Judith Butler talks about drag being an example of how reality is not as fixed as we think it to be, and by performing drag, the line between gender is blurred in a way to break down gender norms. West Chester University held a drag show last year, and I found a video of one of the shows they did 4 years ago on YouTube. By doing drag, those individuals are expressing themselves in a way that destroys the idea that women must act feminine and men must act manly. Butler has a strong negative attitude towards the operation of gender within our society and this video shows how our university is acting in the positive direction to dismantle gender “reality”. If gender is seen as a performance, then drag really takes the stage.
Drag and Gender Reality
Square
I think drag is a great application of Butler’s ideas about gender. I think it’s important to break down gender in the way that drag does so we can consider how to move feminism forward in a way that is no longer exclusive to heterosexual, “feminine”-identifying individuals.
I think this is a perfect example of breaking through the normalized gender behavior. If we make the change to a non-genderized society one that is enjoyable with performances as such, it does more to help the world than anything.