Butler’s Idea of Gender Performativity in an Impeccable Land: Genderless Terrain of The Left Hand of Darkness

Introduction

One of the key figures in gender studies, Judith Butler (they/them), has unhesitatingly shaped the way we think about gender, gender norms, sexuality, and most importantly, the troublesome topic to discuss for the majority, sex. It is heavily perceptible that, in the world in which humans live and pursue their daily lives, they are forced to be put in some categories under all concepts, such as their gender, their gender preferences, their actions, their behaviors, and even the products that they consume, related to their gender. Portraying a perfect land, which has no gender or gender roles defined, in her book The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin helps the reader to envision these concepts, which are often heavily disregarded by politics, people in power, and heavy religious mankind who try to censor, restrict, and suppress the LGBTQIA+, which Butler often mentions as the Gender movement. This writing will touch upon Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, in addition to the seminal science fiction novel of its time, The Left Hand of Darkness, written by Ursula K. Le Guin. This offers a radical alternative to binary and gender norms and gives the audience insight into such terminologies as ambisexuality, the construction of gender, and sexuality. At the same time, the study analyzes how The Left Hand of Darkness supports Butler’s given theoretical insights within the study.

Judith Butler’s “Who is Afraid of Gender?”

Published in 2024, Who is Afraid of Gender is one of the books that touch upon what has often become a matter of “extraordinary alarm”: gender. The gender movement is the LGBTQ+ individuals, who seek to achieve equality, challenge gender stereotypes, and fight against gender-based violence. The “anti-gender” movement is what opposes the gender movement. As Butler describes, it treats gender as a monolith, frightening in its power and reach. According to supporters of Anti-Gender, Gender calls into question the natural and normative character of heterosexuality, and that once the heterosexual mandate is no longer firm, a flood of sexual madness, including bestiality and pedophilia, will be unleashed upon the earth. Gender movement is constantly being portrayed as a danger to civilization, or should be called, the capital itself, a totalitarian threat, the work of the devil, an attack on masculinity, and a denial of nature. And a dangerous rival to God must be countered or destroyed at all costs. As Butler discusses, for Gender to be identified as a threat to all of life, civilization, society, thought, and the like, it must gather up a wide range of fears of anxieties, package them into a single bundle, and subsume them under a single name. Gender collects and incites all these fears, keeping us from thinking more clearly about what there’s to fear. Consequently, circulating the idea of gender’s destructive powers is one way to produce existential fear that can then be exploited by those who want to enhance state powers, return to the “secure” patriarchal order. However, can we really say that there was a secure patriarchal order in the first place? Therefore, we see how false consciousness is created by those in power, by referring to the old “perfect” state, which never existed in the first place.

The main reason this book was put up is the search for a new understanding of Gender and the conditions of what is happening around us currently. In addition, to understand who is afraid of gender. As Butler says, “In asking who is afraid of gender, I am also asking who is afraid of what, precisely, and how best to understand the resulting fear and its political effects.” (Butler, 13). There is a lot for humans to search, ask, and learn about gender, and not only limited to a general understanding of gender, but also regarding one’s gender identification. The main question that is being asked is how humans can come together and create a shared goal that is powerful enough to reveal and stop the harmful rules and movements hiding behind the name of anti-gender ideology.

What is Gender Performativity?

  According to Butler, gender is not an inherent or fixed attribute but rather a series of repeated performances or actions. Gender is not stable, and it fulfills its prophecy whenever people decide to act upon it with performance. These performances vary from the way that people dress, speak, move, and more. Of course, one has to keep in mind that these performances are heavily influenced by social norms and expectations. Therefore, Butler posits that, from birth onwards, individuals are subjected to being labeled by institutions and social norms. As proposed by Butler, for example, one becomes a female by performing “feminine” roles, or let me say, by performing what society has coded as female. Of course, while gender is not actually assigned at birth, followed by Butler’s understanding of gender, individuals possess complete freedom in choosing and constructing their own gender identity. Although this topic has been heavily debated, it can be argued that an individual’s decision to identify themselves with a particular gender shouldn’t be misunderstood as “choosing any gender they wish”. Rather, in my view, the point made is that individuals should have the freedom to identify themselves with the gender that aligns with their internal sense of self, which may differ from the one assigned at birth.

In short, gender performativity means that gender is a thing that humans enact repeatedly through their actions and their desires at the same time the regardless of their “assigned” sex. Therefore, the body is not a fact, even though it plays a crucial role in perceiving how sex and gender are constructed and lived. The body becomes “sexed” through normative discourses, where sex is an ideal construct. Therefore, to say that gender is performative is to say that nobody actually has (or is) a gender from the start.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness is a novel written during a period of rising which feminism and women rights was at its peak. It’s written by the famous writer Ursula K. Le Guin, who grew up in an educated environment and had an anthropologist dad, which heavily shaped the way she sees the world. Even though Le Guin, addresses in her Is Gender Necessary? Redux, that her aim in writing this book was to remove gender, observe, and experience what would happen without taking gender into account.

Just like any other book by Le Guin, this book is also a world that has been built by her imagination, culturally, politically, and socially complex. It socially critiques and has its language, which is not only a tool for communication but a way of shaping thought. The Left Hand of Darkness explores gender as a social construct by blending science fiction with philosophy, anthropology, and politics. The story takes place on a planet called Gethen, also known as Winter. The main character and the narrator, Genly Ai, is a human envoy sent to this planet to invite Gethen to join the Ekumen, an interplanetary alliance. Through Genly’s perspective, the reader experiences a world without gender, without gender roles and gendered institutions. Another important character in the novel, which plays a central role in Genly’s journey, is Estraven. He is the prime minister of Karhide, a nation on the planet Gethen. Estraven is the first person who believes in Genly’s mission and helps Genly. Their relationship is complex because they have different understandings of the world. Estraven struggles with the Gethenians’ lack of fixed gender because he comes from a heterosexual/patriarchal world. Hence their different point of perspective, it is observed that they develop a deep relationship based on mutual trust, loyalty, and respect.

The Left Hand of Darkness posits a world where people have no fixed gender, and challenges readers to rethink binary gender norms and question the relationships, societies, and institutions are shaped by gender. In a way, Le Guin holds a mirror to human nature, to explore their identity, trust and communication, political power, and belonging. It also paved the way for future writers, who explore gender, identity, and social issues. Last but not least, this book also redefined what science fiction could do- not just entertain but also search for some profound answers about humanity, society, and identity.

Gender Performativity and Ambisexuality in The Left Hand of Darkness

People of Gethen are ambisexual, meaning that they have no fixed gender, and they adopt female or male characteristics only during kemmer. Kemmer is a period of sexual activity and gender expression, which happens once a month. During this period, individuals develop sexual characteristics and engage in sexual activity. When they enter kemmer, they become sexually active and adopt either male or female sexual traits. The sexual roles are fluid and can change with each kemmer cycle, which means that an individual can be a woman in one month and later a man in the next month. They have a gender-neutral state that they return to after their kemmer phase ends, remaining in this state until the next kemmer. With this fluid and ambisexual concept of gender, readers can furtherly understand what Butler means with their theory of gender performativity, which posits that gender is not an innate identity, but a series of acts and social performances. On Gethen, because there aren’t fixed genders, traditional gender roles are absent. This invites a reconsideration of the traditional views of gender as something “natural” and permanent. Furthermore, Le Guin encourages readers to consider the possibility that society could change if gender and gender roles were not fixed, and opens up a new way of understanding identity and social roles.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Butler’s theory of gender performativity rejects the idea that gender as a notion of gender as an inherent, biologically given truth. Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness is a perfect example to this concept by its depiction of an ambisexual state of being and shifting fluidly between male and female characteristics. By imagining a world where gender does not determine identity, power, and social power, Le Guin helps the reader explore Butler’s theory in detail. The novel invites readers to rethink and consider the underlying constructions of gender by emphasizing the possibility of more flexible forms of identity. By doing this, both Butler’s theoretical work and Le Guin’s literary imagination collaborate in questioning the social norms, gender roles, and limited gender expression, which offers instead a future where identity is not predetermined, but actively lived and shaped.