Gender Theory

Gender theory is based on the different theories on how the genders work. Judith Butler is a gender theorist who believes that "Gender is a performative. It is a doing that makes gender what it claims it is. We are not a gender, we do or perform a gender." This connotes that this theorist believes that the attitudes, beliefs and values on gender are made by the gender itself as this is what that particular gender makes it to be. This means that the representation of each gender is come up through what the specific gender makes it to be for example, females represented as weak is put across through the way females behave and they are then stereotyped as weaker compared to men because females are representing themselves to do more delicate activities such as shopping.

Another gender theorist is Mary Hawkesworth who has a few assumptions about gender. This theorist believes the following:
1. There are two and only two genders.
2. Gender is invariant.
3. Genitals are the essential signs of gender.
4. Being masculine of feminine is natural and not a matter of choice.
This shows that this theorist is completly different to Judith Butler as this theorist believes that being masculine of feminine is something that comes naturally and is not something that the genders can decide on. For example, a female being caring and vulnerable is something that comes naturally and they will not be able to change it and they will then be stereotyped as this too whereas Judith Butler believes the way a gender behaves is how they will be represented and stereotyped. This theorist also believes that there are only two genders so there cannot be a male who considers himself as both feminine and masculine. This connotes that as being masculine or feminine is natural, it connotes that this would come from family values that have been given through the family the gender has been bought up in to. For example, as childhood if the female is given dolls and "girly" things, she would then grow up to be feminine which is considered in this theory.

Another theorist that I looked at for gender theories is Oyeronke Oyewumi who has a Western view on gender and believes that bodies are superior than others. For example, men being more superior than women and this will be the case where men vs women. This connotes that this theorist states that there is a difference between male and females because males are seen as superior whereas females are not. This would include feminism as females are now trying to overcome this stereotypical view and trying to prove themselves equivalant to males and better which would overcome this theorists view. This theorist also involves looking at gender consumption as it is based on how the gender effects the consumption of the audience. For example, if males are always shown as superior and the heroes in the film, this would then be what the audience would think in reality which shows that media texts would change the audiences opinion on genders.