I’ve been thinking a bit about performativity of gender recently, especially with Caitlyn Jenner being prominently in the news and the sometimes strong opinions that I’ve heard.

It’s interesting to zoom in on one aspect of performativity, your voice, which we often think can communicate class, race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual-orientation, location… when in fact it’s only as accurate as the performance, whether conscious or unconscious.

Someone can act rich or French with their voice, but what makes it authentic? Do they have to have money or do they have to sound like other people who have money? Should they have grown up in France? Does it have to be unconscious?

I’m starting to pick up a little bit of a Maritime Canadian accent, at what point do I earn that identity where I won’t have to defend it to outsiders or insiders and prove my Maritime-ness? I’m pretty sure no one cares about that, because it’s not threatening.

What if I stopped performing masculinity? Does my performance affect others? No. So why do some people find that so threatening? I have several trans friends and this is a constant fear, performing their gender well enough to pass, because they may be subject to assault or violence if unlike Caitlyn or Courtney Cox they can’t convincingly pass.

I’m afraid to wear a skirt. I don’t need to wear a skirt, but having worn kilts I know they’re comfortable. But kilts are masculine, I can still pass as a man wearing them. But what happens when I put on a piece of fabric that doesn’t match the performance of a male? Even wearing a kilt, before it was popularized by Utilikilts in North America people sometimes didn’t know how to perceive it. So I’ve been called a f***ing pervert, and many people feel privileged to all of a sudden discuss my undergarments.

I guess this is all to say, think about how you police your identity and others. I know I’m guilty of both at times. I’d love to hear about other’s experiences with this.
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