Gender Blunder?

                                                                                      

Philosophical reflection on 

Gender trouble by Judith Butler

                                       -By Rohan D’Almeida SJ

•                               I was drawn towards Butler's argument that the concept of gender and the laws that govern it are products of a manmade social construct, which is oppressive towards women. She suggests that the current framework of gender as the 'other' or an 'absence of masculinity' needs to be reworked to create a new representation of women both linguistically and legally. This new framework should be open to evolving identities and fragments that make up the subject of women. 
  
  However she distinguishes between sex and gender, highlighting that gender is culturally assigned and enforced through language, culture, and politics. She proposes a dialogical politics where gender can be assigned and relinquished as needed, providing freedom for different identities within the group of 'women'. She critiques the binary and heterosexual framework of gender, seeking liberation for LGBTQ+ identities beyond these set norms. 
  She also explores the idea that the binary gender framework serves as a barrier against taboo and incest, advocating for the naturalness of LGBTQ+ and non-binary genders. She discusses how social norms and repetition shape gender identity, leading to its reification as a universal reference point. She argues that gender identities outside the current framework expose its limitations. 
  I feel its a novel application of Nietzsche’s ideas to gender theory to prove that gender is performative (there is no ‘being’ behind ‘doing’ - the doer is fiction, and the deed is everything). It cleverly challenges the very foundations or framework of power relations within which gender is assigned and operates along with an excellent psychological analysis of the same. 

• She very well cautions the readers against the dangers of a ‘closed feminist ideology’ becoming the new norm or the new ideal for regulation excluding future fragments and carrying on redundant genders.  Hence, she emphasizes keeping the door open to accommodate and perform gender as per fits as a solution to the concerns she points out. Practical application of this theory will require constant framing and amendment of laws. 

• However universal agreement amidst such diversity and fragmentation will pose the following challenges to the people in society: acceptance, accommodation, understanding and staying updated about further developments of gender identities like the constantly updating digital technology. Also performative choice of gender can be taken advantage of by identifying as a particular gender temporarily for certain benefits reserved for that community.  Offsprings born from incestuous relations may face health complications,  And will also affect procreation, which is necessary for the continuity of the human species.  Oppressed usually turns into an oppressor when given power and supported by a majority and the new gender identities may have to deal with this temptation.  Discernment is required to avoid confusing of one’s real identity with a temporary notion or else it may pave the way for unnecessary gender instability.  New Gender identities could be a genetic evolution as Butler suggests.

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