Judith Butler describes gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. In other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance.

Butler is illustrating that our gender identities are constructed by the institutions we have been brought up with and exposed to and are often presented to us as objective – for example boys must play football and girls must wear dresses. However, by saying this she implies that this is the opposite of what gender is and in reality we are just made to believe gender is objective when in actual fact it is completely subjective – for example girls can also play football.

She theorises that it is your behaviour that fabricate your gender, most significantly your repeated behaviour, and in saying that, she highlights that no one is just born with an identity but as people grow up, as people are exposed to new knowledge and experiences and hardships; that is when one’s identity evolves and is created. This links to not only the idea of fluid identity, but also constructed identity, for example one may construct their identity based on their experiences throughout childhood, however as one becomes older and is exposed to more knowledge and experiences their gender/identity evolves and becomes more fluid.

‘rituals and performative actions constantly reinforce our identities’

She highlights that through repeating certain practices which may be unique to one’s chosen gender, whatever gender that may be, we are able to present to other people our identity and gender. This is also subjective as just because a certain practice may be typically performed by a girl, such as painting your nails, does not mean that it cannot be performed by a male or any other gender.

‘Biological anatomies do not determine our gender’

Butler stresses the importance of understanding that just because someone is born with a certain body part, does not mean that that corresponds to their gender identity meaning that more than anything, gender is a mentality rather than a physical state.

‘to maintain an identity that falls outside of heterosexual norm in our society is , she suggests, a subversive act that takes a great deal of effort to maintain.’

Because being anything other than heterosexual is not as common and sometimes not widely accepted, it is difficult for people to fully express themselves.

Identity is ‘the distinguishing character or personality of an individual’.

Gauntlet’s theories on identity look at how identity is personal to an individual being, it is also a way of grouping and identifying similar people together, forming a stereotypical identity, and it is something that is constructed as we grow, learn and develop.

Fluidity of Identity encompasses the idea that identity is everchanging, (and can even change on a daily basis), especially as we are influenced, as we adapt and experience new things.

Constructed identity is the idea that the public is passive and don’t think for themselves, they are influenced by powerful opinion leaders (such as the Media, and social influencers who people trust the opinions of). Constructed identity follows along with archaic stereotypical binary. For example, the constructed belief that heterosexuality is the ‘perfect’ sexuality.

Negotiated identity is the ‘middle ground’, in which we (as people with personal identities and self-expression) can decide how we present ourselves whilst also being influenced by the identities projected by the media, meeting the expectations of societal norms and those around us.

Collective identity is the theory that groups of people who share a similar interest or personality are often stereotyped together and are categorized and defined by this shared identity. As an example, football fans are grouped together as supporters of their team and given a typecast identity.

DAVID GAUNTLET: QUOTES

“Gauntlett suggests that marketing and advertising agencies construct multiple possibilities of who we might be.” – The media often present the most ‘idealistic’ or ‘perfect’ identity which is true to societies expectations and traditional binary representations.

“We now live in a post-traditional society” – Society is slowly moving away from archaic ideologies and celebrating diversity that contrasts to societies ‘norm’

“Contemporary mass media has helped to mainstream non-heteronormativity” – New, contemporary and diverse media has impacted the views of society as a whole. Not only has the mass media normalised diversity through gender identity, self-expression and allowed non-traditional identity to be accepted more freely, it has also helped society to move away from the stereotypical heterosexual lifestyle which is often presented as the ‘perfect’ way to live.

“Audiences are active, they control the representations they want to engage with” – Even though audiences are passive in a sense and are manipulated by opinion leaders who project representations which are made out to be ‘right’. Audiences are also active and can decide which of these representations they are influenced by, often the one that relates to themselves the most suitably.

“The positive thing we have now is the online culture made by everybody” – Everybody who uses social media has their own control over what they post and choose to put out to be seen. This modern type of media is a way of showcasing diversity as reality, in which all types of representations are collated together in one place, reflective of contemporary society.