Abstract
Using Butler's theory of gender performativity and her analysis of the psychic form of power, this paper attempts to show how the modification of gender by power in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale has resulted in an identity crisis in the female protagonist, Offred. One significant aspect of the totalitarian regime of Gilead is its gender hierarchy that is further consolidated through sex discourse. Sex in Gilead turns into a privilege granted only to men of high social status. Men are presented as normal sexual beings, whereas women are entirely excluded from this discourse. Femininity in Gilead translates into invisibility, modesty and silence. Women are regarded as being sexually neutral and are reduced to means of reproduction. Offred, who has lost her voice and agency in this society, attempts to create her own narrative through which she can exercise her resistance. However, the lack of consistency and her inability to adjust herself to the new values and norms result in an identity crisis, which is represented through her sense of melancholia and the obvious inconsistencies in her values. Keywords: Gender Study; Power; Subjection; Performativity; Discourse
Highlights
Using Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity and her analysis of the relations of power with the subject's psyche, this paper aims to discuss how power's alteration of sex discourse impacts the notion of gender and results in an identity crisis in the female protagonist of The Handmaid's Tale, Offred
Her core idea of gender performativity is grounded on the fact that gender is a repeated performance that reenacts a set of socially established norms (2010)
For Butler, subjects are constructed through power relations; the power that creates the subject simultaneously creates the opportunities for the subversion of the norms
Summary
Using Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity and her analysis of the relations of power with the subject's psyche, this paper aims to discuss how power's alteration of sex discourse impacts the notion of gender and results in an identity crisis in the female protagonist of The Handmaid's Tale, Offred. Her core idea of gender performativity is grounded on the fact that gender is a repeated performance that reenacts a set of socially established norms (2010) She dismisses the idea of fixed gender as a myth and contends that gender is culturally and socially constructed by repeating a set of discursive performances, entailing whatever a person is socially allowed to say and enact. The perpetuation of these norms defines masculinity and femininity and distinguishes a man from a woman. Using Butler's idea of discursive performativity of gender, this paper analyses new gender norms generated by power and discusses how the perpetuation of these norms and Offred's struggle to adapt herself to these norms result in her identity crisis
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