Gender Identity Manipulation

Gender Identity Manipulation:
An Exploration of the links between Judith Butler’s Gender Theory and Being John Malkovich



The formation of a gender identity according to historical discourse by philosophers such as Rene Descartes, centers on the idea of a dualistic body mind intertwining physical nature and social nurturing. The self recognizes this as a metaphysical expression of a primary gender identity. Theorist Judith Butler challenges dominant gender theory, arguing that the truth in gender discourse is that gender identity is the acknowledged repetition of socially coded acts by the body. Cultural codes maintaining hegemonic order are socially imprinted on the physical body and preformed. However, if the outward expression of gender is an extension of hegemonic social values, than the internal identity that one assumes is a performative fabrication as well, always already constructed by culture.
The 1999 film Being John Malkovich, written by Charlie Kauf...