Judith Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist. She suggests that gender is not the result of nature but is socially constructed, meaning that male and female behaviour and roles are not the result of biology but are constructed and reinforced through media and culture.
A summary of Butler's points:
- Your identity is not fixed
- Your identity is more than just the social and cultural things you have expressed or have been said about you
- There is not really an 'inner self'
- Gender is a performance (though not consciously chosen) which is reinforced via repetition
- The binary divide between masculine and feminine is a social construct between male and female gender
An example of the fluidity of gender/sexuality can be seen in the character of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. In this film the character is portrayed as iconic and over-the-top as a pirate, wearing an over-elaborate costume and eye make-up as well as using feminine and camp gestures.
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