminology more coherently.

For example, these early works include a lot of conflation between "gender", "gendered identity" and "gender identity"—all of which possess their own connotations and nuances in usage. Butler later went on to address trans identity more explicitly, but the damage had perhaps been done by then.

[Thea · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Performing one’s gender wrong initiates a set of punishments both obvious and indirect, and performing it well provides the reassurance that there is an essentialism of gender identity after all. That this reassurance is so easily displaced by anxiety, that culture so readily punishes or marginalizes those who fail to perform the illusion of gender essentialism should be sign enough that on some level there is social knowledge that the truth or falsity of gender is only socially compelled and in no sense ontologically necessitated.” !!!!!!

[Kris]

No rating for now. Butler’s writing is very dense, even in a work as short as this, so there’s a lot to digest. Overall, I really liked this essay. I think she explains her thoughts very well and makes clear that she is aware of the limitations of her theory. I just wish her writing was more accessible. I had to read several paragraphs several times because they were so complex.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting article about the performative nature of gender and the ways in which early feminist theory interacts with notions of identity. The concepts themselves are an interesting discussion point, however Butler’s writing is largely inaccessible for a wider audience, using jargon and examples that majority of non-scholarly readers would have trouble understanding.

[Eli Gordon]

Rating this would be a silly thing to do, but nevertheless this phenomenal and I can’t wait to read more of Butler’s work. Tbh the reason for reading this was for research for a Substack I wanna write.

But yes I loved this. The fluidity of gender and sex, or maybe not fluidity, but the lack of fact amongst the two is something that is endlessly fascinating

[Evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

in judith butler we trust

[Maddox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love you Judith Butler

[Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. As a lot of people say in their reviews, it is a dense paper, but it's a philosophy thesis. What did you expect?

[Sofía · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for spa387

[Abraham Lewik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relating the concepts it triggers in me to reality will surely activate mental fitness. Personally, I receive support for a creed, "You've got to do it to be it, & never the other way around". Hence fishing begets fishes, driving (verb) begets drives (noun), roam on a roan &c.
A question, how consistent should our personal & political selves be?
No doubt about it, Feminism is the battle of the Sexes and I regret stumbling upon Secret Woman Business!

3-stars, it is what was expected.