Under Construction Journal Issue 6.1 UNDER CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL 6.1 | Page 64

her to campaign, write articles or raise awareness for her cause. However, let us now imagine that our
character had instead been born as a male and that his parents named him Alan. As Alan, in fact, he
receives adequate and promising career developments and he is financially comfortable. Although he is
aware of the divide between male and female treatment, but not a victim of the system himself, he does
not feel the need to campaign for change as Alice did. This scenario demonstrates how gender can affect
our life-choices and experiences. So, how does the effect of gender change the people we are over time?
Gender Performativity
Judith Butler’s ‘Performativity Theory’ is the idea that gender exists as repeated and reinforced patterns
of behaviours (Butler, Performative acts and Gender Constiution 1988).These behaviours have occurred
for so long, that we have developed “gender norms” and stereotypes that are the consequences of
generations adhering to and reinforcing the expected behaviours of their gender. However, the decision
to adhere to this performance is not necessarily a conscious one, as, gender is with us from the moment
we are born (Butler, Gender Trouble 1990, 33).
According to Essentialist Philosophy, the essence of an individual is the element of an individual
which if ceases to exist, means the individual ceases to exist also. From the day we are born until the
present moment we have changed immeasurably but, if essentialism is accurate, there must be one part
of us that has remained consistent. Aristotle expressed the idea that there must be two kinds of change:
of essence and of accident (Copi 1954, 708).A change in accident would be where something about us
alters but we still remain the same people - so, if we change jobs, dye our hair or lose weight we may look
different or live differently, but we would still be the same person. The second version of change is when
the object or entity ceases to exist by destruction or, by ceasing to exist because of the loss of essence. In
other words, within every object some properties can change without directly impacting the existence of
an entity (Copi 1954, 708); suggesting we can change to an extent, without losing what it is to be ourselves
(our essence). Which category does gender fall in- essence or accident?
Butler stated that gender is with us before we are even capable of speaking or thinking (Butler,
Gender Trouble 1990, 35). Considering gender in this way could lead us to think that gender is essential
to us. Yet, if gender is a behaviour, as Butler suggested, does it make sense that something as fluctuating
as a behaviour, could really be essential? Our behaviour is fluid and can change spontaneously, depending
on medication you take, daily experiences or mental health. If gender is a behaviour, then it would explain
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