David Bowie and Performativity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

David Bowie and Performativity - Research Paper ExampleThis paper aims to analyze a vocal by David Bowie using Butlers theory of sexual example performance. The essay aims at developing an argument referring to David Bowies poem titled Rebel, Rebel from his album Diamond Dogs. The argument is going to be ground on how the vocal represents sexual activity, gender and identity. It is also going to analyze how Bowie ch wholeenges narratives of authentic identity. Bowies ways of troubling gender and sexuality as stable, readable, and expressive categories are also going to be addressed. According to Butler, gender is not based on a stable identity that an identity that is constitutively created through with(predicate) with(predicate) time and molded through repetition (Leonard 134). This repetition of deeds has a set of meanings that are already effected in society. sexuality reality is a product of performativity, which means that its degree of realness is measured by the e xtent of the performance. In this context, some acts are interpreted as an expression of gender identity. These acts can either conform to the anticipate cultural norms or contradict these norms. The song Rebel, Rebel by David Bowie is about a boy who went against his farms wishes and started wearing girls clothes and make up. Additionally, in the same album, there is a song titled Walk on the Wild Side about a transvestite. ... In all the live stage performances of this song, Bowie is dressed in outrageous feminine clothes. This aspect of staging artistic shows where the established distinction between genders was overlooked led to the emergence of Glam. Glam is a controversial stage performance and debut of artistry that incorporates gender-bending techniques (Leonard 150). It also included the depiction of drag queens and personalities in different levels of conveying the primal undertones in their performances. Bowie appearing in drag as Ziggy Stardust portrays this in the s ong. The song Rebel, Rebel conveys the notion that gender is not a static phenomenon as exhibited by the glam and drag modes of staging live artistic shows. The song tries to establish the fact that gender is a state that is achieved through change in behavioral mannerisms sooner than a static set inbuilt qualities. According to Judith Butler, gender is an achievable state that is acquired through practice and repetition. Unlike common belief that a person is born into a specified and predetermined gender dictated by their biological sex, gender is perceived as a cultural dictate. This means that at one point in time, the human society decided to assign status to people. There was no other better way to do this than create a distinction between male and womanish roles. This spawned what is today referred to as gender. The society then designed roles that were assigned specific acts or behavior patterns that acted as a measure of gender. The song by Bowie seeks to depict gender as s omething that is not tangible but an idea that is held by people. Through repetition, as described by Butler, the notion of gender is realised through performativity. This is in the