Butler’s piece on “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” addresses some interesting points about the assumptions that our society makes concerning certain terms. Butler considers identity categories to be “stumbling blocks” and “necessary trouble” because a category, by definition, carries connotations that the majority of society will be familiar with. For example, the author wrote she wants the meaning behind the term lesbian to be unclear. If that were the case, then when she was combined with the term lesbian people would not make assumptions about her and her personality.
Another interesting point that Butler makes is about how drag challenges the assumption that all that is masculine belongs to males and all that is feminine belongs to females. Even though this point may seem quite obvious, I still found it interesting to read because it emphasizes the idea that our society has very strict opinions on gender.
One note I want to make about the second reading, James’ “Uncle,” is how sad it was that the boy was not able to talk about anything he was going through. He could not talk about what he was curious about, what was going through his mind, or what questions he wanted to ask. As a child, he was unable to use his voice effectively. He did not have an environment in which he could speak freely. It is interesting to think about whether using his voice would have even mattered. After his mother finds him in the bathroom with his uncle, she makes an assumption about what had happened. When she asks him what happened, it does not make a difference that he doesn’t respond. The mother had already formed an opinion and they boy’s words probably would not have changed it.
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