Abstract

This paper challenges Judith Butler’s gender performativity framework from a genderqueer standpoint. It does not seek to discredit Butler’s thought since its scope is limited to a standpoint disentangled from binary gender categories. The thesis contends that, if gender performativity is conceived solely in Butler’s terms, it fails to account for gender performances that seek to drag themselves out of the binary bind. The thesis roots its claim in Butler’s reliance on an iterative understanding of language performativity that they inherited from Derrida. Once the theoretical limitations of the canonical account of gender performativity have been ascertained, the text broadens the boundaries of the theory by incorporating divergent readings of Austin’s theory of language performativity. Specifically, Medina’s ‘’New Austinian’’ framework serves as the groundwork from which an adequate understanding of genderqueer performativity emerges.