Postmodern Images: Culture, Gender, Performativity,

Queering, and Doing Drag1

NATIVIDAD DOMINIQUE G. MANAUAT Assistant Professor De La Salle University, Manila

This paper critically questions the sex-gender-desire system as it is an exploration of the many ways that postmodernist practices might be helpful in critically engaging the way we look at popular culture and gendered images as it asks the most fundamental questions feminist theorists have been asking for decades: what is woman? and what is man? and whether authenticity (i.e., becoming real) might just be a masquerade, or illusory. To queer gender theory in postmodernist discourse means to deconstruct and destabilize binary oppositions via drag and the Butlerian notion of performativity. The term postmodern much misunderstood in its ambiguity, eclecticism and elusiveness, has confounded academics and lay people alike. As a buzzword it gained prominence in US intellectual circles where both pomo and postfor example pomosexual and post-feministas prefixes appended to most everything was declared as chic. Thomas Docherty writes that it is fruitless to present any simple definition of the term itself given that, much argument arises over the question of precisely how the postmodern should be defined (Docherty 1992, 1). This indefinability then puts theory in further jeopardy because in the postmodern, it has become thorny to make the proposition I know the meaning of postmodernism because it is precisely this knowing I which is itself the site of postmodernist debates (Docherty, 7).

Lecture with PowerPoint presentation delivered on May 18, 2005 at the Intellect Seminar Room, De La Salle University. Sponsored by the Philosophy Department, DLSU.

On the other hand, feminism seems less ambiguous as it has a theoretical stake in discourses of gender as well as ties to social and political action. The I or more collectively, the us in feminism is a composition of those whoregardless of gender, though commonly represented by womenaspire for gender equality. However, when we speak of feminist theory, this is not to mean that it is a unified or homogenous discourse (Flax 1987). It had been suggested that it is more appropriate to dub it feminisms as it is now better understood to be diverse and non-monolithic with a wide array and multiplicity of approaches, positions, and strategies (Kemp and Squires 1997, 3). Hearing the term queer used in theory is perhaps novelty to many philosophers, and might come as a surprise to students of philosophy. After all, how often do we get to present and/or read academic papers on queerness, much less on Drag Queens and Kings? Such inqueeries may not have been previously articulated. In this paper queer is used as an umbrella term and a proxy not just for the homosexual (inversion)or for lesbian and gay (exclusively monosexual) but for LGBTI = Q2. Whereas gender was the site of contention for feminists, queers put primacy on the erotics or desire. Influence of Feminist Philosophy The critique of philosophy according to feminism is in my view, path-breaking, as feminists question the canonical works, for example. In doing so, there is an attempt to clarify concepts like reason and autonomy and the generic man as universal. Though parallelisms had been made with postmodernist suspicions with any meta-narratives, feminist philosophy came upon this largely without the help of postmodernism as it is rooted in the analysis of sex-based oppression. One might say that there are two different paths. However, these paths crossed as some feminists working within the discipline of philosophy have found that postmodernist theory is also useful in that it provides philosophy with additional framework to articulate the diversity not only within feminism but also within the feminist positions. The sex-gender system in deemed inadequate as there is much needed room for articulating notions of desire. Pomofeminism or Fempomo: Much ado about gender and pomo

LGBTI is an acronym used predominantly by activists. It is shorthand for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex. Although there is dispute about the acceptability of the term queer (Q) in some circles, it is an attempt to reclaim the word that used to be a slur, as long as it is only queers who are using it to refer to themselves.

Feminist philosophy is diverse as there have evolved multiple discourses in articulating the problems involved with gender-based oppression. The sexgender system have sometimes led to certain essentializing notions where it is even more important and crucial to engaging feminist theory not to overlook differences among women. Recent scholarship contests the idea that an individual has a single gender that is necessarily derived from their biological or born sex. Instead, theorists like Judith Halberstam in Female Masculinity (1998) and Judith Butler in Gender Trouble (1990) and Imitation and Gender Insubordination (1993) explore the idea of gender as performative. Postmodern practices are thus useful in making this exploration as certain characteristics3 make it very hospitable for blurring and disrupting the once-perceived solid demarcation line separating the categories of sex, gender, and desire. The Sex/Gender/Desire Matrix Reality makes it challenging to understand notions of the gendered self with very limiting categories that are supposed to be fixed and immutable. These terms are loaded and fraught with controversy. From a historical point of view, theorists argue that homosexuality, for example, was coined first before heterosexuality because of pathology (Katz). Social expectations decree that biology is destiny where there is no clear and necessary link between the two. Imposed by most societies, as there is supposedly, a linear relation leading from one to the other and where it is understood that sex (as fixed), gender (as constructed) and desire (as confounding) are distinct and separate categories. As Simone De Beauvoir writes in The Second Sex, one is not born a woman. Sex is to biology as gender is to culture, or so the debate rages on between nature and nurture. Sex Male Female Gender Masculine Feminine Desire Females: The Other Sex Males: The Other Sex What you are A REAL Man A REAL Woman

Hence, this matrix, so conveniently thought of as a means of understanding the categories, also carry within it certain problems that go with binary
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In his PNPRS lecture some time ago, Dr. Rolando Gripaldo presented a thorough listing of some characteristics of postmodernism contra modernism. See slide 4 of Power Point presentation attached.

oppositions where there is no room for ambiguities. This is where postmodern practices, with the emphasis on hearing from Othered voices and deconstruction becomes useful in looking closely at gendered images. Culture and the Postmodern With the advent of postmodernism, notions of high and low culture erode as more and more theorists are looking at popular culture as part of the global and post-industrial landscape where television and commercialism are entwined through consumption of images where everything, including culture itself is now subject to consumption. In the postmodern carousel of our visual culture, we consume large numbers and a continuous stream of images everyday e.g., billboards along EDSA, while MTV (The Music Television Channel) on cable is beamed worldwide (in more than 100 countries) 24/7, where reality is now hyper-reality. We are saturated with images that are digitally enhanced4 with no prior originals. Even the old

understanding of broadcast media is shifting from one-to-many (MTV, record companies) to a more interactive exchange of many-to-many, e.g.

P2P network (Napster), filesharing, webcams, blogging, etc. Hence, the strict dichotomy between high art and low art is lost. Art is now believed to be found not just in galleries and museums but in the ordinary everyday life. Imag(in)ing5 Gendered Beings But what do these images show us about gendered beings? Are they truly what they appear to be? How does visual presentation truly represent humans as sexed, gendered and desiring creatures? How do we know that the person on screen is a man or a woman6? What are the signifiers? And how have we attached these meanings to our notions of masculinity and femininity, or homosexuality and heterosexuality? Issues that surround identity is truly a philosophical concern that had troubled thinkers way before Socrates advised us to Know Thyself. We need to ask questions about the nature of identity itself as we have formerly worked with the assumption that there is in fact a unitary self that could be known. Postmodern practices tell us that things arent as simple as we thought.
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Technology makes it possible now to alter images via computer software making human bodies appear however the market demands it. The advent of the so-called green screen popularized by the high technology of filmmaking makes almost anything possible. 5 Imag(in)ing where imaging and imagining are fused via the parenthetical suspension of (in) to show how postmodern practice with the play on words, might image and imagine at the same time. 6 See sample images, particularly slide numbers 10-14 on the Power Point presentation.

The real woman and the real man as authentic beings ought to have criteria but then who decides what real men and women are? After all, the roles, images and meanings of masculinity and femininity change through time and across cultures. Standards of femininity and masculinity are fluid, often subject to arbitrary codes. Making a strict distinction between sex and gender somehow denaturalizes gender identity, where both femininity and masculinity (gender) is not a natural category but rather a social construction. In postmodern practice, the category of woman and man is instead deemed as a process, as a continuous be(com)ing, rather than a fixed and solid identity that is determined by essences. It is now a (de)construct7 with neither a beginning or an end as it is impossible to fix the meaning of femininity as it straddles other categories such as class, race/ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, among others. Queering8 Theory via Dragging it Up Theorists refute the idea that an individual has a single gender that is necessarily derived from their biological or born sex. Instead, queer theorists like Judith Halberstam and Judith Butler explore the idea of gender as performative. In Gender Trouble, Judith Butler writes,"There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; that identity is performatively constituted by the very 'expressions' that are said to be its results." For Butler, the theatricality and over-the-top performance of drag (both male-to-female and female-to-male) works to dislodge essentialized notions of gender identity and sexual difference. Her example of a drag queen (a female impersonator) singing Aretha Franklin's "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman" highlights the instability of gender identification on various levels. Ironically this performance of Aretha's (a "natural" woman, i.e., born female) become a self-reflexive subversion of gender identity. This is significant in the ways that anyone, natural born male included, makes an appropriation of femininity. Gestures, manners, appearance, and the trappings of doing and be(com)ing Aretha Franklin is her craft. Hence, the affectation of femininity is now a game of gender mastery.

(De)construct is where the de is suspended in parenthesis and italicized is my own take on the poststructuralist method of deconstruction 8 Queering is what queer theorists seek to do when they mess up with theory as they disrupt the traditional oppositions, the same way that they challenge the discourses even from within Lesbian and Gay Studies where Othered voices (such as bisexuals, transgenders, and intersexuals) have yet to be articulated fully.

Working within postmodernist practices, specifically through excess and repetition, drag deconstructs and at the same time reconstructs gender identities, challenging and reifying the materiality of the body or bodies of the two Aretha Franklins as a distinguishing marker. Which is the real Aretha then9? Cross-dressing Queens and Kings Cross-dressing occurs when one sex wears the clothes of the other for any reason. The term "drag" is thought to be a colloquialism from the Elizabethan and period of English history, when male actors performed female parts in a transvestite theater. The difference between a fe/male impersonator and a drag queen/king is the latter's ability to make an entertaining show out of fe/male impersonation. Drag queens/kings are also different from other fe/male impersonators who cross-dress in that fe/male clothing is merely part of their performance of masculinity. They generally do not fetishize male clothing. Drag Queens (born male, female impersonators) are far more visible in Philippine media where we find these female impersonators (both straight and queer) in the entertainment industry. Ther is the singing group called The Raging Divas, showbiz talk show hosts and gender-bending celebrities, the Balakubaks (Dandruff) cast of GMA7s show called Nuts Entertainment, viz. Doughnut, Popsicle, Lollipop, Belli Flori, and Cookie. As a regular fixture in the local entertainment industry, drag queens are often funny as they appropriate femininity (wear make-up, slinky clothes, shave facial hair, hide their penises) and serve as the comic relief and unfortunately, sometimes as the object of ridicule. Men acting like women, as effeminate is amusing to mainstream audiences as drag ultimately becomes a parody of femininity. Hence this poses as a problem to female comedians who are sometimes thought of as bakla10 themselves. One female singer-comedian named Gladys even recorded a song that proclaims her non-gay identity by continuously

It is interesting to note that for some observers who will view the photos on slide numbers 22 and 23 that the likeness between the two persons is startling. Even avid fans of Ms. Franklin will find it difficult to distinguish the real deal. The same can be said about the singer-actor and gay icon, Cher as she is impersonated by many in Gay Pride marches everywhere in the United States that even if she were to attend herself, the authentic Cher will be lost in the throng of Cher-wanna-bes. 10 Bakla in Tagalog means homosexual male who is effeminate and/or in drag. There is difficulty in direct translation since the Western discourse that we are more familiar with is different from the Bakla culture in the Philippines.

repeating the chorus11, Hindi ako bakla-kla-kla-kla-kla-kla to distinguish her (real) female self from others, and possibly to assert her female authenticity. Gender as Performance However, if a bakla were to sing this song or re-record it then we find that the image of gender will be truly bent. This is the masquerade of femininity where it is difficult to see the real self behind the trappings of femaleness. For example, In the film Connie and Carla (2004) the female protagonists played by female actors Nia Vardalos and Toni Collette had to find cover as women female impersonators. Hence, they were women who dress like men who dress like women. Hyper-femininity, once thought of as a females natural domain now becomes a performance that you slip into it and out of it when it serves your purpose. From this unclear status of femininity, Judith Butler concludes that gender is no more than a representation, a play of appearances. Femininity as a postmodern condition reveals that gender as a style and disguise with parodic effects of masquerading and concealment.Despite these gender-bending images that have been made accessible to men however, the image of the female-born, especially on-screen is not nearly as flexible. Somehow, women are still expected to hold on to their femaleness if they are to succeed in the business. The image of a cross-dressed man in film has become much more acceptable than the image of a cross-dressed woman. In Hollywood films, such as Tootsie (Dustin Hoffman) and Mrs. Doubtfire (Robin Williams) we find the standard plot of the cross-dressed man could actually show a man that is a perfect woman, while the women in the film are portrayed as flawed not so perfect. Masculinity as Neutral Dominant discourse conceive masculinity as neutral. Writers such as Peggy McIntosh (2001) assert that the seemingly neutral concept of individuality is in fact universally represented by the positions of white and man, whether acknowledged as such or not. Since we are conditioned to believe that there is a neutral standard, a concept of Other is created for those who do not fit into that category. The average, regular, or default person is male (masculine) as Juan dela Cruz and the Other have had to possess certain markers. As cartoonist Alison
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Roughly translated to, I am not homosexual with the last syllable being sung repeatedly.

Bechdel notes, to draw a woman []was to draw a regular person, then add certain signifiers: long hair, a skirt, high heels, huge curling eyelashes. If the default person is male, then representing him as Other (i.e., female) becomes necessary. All Teriyaki Boy needed to do drag are the full feminine lips, the curly eyelashes and some protrusions (boobs)12. Again, we can assert that femininity has always been seen as a masquerade. And while males have been busy exploring the opposite gender via drag and other means13 in films and TV, women as Othered have not traditionally been given roles in which they are able to explore masculinity. Tradition deems that women are successful as performers only when they perform an image of a sexy straight woman. This image also usually includes being beautiful, thin, young, white or fair, completely able, well dressed, and straight since most people still do not accept the idea that a woman of any size, race, age, class, or ability can perform and be considered sexy or acceptable. For example, in Philippine show business, the standards for beauty is still very colonial. It took a long while before a non-mestiza looking actress made her mark14. Hence, many women are trapped in pre-set notions and limitations of femaleness so it is improbable for them to consider their ability to perform in any ordinary situation. The idea of being accepted on stage as beautiful and attractive in a different role than the role that women are typically expected to fulfill is empowering to all women who do not fulfill that image. Female Masculinity The history and structure of performance on stage and screen tends to be masculinist in its practice. Female masculinity has been all but silenced in performance. For the most part, performances by women are only judged as valid performance or artistic when the woman actor performs a hyper-feminine role. Representations of masculine women are virtually non-existent as they have been hidden or silenced throughout history. Halberstam observes that, when women appear cross-dressed as men in movies, it is concluded that they are flawed women, and never that they make perfect men (1998: 206). For example, Oscar-award winning performances by Hillary Swank (Boys Dont Cry, Million Dollar Baby) and Charlize Theron (Monster) are rare exceptions.
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See slide 29 for a re-imaging of Teriyaki Boy. Art courtesy of the authors friend, Michelle S. Other theorists refer to this gender-bending exercise as gender fucking 14 Of course I am referring to the Superstar herself, Ms. Nora Aunor.

Their femininity is downplayed or made invisible on film and are allowed to explore their masculine side. Stripped of their femininity, they both get recognized for their thespian skills (hence, the Oscars) but are un-glamorized, but in the process the strong (masculine) characters they portrayed all end up dead. Drag Kingdom Come Despite this however, there had been some attempts to show Drag Kings (Kinging) as the adapted TV series titled Tipping the Velvet15. Across many cities in the Western hemisphere, many women are discovering that drag kinging could be an empowering tool in gaining confidence as they find that re-presenting themselves to the world as masculine accords them some privileges that are traditionally only reserved for men.16 More importantly perhaps, as a postmodern practice, drag further exposes that the binary opposition between masculinity and femininity is unstable and precarious. Since gender is one of the primary organizing principles of turning binary oppositions into hierarchy, transgressing the boundaries of gender has great potential in destabilizing the gender binary system (viz. gender fuck). Gender ambiguity can be an effective tool for resisting the prevailing and repressive views on gender and sexuality, especially on female roles. Gender B(l)ending as Variation Judith Butler sees gender as that which has to be continuously ritualized and repeated to anchor it, as any identity is a practice of assigning meaning. The same thing can be said of drag queens and drag kings. Drag King workshops teach one how to be a man by adopting certain codes and what they signify. For example, the way one wears his hair, style of clothing, manner, swagger, the works. Subjects have the opportunity to change only through variation. In its ambiguity, gender bending is one such variation in assigning meaning to gender. Gender bending transforms the conventional relationship between sex and gender.
Female masculinity" does not describe an identity although perhaps it does offer a site for identification [] (it) covers a host of cross15 16

Adapted from the book by Sarah Waters, TV Series produced and aired by the BBC in 2002, see slide 37. Some women have noted that as men they are taken more seriously. The writer George Sand, for example took on a male pseudonym to get published, and a male public persona so that she could get recognition for her craft. However there is a caveat as well, because this is a dangerous practice that could have serious consequences. In homophobic societies, there have been many cases where transgenders, once revealed are beaten and killed, as in the case of Brandon Teena in the true-to-life film titled Boys Dont Cry.

identifications: tomboys, butches, masculine heterosexual women, nineteenth century tribades and sapphists, inverts, transgenders, stone butches and soft butches, drag kings, cyber butches, athletes, women with beards, and the list goes on. (Halbestram, italics mine)

Hence, this site for identification expands the room for greater flexibility in the ways that females could express their gendered selves where we could literally say, in postmodern practice that the sex/gender/desire matrix is messed with. Hail King ShElvis! Taking a Derridean spin, with deconstruction and a free play of meanings, gender benders play more of a game, throwing notions of a fixed gender identity into question. As a matter of style, gender bending takes place on stage, the video screen, in plastic surgery, or for the brave passers, in the streets. Postmodern features can be found in the Inner Smile video by the Scottish band called Texas17. Sharleen Spiteri, the female vocalist of the band does her own gender bending via a passable male impersonation of Elvis Presley (with prosthesis) while hordes of screaming female fans cheer her on as she strums the guitar and gyrates her hips ala King. Video clips abound in recycled images of Elvis, famous for his brooding poses as they are interspersed with more familiar images of Sharleen in her regular (i.e., more feminine) look, with shoulder length hair and make-up. What this shows is that the so-called stable identity of the self (Which self? Selves? Sharleen? Elvis? ShElvis?) is irrelevant. For there is no longer any real man, or real woman as even the notions of truth and authenticity have been disposed of in this postmodern practice of a music video clip. Old forms of representation have been superseded and supplanted by simulation. As the image no longer bears any relation to reality (Elvis is STILL dead, after all); it has become its own simulacrum as I have understood Baudrillard. Pop stars getting airplay on MTV can quote or parody meanings regarding gender as this leaves plenty of room for all kinds of ambivalences and ambiguities resulting in the postmodern practice, the game of gender bending. Gender and the Postmodern Practice

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See slide number 41 for photo and the music video will be played to the audience.

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(Halbestram)When it comes to female masculinity[] appearance is everything. That is not to say that masculine women do not experience their masculinity as a deep or internal identity effect; nor is it to say that female masculinity is only about how you look. It is to say that the "only" in that statement is impossible

More than mere style or appearance however, gender bending and queering can be regarded as a postmodern practice. First, as a utopian from of postmodernism where binaries are deconstructed. Then, as a commercial or coopted form of postmodernism, this is closely linked with hi-tech capitalism and consumerism where our lives, even as third-worlders are inevitably affected by mass-media advertising and image saturation. What makes it a truly postmodern practice is that it transcends binary thought, particularly the basic oppositions of male/female, masculine/feminine, hetero/homo.The deconstruction of the autonomous subject as exemplified by the universal, generic white middle-class heterosexual male. And while the liberatory aspects of drag are still in disputeafter all, this is no guarantee that the homophobes will stop discriminating against queerit does have the potential in deconstruction traditional notions of sex, gender, and desire. While appearance is not everything of course, art and beauty is. Reshaping our notions of what constitutes a beautiful (real?) woman or man based on the images that we see and/or create via drag is truly a postmodern practice.

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REFERENCES

Beauvoir, Simone de. 1989 (reissue). The Second Sex. Vintage International. Bechdel, Alison. 1998. The Indelible Alison Bechdel: Confessions, Comix, and Miscellaneous Dykes to Watch Out for. Firebrand Books. Butler, Judith. 1990. Gender Trouble: Tenth Anniversary Edition (1999). Routledge: NY and London. Butler, Judith. 1993. Imitation and Gender Insubordination, in inside/out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, ed. Diana Fuss. New York: Routledge, 1991 Docherty, Thomas. 1992. Postmodernism: An introduction. In Postmodernism: A reader, ed. Thomas Docherty. Place: Press. Flax, Jane. 1987. Women Do Theory. In Feminist Philosophies, eds. James Sterba, Janet Kourany and Rosemarie Tong. Pearson. Fuss, Diana, ed. 1991. inside/out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories. New York: Routledge. Halberstam, Judith. 1998. Feminine Masculinity. Duke University Press. Katz, Jonathan Ned. 1995. The Invention of Heterosexuality. Dutton Books. Kemp, Sandra, and Judith Squires, eds. 1997. Introduction. In Feminisms, eds. Sandra Kemp and Judith Squires. Oxford Readers. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Sterba, James, et al, eds. 1993. Feminist Philosophies. Pearson Professional Education

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