Abstract
This study investigates the issue of gender performativity in Stieg Larsson’s novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2008). Judith Butler’s ideas on gender performativity serve as the theoretical framework of this study. A qualitative method is preferred as the study is heavily permeated with textual-analysis. The main objective of this study is to center on Larsson’s presentation of Lisbeth Salander in challenging boundaries in terms of how gender is presented and perceived. The study also provides analysis of other female characters, to see if they challenge or conform to the socially accepted notions of what it means to be a woman. The findings show that Stieg Larsson imbues his novel with the idea of challenging female stereotypes by developing fluidity within Salander’s gender identity. Larsson further ingrains gender performativity in all the female characters – they perform their gender identities differently in order to protect themselves from male-dominated society. However, the novel proves to be paradoxical as it shows an incessant reference to female characters in inferior circumstances.
 Keywords: Feminism, Gender, Identity, Performativity, Stereotypes
Highlights
Gender as a Social Construction Gender is not fixed attributes
The findings show that Stieg Larsson imbues his novel with the idea of challenging female stereotypes by developing fluidity within Salander’s gender identity
Butler asserts that gender is “an identity tenuously constituted in time, instituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of acts” (Butler, 1990, p.140)
Summary
Gender as a Social Construction Gender is not fixed attributes. To think otherwise will only strengthen traditional perspective that implies women to always be associated with their feminine characteristics, and that is how a particular gender is being stereotyped. A person who identifies himself to be masculine, for instance, would maintain his masculinity by displaying these traits: independent, non-emotional, aggressive, and competitive This process needs to be repeated and revaluated every day for otherwise, the identity (being masculine), may be subject to change: if a ‘masculine’ man does not maintain his performance as ‘masculine’, society may begin to view him as less than a man. This highlights that gender identity is a performance, rather than an inherent part of an individual
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