Conclusion The primary purpose of this study is to examine Judith Butler theory of gender performativity. In her work Gender Trouble, she argues that gender identity cannot be biologically determined. She challenges the belief that certain behaviors are natural. Her argument is that gender and sex are not natural but they are constructed through the working of power in societies such as institutions, discourse, and practices. Consequently, gender is prompted by obligatory norms to be one gender or the other and there is no gender without this reproduction of norms that risks undoing or redoing the norm in expected ways. To Butler, gender identity is formed and effectively a kind of performance. Margaret Atwood is one of the most renowned
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As she wants to know if Peter is really trying to consume her and once Peter rejects to eat that cake, she eats it herself. By eating her cake-image, Marian reassures herself that she will not be reduced to an image, which she associates with losing her identity. In this manner, Marian regains her true identity which she has been looking for. On the other hand, Rennie in Bodily Harm regains her identity throughout the use of language. She decides to reject her submissive role as a lifestyle journalist in which she lives on the surface of things and avoids any involvement. Instead, Rennie decided to reject the gender expectations of society and use her job as a journalist to write an article which exposes the miserable status of women who had been abused and oppressed in this patriarchal society. Accordingly, both characters undergo a transformation of their performance from passive to active, from submissive, victimized and traditional woman to self-confident and rebellious characters who are able to attain an independent identity of their own. Elaine Risley, the protagonist of Cat’s Eye also undergoes a transformation and progress to adopt an independent identity since she rebels against the idea of being only a wife and mother. Thus, by becoming a successful artist, and confronting the bad memories of her childhood, Elaine disrupts the stereotypical images of women which are imposed by patriarchal society and by doing so she proves her
As she wants to know if Peter is really trying to consume her and once Peter rejects to eat that cake, she eats it herself. By eating her cake-image, Marian reassures herself that she will not be reduced to an image, which she associates with losing her identity. In this manner, Marian regains her true identity which she has been looking for. On the other hand, Rennie in Bodily Harm regains her identity throughout the use of language. She decides to reject her submissive role as a lifestyle journalist in which she lives on the surface of things and avoids any involvement. Instead, Rennie decided to reject the gender expectations of society and use her job as a journalist to write an article which exposes the miserable status of women who had been abused and oppressed in this patriarchal society. Accordingly, both characters undergo a transformation of their performance from passive to active, from submissive, victimized and traditional woman to self-confident and rebellious characters who are able to attain an independent identity of their own. Elaine Risley, the protagonist of Cat’s Eye also undergoes a transformation and progress to adopt an independent identity since she rebels against the idea of being only a wife and mother. Thus, by becoming a successful artist, and confronting the bad memories of her childhood, Elaine disrupts the stereotypical images of women which are imposed by patriarchal society and by doing so she proves her