Heterosexual Matrix in Gender Trouble by Judith Buttler - Book Report/Review Example

Gender Trouble Judith Buttler is a renowned author in the United States who has been in the writing field for women studies for quite some time. She has written many books exploring different human aspects and one of her recognized works is Gender Trouble. Judith wrote this book in the year 1999 and the manner through which the chapters of the book interrelate gives the reader a rather clear perspective of Judith’s viewpoint. The author clearly identifies the various issues in the field of Women and Gender and goes a long way in exploring the related factors. Chapter 2 of the book is one very implemental factor from the fact that Judith explores the Heterosexual Matrix. In the exploration of the matrix, Judith engages deeper in the analysis of the areas at which is prohibited, the psychoanalysis aspect of the matrix and its production. In the breakdown of the Heterosexual matrix, Judith focuses on several societal aspects and notions taken by women. The first one that she looks at is the patriarchal state. The patriarchal state is the state in which the women gain perception by society as having come to this world to submit to men and all that they require. This is one of the female theories that Judith looks at and disseminates it in an effort to try to conceptualize the feminist theory. It is with a lot of concern that she states that feminists have repeatedly made recourse to the patriarchal state of society and thus the ability to move one and live independently without seeming to rely on the male gender appearing hard. She states that female feminists use this culture as a model through which a new society that is free of oppression receives an establishment (Butler, 1999, 47). It is for this reason that the initial change to gender from sex in the original times has appeared in very many feminist theories. The theories are rather overrated because they make the men look superior and thus societal development appears rather difficult. Feminists who spread the notion brace the fact that men have an upper hand in society and thus the women should always follow what they state (Atkinson, 2009, 21). Another aspect of the matrix that Judith states is Anthropological Structuralism. From the common understanding of structuralism, society is an environment through which survives with relation to a much larger structure in the general survival hierarchy. It also explained through the fact that human life is non-existence or cannot be brought to perfection except through interrelations that generally seem to make life easier. In anthropological structuralism, the provision offered is that of a societal through which women govern kinship. The societal structure of this is that women have the ability to rely on themselves and do not have a major social responsibility to the males. The need for this notion comes about because of the incest taboo of the patriarchal state in society (Butler, 2007, 68). The matrix is also broken down through the analysis of “Womanliness as a masquerade”. This is a psychoanalytic description made by renowned psychologist John Riviere. In this explanation, the statement made is that women have the power to hide their emotions and similar feelings towards fellow women. For women to open up to another woman, a lot of effort comes in majorly as they have several fears unless the aspect of trust in this case is rather great. Women also hide masculine identification from the fact that they do not like appearing submissive to them. Many are the times that the approaches made by men towards women end up futile as the women have no particular interest or are rather protective of their real emotional status. This is further broken down to identify that this masculine identification makes them recognized in society as only supposed to be involved with men alone. This makes it rather difficult for women to express their desires if any for another woman. This is from the fact that premeditation of the associated scrutiny by society and the feminists’ theories makes them fearful (Lloyd, 2007, 83). There is also the psychoanalytic explanation of melancholia. This is explained in the basis that the loss of a loved person in society leads to the emotional aspect of a person incorporating the aspect of mourning. This is from the manner through which memories start flowing, the general mood generally goes down, and the feelings rather increase through the picturing of the various aspects of the person (Kirby, 2006, 57). Loved ones are a major aspect in the development of an ego and the loss of one makes it rather difficult for a person to go through the normal social system in as similar a manner as was gone through when they were present. In a similar explanation, Cathexis changes and becomes identification. Cathexis has the description that all the emotional and mental power embeds in another person or an object. This is the psychoanalytical explanation of the reaction got by the various emotional fields around the individual (McCallum, 1999, 174). These three gender identification areas are very important in the recognition of the major aspects of womanhood. The writer goes an extra step in exploring all the three in a rather improved manner in that she states the productivity of having them and having the negative attributes of withholding these aspects. With the first one on the taboo of men always seeming to appear superior as compared to women, she claims that this is a persuasive fantasy in form of culture. She takes this to be rather disappointing in that the men take this as an advantage and mistreat women. Psychologists state that the person of the male gender determines the mental condition of many women that she spends most of her time with. This is rather a depressing condition for women at times exposed to gender violence and submits their own to men regardless of the consequences of these actions (Kiefer, 2007, 92). The women in this condition tend to understand or think that the men are rather superior and that an advantage in which they gain by submitting to these people is that they have the amount of protection that they require. This is very widespread as a notion in not only contemporary times but also at times when society was less developed. Despite the amount of effort that feminists apply to try and free the women from this form of bondage that they find themselves engaged in, the results have turned out rather meek and with the continuous process of women looking up to their male counterparts, they continue getting rather disappointed. Butler also explains that the taboo is the main cause for the numerous desires experienced by the females (Butler, 1999, 131). The second point of the matrix as stated above is that of the masquerade position of the women. It is explained that women have the power to withhold some of their feelings especially those that revolve around desire. This is from the fact that desire is one of the weak characteristics portrayed by men and women through their vast perception of being the weaker gender by the taboo in society tend to pick this up as one of their strongest points. The fact that the woman has the ability to conceal masculine identification offers some form of breakthrough in the attitude of a woman. The desires of a woman are rather hidden from the general environment and this makes it difficult for the masculine to identify them. This strong point has helped women in society try to balance the social taboo of masculinity being the threshold of the society (Chambers & Carver, 2008, 162). Despite the numerous advantages stated, it is also important to understand that the power that they bear ensures that they are rather in a position to withhold the feelings that they may bear for another female also. The fact that the woman cannot open up to the fellow female makes it even harder to open up to a female that she may conceive desires. There are different kinds of females that possess different desires and it is not up to society to judge. However, the community does not recognize this and goes a long way in ensuring that the females gain recognition for the characteristic assumed immoral. Females are generally assumed to fall in line with men but as Butler explains, there are the people that may not have a similar view of this. There are females that tend to show opposition to the notion that men are the superiors in the society and the most effective way of doing, this according to them is not trusting any men but taking the stand for women. There are again those that are born naturally with that trait (Kaye, 2009, 148). Depending on the course of action and the reason behind it, there are different forms of reputation gained in society. There are those that may take this part of the heterosexual matrix to be rather offensive and do not want anything to do with such a person in society. However, some of these females gain recognition from feminists and applauded for their courageous moves in the effort to stand up for the power of females (Butler, 1999, 165). In the third point, there is the explanation that mimicry forms an essence of gender. This is from the fact that women have always attained the perception by society as being the weaker gender. The fact that the women are the worst hit emotionally in case of the death of a close person in society goes a long way in identifying this. Men are to be very strong and always retain their charisma despite the fact that they may be hurting on the inside. For the women, it is rather hard to retain these emotions and breakdown at the perception of the news. It is usually up to the male counterpart to assist in the calming down of the female in such a situation. As stated, mimicry is taken up as an essence. It is thus very important for the female sex to breakdown as it is the only way to let out all the feelings and expressions of the learnt tragedy (Castro & Dhawan, 2011, 123). The fact that this comes up as a rather important aspect in the life of a woman is very characteristic of the genders. The males upon taking the responsibility of calming down the woman comfort themselves with the knowledge that they are emotionally strong and should hold on to that factor in order to take care of the female. The advantage of this is that the women attain a rare sense of comfort and attain the courage and power to move on. However, the major disadvantage is the amount of power that the male attains upon the breakdown of a woman as he recognizes the weaknesses of the female and may use it against her at this point of vast weakness (Gish & Laity, 2004, 49). Gender trouble is a very intriguing book in the understanding of gender and female studies. The manner through which the ideas are explained in the chapters is rather concise and this is best brought out in the second chapter of the book. The chapter assists in the recognition of the various aspects of women in society and the different notions that comprise the conditions they thrive. Judith Butler breaks down the heterosexual matrix in a simple manner for the comprehension of individuals that are generally interested in the understanding of gender studies and not taking the course. This matrix is very important in that the position and efforts made by women in society come out clearly. An evaluation of the chapter gives the argument as to whether the male has the right to continue maintaining the notion of superiority in society. This is a rather vast topic in that the advantages of the three stated branches of the heterosexual matrix offer people with certain aspects of human beings. The fact that the male gender has the upper hand in that he has the ability to control several of the societal aspects offers the notion of superiority. However, the fact that females have the ability to go against the expectations of society through the taboo and show their strong points is very imperative. This offers some form of balance and the clear understanding that the male gender should not receive all the credit in society as being superior. Referencing Appelrouth, Samuel., & Edles, Liam. 2008. Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings. Los Angeles, Calif, Pine Forge Press. Atkinson, Erick. 2009. Un-believing the Matrix: Queering Consensual Heteronormativity. Gender & Education, 21 (1), 17-29. Butler, Judith. 1999. Gender Trouble Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York, Routledge. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/19630577.html. Butler, Judith. 2007. Cram101 Textbook Outlines to Accompany: Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, by Judith Butler. [United States], Academic Internet Publishers. Carver, Trevor. 2008. Judith Butler's Precarious Politics: Critical Encounters. Massachusetts: Taylor & Francis. Castro Varela., Dhawan, Nephart., & Engel, Allan. 2011. Hegemony and Heteronormativity Revisiting 'The Political' In Queer Politics. Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing Limited. Chambers, Samuels & Carver, Trevor. 2008. Judith Butler and Political Theory: Troubling Politics. New York: Routledge Gish, Nelson., & Laity, Calvin. 2004. Gender, Desire, and Sexuality in T.S. Eliot. Cambridge [u.a.], Univ. Press. Kaye, Jameson. 2009. Twenty-First-Century Victorian Dandy: What Metrosexuality and the Heterosexual Matrix Reveal about Victorian Men. Journal of Popular Culture, 42(1), 103-125. Kiefer, Allan. 2007. Scripting Sexual Passivity: A gender Role Perspective. Personal Relationships, 14(2), 269-290. Kirby, Valery. 2006. Judith Butler: Live Theory. London, Continuum. Lloyd, Manson. 2007. Judith Butler: From Norms to Politics. Cambridge [u.a.], Polity Press. Loizidou, Edward. 2007. Judith Butler: Ethics, Law, Politics. New York: Routledge Mccallum, Erick. 1999. Object Lessons: How to do Things with Fetishism. Albany, State University of New York Press. Preves, Stephen. 2005. Intersex and Identity: The Contested Self. New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press. Renold, Moses. 2006. 'They Won't Let Us Play... Unless you are Going out with One of Them': Girls, Boys and Butler's 'Heterosexual Matrix' in the Primary Years. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 27 (4), 489-509. Ross, Kevin. 2012. The handbook of gender, sex, and media. Malden, MA [etc.], Wiley- Blackwell. Read More