Gênero e performatividade segundo Judith Butler

Abstract

This work aims to analyze the concept of performativity presented in the work “Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity”, by Judith Butler, highlighting its relationship with the constitution of gender identities. The research methodology is a qualitative and bibliographical approach, which proposes a critical reflection on the ways in which gender is discursively constructed and regulated by social norms, breaking with the essentialist idea that links gender identity to biological sex. To support the theoretical foundation, philosophers and thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Simone de Beauvoir, J. L. Austin, Jacques Derrida, Sarah Salih and bell hooks were included, whose contributions make it possible to understand the relationship between language, power, body and subversion. The study revisits Butler's critique of the sex/gender system, highlights the role of language in the constitution of the subject and examines the political potential of performativity as a strategy of resistance against normative discourses. By incorporating the concepts of speech acts, illocution, and iteration, Butler moves the performative from the restricted field of language to the domain of the social constitution of bodies and identities, demonstrating that gender is produced by the repetition of historical and cultural norms. This repetition, however, is never absolutely stable, opening space for failures and resignifications capable of subverting the heteronormative regime. Thus, this work argues that gender is not a natural given, but the effect of repeated practices, historically situated and subject to subversion. The analysis contributes to contemporary feminist studies by highlighting how the concept of performativity allows us to question hegemonic norms, deconstruct fixed identity categories, and imagine plural forms of existence and recognition. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of giving visibility to historically excluded gender subjects, reinforcing the urgency of a policy that contemplates diversity and combats the symbolic and material violence imposed by a binary, normative, and exclusionary system