Something that needs to be spoken about a lot more
By: Kushagra Jajoo
Tags: Gender Performativity, Gender Identity, Gender Roles, Gender, Gender Equality

Photo by Brittani Burns on Unsplash

Last month, on the 21st of October, I received an assignment I had to work on at my internship with a group of people. And this assignment was a great learning experience for me. As someone who tries to be ‘woke’, it made me realize even more that I only seemed to be getting further and further away from it.

( With everything going on around us, not being ‘woke’ can feel overwhelming. It is pressuring. )

This is just me telling myself to take a breather and take it step by step. And now that you are here, you take it too. Also, take an I love you so much *heart emoji* *heart emoji* while you are at it. Don’t forget to take care of yourself either.

You might know the topic I am going to write a little about and you might not know about it. But what I will request of you after reading this is that you please think upon it. And if possible, take some action to help in any way you can. It can also be just writing about it to people like I am. And if you do write about it, share it with me, please. I would love to read it.

We were given 2 topics as part of our assignment and one of them is Gender Performativity.

These are big words with even bigger meanings. The things that go behind in the shadows of these words are heavy in number and not so light in repercussions.

I am going to quote a brief explanation of Gender Performativity so you can get an idea as to what it is. And if you already know it, that’s great. Please spread the word. Talk about it with people you know, bring it up in your organizations, workplaces, schools, colleges, everywhere.

( I find it easier bringing it up outside my home than inside. It’s not that my parents are against it or anything. We haven’t really talked about it. I know, I am sorry. I just don’t know how to bring any topic up at my house. Anyone resonating? I would really love some company here. )

Gender Performativity was first coined by Judith Butler in her book Gender Trouble in 1990.

Judith Butler argues that being born male or female does not determine behaviour. Instead, people learn to behave in particular ways to fit into society. Judith says it is crucial that we understand the difference between performance and performativity.

Has anyone seen Masterchef? If you haven’t, let me tell you what it is. It is a very dramatically televised cooking competition. It is so attention-grabbing. (How do they do it?)

Anyway, from what I have seen of Masterchef, most contestants are women while most celebrity chefs are men. These men judge the contestants and the dishes they cook.

What is absurd is that even though there are so many celebrity male chefs, the kitchen, cooking and a lot of related stuff are considered a female job. What even the F is this?

Same way, there are so few female drivers and driving is considered a male job. Again, what even the F is this?

I could go on and on and on about this as there are countless examples. It is extremely disappointing and baffling that we do this and let it happen. It propagates due to our inaction.

Gender roles are so f*cked up man.

Then there is the gender pay gap. It is still so prevalent today. Actually, the pay comes later, first come the opportunities available to genders other than male.

Honestly, any gender other than the male one is shit highly upon whether you believe it or not. The privileges I have make me feel so bad and so very thankful all at the same time. We really should do something about it. Talking is a start.

Asking the preferred personal pronouns is another way to begin. Let’s make asking it normal.

I hope that cleared some doubts and raised even more so regarding Gender Performativity. I would recommend it so hard for you to go and learn more about it.

Frankly, I am still learning about it and that is why I am not trying to forcefully put it into my words. I do not want to circulate something possibly wrong and flawed. If I did, please let me know. I will correct it immediately.

The little to no explanation I have inserted here is very simple and basic. I did not want to extrapolate on my thoughts just yet. I worry and fear I will say something entirely incorrect as I am only human and I have my prejudices and biases that have been collected over the years.

I am writing about this here only to spread the word and get more people to acknowledge and educate themselves about it. I don’t think myself capable enough to put into words good enough to bring about an impact or such. I just want more people to know about it. And if even one person who doesn’t know, learns and garners curiosity about it from this, it’s a big win for me.

Gender roles are so f*cked up man.

Here are a few more pictures from my friends on the internet. Your welcome.

Also pink is not a gender’s colour. It is only a colour and can be worn by anyone. So don’t judge and make your own assumptions. Don’t judge at all. Neither others nor yourself. Please.

Thank you.