Judith Butler - Imitation and Gender Subordination: Butler's concept of "performativity" is key to her understanding of gender. How does this differ from the idea of "performance"?
1
Performance refers to conscious and deliberate acts of gender expression, while performativity describes the unconscious and involuntary aspects of gender.
2
Performativity, for Butler, is not a conscious choice but the ongoing, citational process by which gender is constructed through the reiteration of social norms and discourses, while performance suggests a more theatrical and intentional enactment of a pre-existing gender identity.
3
Performance is the primary mechanism through which gender subordination occurs, according to Butler.
4
Butler uses the terms "performativity" and "performance" interchangeably.