Saturday, February 28, 2015

Group Presentation #2: Yarelyn, Jennifer & Adel

Our presentation focuses on the theme of performance of gender. Gender is always considered as a binary concept with the result of categorizing people as either male or female. Consequently, each gender has a binary within those concepts as well on ways to act known as the feminine and masculine binary. All of these factors feed the performance of gender that becomes a cycle and manual for all to follow. Those that fall in between the binary are marginalized and chastised in society.

We use examples of transgender people to further these points. Laverne Cox and Chaz Bono  (Click names to see YouTube videos) are transgender and have publicly expressed their struggles with being born into a world that expected them to embrace the life of their respective gender, as directed by their genitalia. When Cox and Bono got to outwardly express the gender they knew was a part of their identity, they finally felt empowered. They embodied the traits of the default heterosexual male and female to get their ideas of femininity and masculinity. Where do heterosexuals get the manual for this normative behavior? We explore the idea that maybe heterosexual expression of gender is a parody of an idea of what is natural.
Drag queen Courtney Act of LogoTV's
Ru Paul's Drag Race.

With this idea of parody, gender performance among drag queens and kings are explored in our presentation using Courtney Act and Murray Hill as examples. How much of drag behavior is a parody or critique on the way a woman acts? We discuss transgender and drag in the media and what it says about society's exclusivity with respect to gender.

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