Performance Art And Its Impact On The Public Arena

Spade’s critique of Billings and Urban also exemplifies the study of transgenders—distinct from transgender studies—Stryker introduces of “people who occupied transgender positions [being] compelled to be referents in the language games of other senders and addressees”. In addition, Stryker’s notion of gender as a “mashup” is brought to life in Mutilating Gender as Spade highlights individuals (himself included) who “seek to occupy ambiguous gender positions in resistance to norms of gender rigidity” and exist counter to a mirror representation. By integrating knowledge such as this into public consideration, those without access to SRS or without the means to pursue cosmetic surgery are not left out of what is socially perceived as masculine or feminine, or are even able to expand gender and deconstruct the

Anne Tagonist’s zine, Unapologetic #3, goes over the trans-misogyny that is prevalent in the feminist and transgender rights movements. The author visited feminist and transgender scenes around the country that have been gaining momentum in recent years. When Anne visited each scene she witnessed rampant trans-misogyny, where trans-women were not accepted because of their inability to pass as female, and unproven theories that trans-women may be violent. These same meetings and organizers were much more accepting of the trans-men who came to the events. Female to male transgendered individuals were accepted because if the did not pass as a man they were still seen as a “dyke”. The example that Anne gives about an organizer banning a trans-woman,

In “ Performing Gender Identity: Young Men’s Talk and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity” by Deborah Cameron portray a very controversial theory in which Judith Butler discusses the idea of gender performativity. Butler clearly states that gender must constantly be reaffirmed and publicly displayed for gender rules to be maintained. This excerpt hints to the main idea illustrating that one’s sex is biological, but gender is constructed, learned, and performed. The main idea behind the term gender performativity is that, gender itself exists only as it is established and repetitively performed in society.

This work, Three Points Masculine by An Owomoyela heavily conceptualizes what it means to be trans. It plays upon our preconceived ideologies and materializations of gender, creating an internal, mindful gender fuck-up within the reader. It questions beliefs of what a “good” trans person looks like and allows us to question if transness is defined by perceived gender nonconformity, identity, and/or expression.

All in all, the documentary The Middle Sexes covers many controversial topics. Some of these topics include the biology of middle sexes, the dangers of being a transgender, and societies outlook on transgenders. With much analysis, I’ve realized that this film has too narrow of a perspective on transgenders and middle sexes. The restricted perspective prevents the audience from being

In her book “Gender Outlaw: On Men, Woman, and the Rest of us,” Kate Bornstein goes over a lot of the major issues regarding gender awareness and identity politics. She talks about the ideas of labeling ones self, understanding gender differences, how people view laws, behaviors, and the medical and scientific privilege that make transitioning challenging for a lot of people. Bornstein touches on many of the issues today that affect trans people. She includes poetry, pictures, quotes, essays, and a play to raise questions and discuss the idea of gender. This is a great book to introduce and discuss the issues that affect the lives of trans people as they navigate and explore the lines that define gender.

Kidd and Witten define the term transgender vaguely, stating it “describe[s] people who transcend the conventional boundaries of gender, irrespective of physical status or sexual orientation” (Kidd & Witten, 2007, p. 36). This term is a reference for the ‘other gender’ that is not particularly male or female. Currently, within the American society, there is a growing awareness of individuals who are transgender. Much of this awareness comes from LGBT movements and

Serano recalls her own experiences of being sexualized to shed light on how trans identities are sexualized. The story points out how a person’s transition from one gender to another, or being trans itself can be viewed as sexual solicitation, rather than a result of their own identity (Serano 257). The sexualization of trans people is based on a societal viewpoint that centers itself around male heterosexuality, as Serano expounds:

Cheryl Chase article “Affronting Reason” and “Beards, Breast, and Bodies Doing Sex in a Gendered World” by Raine Dozier both illustrates the struggles of intersex and transgender face in society. Cheryl article focus on a child who is born intersex and now is dealing with her parents' decision of having a clitorectomy surgery. In Breads, Breast, and Bodies we see how transgender female to male dealt with society at a new point of view. Both stories reflect on the negativities each individual faced and also rise above the norm to embrace their new identity. Betray can cause trusting issue amongst one another, especially when that person is a family member.

In examinations of women’s art and activism, researchers claim that the results of these activist groups' performances are almost always challenging the cultural assumptions about genders. In “Code Pink, Raging Grannies, and the Missile Dick Chicks: Feminist Performance Activism in the Contemporary Anti-War Movement,” Rachel V. Kutz-Flamebaum argues that feminist performance activist groups integrate a combination of gender norm-embracing and norm-challenging elements in their performances. By spreading their viewpoints as they attempt to gain public attention and legitimate results from mass media, these feminist demonstrations in both Emily Anderson’s “Treacherous Pin-ups, Politicized

Since the 19th century and first-wave feminism, to the 21st century and post-modern feminism; women have used art as a method of expression and activism. Art has allowed women everywhere to speak out against political and social inequalities and impact history through an indubitable visual language. Hannah Wilke and Jessica Ledwich are two visual artists – decades apart from each other – that explore and challenge the standards set up against women.

Moving past the interesting, but already much discussed relationship between Carolyn Steedman’s notion of childhood and Peggy Phelan’s conception of performance as always in the act of disappearing or merely ironically present through their imminent absence, I am decidedly interested in examining the lessons trans children and their families retain via movements of artistic creation and, in turn, make use of while processing the everyday feelings and experiences of gender in transition against a backdrop of contemporary childhood.

In Judith Butler’s Performative Acts, and Gloria Anzaldúa’s Light in the Dark, they explore concepts of the performance of gender and sexuality, and clashes between one’s identities they impose upon themselves, and the structure of identities imposed upon them by external actors. In both works, there’s a push by the authors to redefine gender and sexuality performances in ways that radically challenge the social norms. While there is much value in altering standard gender/sexuality performances, a brief discussion in class had me wondering about my own performance of these things, and the substance approach I take when constructing my own gender/sexual identity.

Argued in Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (2003:15), living up to our gender is learning through a life-long process of socialization. Further supported in Kulick and Schieffelin (2006:352), one’s gender emerges over a lifetime through interactive process in which one accepts, rejects, or modifies the cultural and gender norms they are socialized in. These two arguments supported the idea of this essay’s research question in which cultural and social factors do contribute to gendering an individual, and in turn implicating the creation of a boundary that exclude transgenders from the society.

Public art is art of any sort that is created with the intention of being displayed in public and is usually accessible to all people. Public art is significant within the art world because it signifies community involvement and collaboration. When referring to public art, what the art is saying is usually more important than the location of the piece. Public art can come in many different shapes and sizes. Public art can express community values, enhance the environment, transform a landscape, heighten awareness to an issue, and question people's assumptions. Public art is a way for an artist to reflect their inner vision to the outside world. The controversy of public art is that art cannot appeal to everyone.