Critic speak is tough, but we've got you covered.
Quote :Gender Trouble
Hence, there is a subversive laughter in the pastiche-effect of parodic practices in which the original, the authentic, and the real are themselves constituted as effects. The loss of gender norms would have the effect of proliferating gender configurations, destabilizing substantive identity, and depriving the naturalizing narratives of compulsory heterosexuality of their central protagonists: "man" and "woman." The parodic repetition of gender exposes as well the illusion of gender identity as an intractable depth and inner substance. As the effects of a subtle and politically enforced performativity, gender is an "act," as it were, that is open to splitting, self-parody, self-criticism, and those hyperbolic exhibitions of "the natural" that, in their very exaggeration, reveal its fundamentally phantasmatic status.
So that's crystal clear, right?
Judith Butler is well known for her work on social constructions of gender and how they operate in daily life. She's also known for using words even the dictionary didn't know exist. What's key to Butler's approach, though, is the idea that gender is a type of behavior you perform, rather than something natural. And that hinges on the distinction between "performance" and "performativity."
So what do you do with an ance vs. an ivity? Well, "performativity" is meant to refer to the way cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity are internalized and act as a shaping (read: constraining) force in a person's daily activities and self-image. "Performance," meanwhile, is the exaggeration and parody of standard gender roles, showing that they're constructed rather than "natural."
So, performativity is why you expect a housekeeper to behave like a cooking, cleaning, cultivated lady, and performance is when those stereotypical roles are proven not to be as natural as you might think.
Butler highlights the relevance of feminist thought within cultural studies. She also taps into the rebellious aspects of this theoretical school, refusing to accept standard definitions and playing with the categories of masculinity and femininity in a way that shook things up even within academia.