Judith Butler - Gender representations in San Junipero

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Post-modernism - It is impossible to objectively define what is real. Therefore, there is no such thing as reality

Judith Butler - Theories surrounding gender performance and performativity

  • sex and gender are not the same thing
    • sex is biological, gender is not
  • sex
    • biological marker
    • based on anatomy, chromosomal difference, etc
  • gender
    • a cultural marker
    • gender is constructed through the repetition and ritual of certain actions
  • for example
    • men
      • go to the barbers
      • play football
    • women
      • do their makeup
      • do their nails
      • go to the hairdressers
  • gender is fluid and our gendered performance is always changing
    • performance - something we do to appear in a certain way

How is gender constructed through performance in the 'dressing up' sequence in San Junipero?

  • Judith Butler argues that gender is constructed through a range of repeated rituals that we carry out every day. This concept is fundamentally important to understanding the complex representations of gender found in San Junipero
    • for example, in the dressing up scene, a classic montage is presented to audiences to communicate that Yorkie is both sexually interested in Kelly, and is trying to impress her
    • this is encoded in the MES of the lighting, which combines a warm colour palette with a montage of close up shots that serve present a flattering and alluring set of images for the target audience and for the characters in the narrative
    • additionally, the MES of the bare lightbulbs function as a symbolic code for the theatre, and suggest that far from being herself, Yorkie is engaging in performance
    • an excellent example of this performance can be seen when Yorkie aggressively bites her lip in the close up, while directly addressing herself in the mirror
    • by addressing herself directly, Yorkie is symbolically her identity and drawing attention to not only a highly polysemic mode of address, but also underlies complexity of gender (her femininity)
If gender is really so fluid, why is it that people, by and large, gravitate towards certain gendered roles and identities?

For Butler, gender is policed, suppressed and challenged by a heteronormative and hegemonic actions that affect our lives every day

Gender performativity is how our gender affects the world around us

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