Gender is a complex and multifaceted term because people today explore their gender in different ways beyond binary, either male or female. People who do not conform to gender have greater chances to learn in the current generation and unlock gender constrictions that have existed for centuries. Gender performativity plays a significant role in society because it creates and communicates the identity of an individual. When an individual is born as a male or a female, that does not determine the behavior of the individual, but they learn it to enable fit into the society (Fox, 2007, p. 5). Gender performativity is an act that determines the way individuals behave, walk, talk, and dress. Society, in most cases, regards the gender of an individual as a performance to please the expectation of the people. Still, in reality, that is not the true expression of the gender of that individual.
Chapter four of Gender in Communication also describes different ways in which communication concerning gender enables people's identities and constricts it at the same time. Communication plays a significant role in constituting gender instead of presenting it as an influence of communication (DeFrancisco, Palczewski, & McGeough, 2014). From the view of intersectional gender diversity, people omit the richness of diversity when they only focus on the gender or sex of a person. It is possible to construct gender performativity of an individual through interpersonal and public discourse by social institutions such as religion, media, family, and place of work.
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Teenage is the time where socialization occurs and a period where adolescence masters their gender performance. One can find that either boys or girls try to learn the best ways to interact with the opposite sex using different sources of information such as online or magazines. In this case, I believe that gender is something that is shaped by society and this is also in accordance with the perception of Butler that gender is not about an individual, but it is all about what society teaches a person. It is, therefore, true that gender performativity of an individual revolves around what the society teaches a person.
References
DeFrancisco, V. P., Palczewski, C. H., & McGeough, D. E. (2014). Gender in communication: A critical introduction. SAGE Publications.
Fox, R. (2007). Skinny bones# 126-774-835-29: Thin gay bodies signifying a modern plague. Text and Performance Quarterly, 27(1) , 3-19.
