Level One: Deconstructing Gender Feminist theorist, Judith Butler states that, Gender is culturally constructed; hence, gender

is neither the casual result of sex nor as seemingly forced as sex. The unity of the subject is thus already potentially contested by the distinction that permits of gender as a multiple interpretation of sex. According to Butler, Gender and sex are two very different things. She appears to state that an individuals gender is dependent upon their cultural exposure. Butler also appears to state that a persons gender is not as fixed as their sex. It can be said that sex is a physical aspect of a person while the gender is more of a psychological one. A male might have the gender of a female or a female might have the gender of a male. This would, in turn affect the way they represent themselves physcially. Someone of a feminine gender might choose to dress more like a female or behave more like what is culturally accepted to be a feminine behaviour. To prove this statement to be true, attention must be paid to the nature of the male-female binary opposition. In her abstract, linguist Ljiljana Markovic states, Differences between the genders are clear-cut (all women regardless of the time and country they live in are/ have x; all men - regardless of the time and country they live in are/have y) and it is absolutely impossible for elements typical of different genders to meet in a person, let alone be combined in new way.The pioneers of language and gender research (Lakoff, 1975; Tannen, 1990) accept this concept of gender..Lakoff and Tannen accept male as a norm and woman as either deficient in relation to or different from the male norm. Markovic consideres sex and gender to be the synonymous. She states that irrespective of time and place, all men genetically possess the y chromosome that defines them to be of the male sex and all females possess the x chromosome which defines them to be of the female sex. Markovic also states that the elements charachteristic of the two sexes (ie. Male and female) cannot be found together in an individual, and thus, cannot be combined either. It is not possible for an individual to possess both, fully functional, male and female genitilia. Markovic quotes that Lakof and Tannenn, who are considered to be pioneers of language and gender research, accept that male is normal and that the female is the absence of a male or abnormal. This is also stated by Cranny-Francis, Waring,, Stavropoulos and Kirkby in the book, Gender Studies and Debates, Not only does the system of gender divide the human race into two categories, it privileges the male over the female. Gender operates as a set of hierarchically arranged roles in modern society which makes the masculine half of the equation positive and the female negative. This belief that the female is the absence of the male, leads to an unequal balance in the binary opposition of the sexes. The genders typically associated with the sexes (man for male and woman for female) receive different responses. A woman is, therefore, considered to be weaker than a man. Her actions are determined by societys expectation that she cannot be better than her male counterpart. However, if what Butler states is true, then gender roles cannot determine the capability of an individual.

Butler states, Gender is the repeated stylization of the body, a set of repeated acts within a rigid regulatory frame which congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance of a "natural" kind of being According to Butler, an individuals gender is the way in which that individual styles their body. The constant repetition of a particular behaviour that, over time, appears to be the natural behaviour of that person. However, this natural behaviour can be seen to be more habitual than natural. It is something that the indivudual is used to and has conditioned oneself to believe to be their normal disposition over time. The very example of purchasing clothes for a newly born child can be used to prove such a statement. When in a shop, one asks the shopkeeper for items of clothing suitable for a newborn baby. The first thing that the shopkeeper will ask is if the baby is a boy or a girl. If the answer is its a boy, then the person will be directed to the section of the shop that contains clothing for baby boys. These will be typically coloured blue. While those for baby girls will be coloured pink. The social conditioning of the binary opposition of gender begins at a very early age. It is imbibed in all individuals from a young age that the colour pink is associated with femininity and the colour blue is associated with masculinity. Fashion has been one of the most prominent examples that exhibit the distinct superiority of male over female through the ages. In his book, Flappers, author Joshua Zeitz states, Despite this constant evolution of fashion, a single, overriding theme remained the same: control. By painfully disciplining womens bodies, clothing helped impose the political and social subordination of Americas daughters and wives and enforced the rigid separation between the masculine public sphere and the feminine domestic sphereThe tight lacing of corsets, which was considered essential until the early twentieth century, artificially reduced womens waists to as little as seventeen or eighteen inches.whose unreal shape-stick thin in the middle and ample in the bosom, with a protruding rear end- suggested fragility, delicacy and sexual availability all at one..It was about social control. According to Zeitz, despite the constant change that occurred in fashion, the control of the female was consistent in every design. The female clothing distinctly separated the females from the males and put them in a sector of society than indicated domestic work. The corset was a garment that was considered necessary for women to wear during the early twentieth century. Its drastic alteration of the female waistline gave the wearer a body shape that was desirable by men. It amplified the bosom and rear-end. All this made the woman an object of desire as her appearance suggested that she was weak and fragile and required taking care of. All this was done as a way to assert the male dominance over the female. It was done in order to establish the social control of the man over the woman. It can be said, that The Male Gaze or the objectification of a woman by a man and its use in fashion in the early 20th century is a strong indicator of the social construction of gender inequality. As Paul Messaris states, Female models in ads addressed to women treat the lens as a substitute for the eye of an imaginary male onlooker ... it could be argued that when women look at these ads, they are actually seeing themselves as a man might see them. According to Messaris, a female looks at herself like a man would. Messaris

appears to state that a males opinion drives the female action. It can be said, that females are under constant male scrutiny and their actions are for the viewing pleasure of men. Taking that into account, it can also be said that a females gender is culturally constructed to suit that of a mans. Referring back to Butlers statement that gender is a socially constructed phenomenon, it can be said that fashion is one of the first aspects of an individual that leads to the construction of ones gender. The constant subjection of a person to a particular style of clothing, fixes a person into particular gender roles. For example, a person in a dress is considered weak and feminine while a person in trousers and a shirt is considered to be more masculine. It is this constant stylization of the body, as Butler previously states, that leads to the conditioning of the mind and the social conditioning of gender. If what Judith Butler states is true, and if gender really is something that is socially constructed, then it can also be changed over time, with more conditioning. As in her talk at TED, Tillet Wright stated the possibility of a multitude of genders. She explained that during her childhood, she wished to dress like a boy would. All of her peers were under the impression that she was, in fact, a boy. However, she stated that at the age of fourteen, she suddenly had the urge to dress like a girl. During the time that she did dress like a boy would, Wright stated that her sexual preferences did not change according to the way she dressed. For example, if she dressed like a boy, she did not necessarily feel sexually attracted to a woman. The point that Wright wished to make was that it was only her appearance and nothing else. What she looked like did not affect who she was. As derived from the statements of Judith Butler, that gender is more of a psychological issue, a physical representation of the same might prove to be a tad difficult. This does not necessarily imply that the way an individual looks is directly proportional to their gender. A person may chose to dress a certain way and have a completely unrelated gender orientation. The identification of gender within an individual is an ongoing process. An individual may, in the course of their life, go through a wide variety of genders. It seems to be rather stressed upon that gender is an evolving aspect of an individual. A person does, whether knowingly or not, choose their own gender or chooses to behave like a certain gender would. It is important to pay attention to the reasons that some individuals have for doing so. In her book, Dagger on Butch Women, Carol A. Queen states I find that because now I am wearing womens slacks and letting my hair grow long I am getting a wider variety of friends and I have neighbours instead of people next door. I no longer have the feeling that everyone is watching me. For Queen, it seems to be that conforming to societys expectation of what her gender is supposed to be (which is based on her sex) is her way of not feeling like she is constantly under scrutiny. It seems to be the case that hiding from the judgemental eyes of the people around her makes her more comfortable with herself and as a result, she chooses to dress like a female would be expected to. This is very different from Tillet Wrights idea of gender. Wright appears not to care what people think of what she wore and found comfort in her clothing. However, Queens opinion of herself seems to be driven by the opinion of others. It can be said that gender does matter to these

individuals (Tillet Wright and Queen) as it plays an important part in their identification of themselves. It also seems to be the case that their appearance is directly dependent upon their gender choice. While Tillet Wright uses her clothing to relate more to her gender choice of the time, Queen is forced to seek comfort in an expected appearance to gain confidence. As a result, it can be said that an individuals appearance plays a key role in the expression of their gender. As Teresa de Lauretis states, Gender is a representation; it is semiotic. It works through discourse, images and signs which only function in relation to one another. According to De Lauretis, an individuals gender is more about representation. It is the way an individual expresses themselves. De Lauretis also appears to state that the gender of an individual can be determined by referring to other gender appearances. In such a case, a gender appearance gradually becomes categorized to be related to a particular gender. As a result, an individual is expected to look a certain way if they choose to have that respective gender. This appears to move in a vicious cycle as the very nature of gender is, as stated earlier, a choice and something that is flexible. It would be assumed that an individuals gender is free from categorization and conformity but it seems to be the case that classification into gender groups is always the end result of a gender choice. This leads to prejudice and expectations of behaviour by other individuals. Having stated this, it also brings into question the idea that appearance in gender is important. As Simone de Beauvoir states in her book, The Second Sex, We commonly think of the lesbian as a woman wearing a plain felt hat, short hair, and a necktie; her mannish appearance would seem to indicate some abnormality of the hormones. Nothing could be more erroneous than this confounding of the invert with the viriloid woman. There are many homosexual among harem inmates, prostitutes , among most intentionally feminine women; and conversely a great many masculine women are heterosexual. Sexologists and psychiatrists confirm the common observation that the majority of female homos are in constitution quite like other women. Their sexuality is in no way determined by any anatomical fate. Beauvoir says that the common misconception about a lesbian is that she wears a certain ensemble of clothing because she is expressing some imbalance in her hormone levels. Beauvoir dismisses this belief as erroneous. She states that there are homosexual women who are extremely feminine and that their appearance does not change their sexual orientation. On the contrary, Beauvoir states that many masculine women are heterosexual. The majority of homosexual women are quite like heterosexual women. Their sexuality does not depend on their appearance. It can be the case that most lesbians dress the way they do (complete with the felt hat and necktie) in order to be accepted by society in the way that Carol A. Queen did. It can be said that, because society gives an affirmation to a particular appearance, it does, in some way, accept that appearance as the norm and individuals who seek acceptance conform to those norms. They conform to stereotypes. As Teresa de Lauretis says, Stereotypes function by simplifying, by reducing classes of people to a few characteristics by which they are generally said to be identifiable. De Lauretis states, that stereotypes are diluted outlines of the

different classes of people so as to make it easier to identify them. They are based on a few distinct characteristics that are present in those classes. Stereotypes are present in film, literature and interactive entertainment so as to identify characters and place them in a particular section of identification. The following chapter shall discuss the importance of gender in film and literature.