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Gender Trouble: The Role Of Gender Identity In Cinema

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The media has long been recognized as important source of gender related information, television and cinema specifically influences its audience in a considerable way. (Denmark and Paludi 2008). With regards to the concept of gender cinema can offer a space where ambiguities of identities are played out; understanding the play of the categories of femininity and masculinity is very important in evaluating our own understandings of gender and how we react to different representations of it (Tasker 2002).If a film can show different individuals and we can recognize how social forces shape and constrain the individual according to classifications of gender it narrates an experience where we experience the film as gendered viewers. Film reflects and generates out own experience of gender over and above out own recognition and observation of it. (Pomerance 2001). Gender itself is a very complex concept to understand and portray onscreen, the concept of gender performativity was introduced by Judith butler in her book Gender Trouble: Gender Performance and Performativity.
It is important to note that Butler …show more content…

The film intends viewers to assume along with Fergus that the person he is falling in love with is biologically female that Dil’s enacted gender identity is congruent with her biological sex. Dil obviously is the focus when thinking of gender performativity as she has a penis but all of her other characteristics are femaleFergus accepted Dil as a suitable object of male sexual desire but after seeing her penis viewers have been confronted with a male enacting a sexually attractive woman. Male viewers were appalled that they were sexually attracted to a male they are confronted with having desire for a male transvestite (Wartenberg

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