GENDER Archives

Analysis of ‘India: Section 377: How Natural Is Normal’.

March 3, 2025October 1, 2025 Dr Aswathy Aravindakshan 1 Comment

Reading Time: 2 minutes Nivedita Menon’s essay ‘Analysis of India: Section 377: How Natural Is Normal?’ questions the assumed naturalness of heterosexuality. It examines the idea of “normality” concerning Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalised sexual activities “against the order of nature.” She argues that societal definitions of “normal” and “natural” sexuality are cultural…

GENDER STUDIES

Kalki Subramaniam: Her Talk Not Only Exposes Gender Injustices

March 3, 2025October 1, 2025 Dr Aswathy Aravindakshan 3 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes THE TALK Kalki Subramaniam begins her talk, ” Breaking Binaries: Establishing Identities,” by inviting everyone to close their eyes to meditate and visualise her upcoming message. She then expresses that we all believe in a supreme power, which may manifest as science, religion, or energy. She encourages everyone to picture this as a single…

GENDER STUDIES

Basic Tenets of Judith Butler’s Gender Performance Theory

November 30, 2024October 20, 2026 Dr Aswathy Aravindakshan 3 Comments

Reading Time: 3 minutesJudith Butler (1956 -) is an American academic. Her theories of gender performance have influenced cultural theory and feminism in the late 20th century. Judith deconstructs the traditional notions of gender identity. Her theories have greatly impacted archaeology, leading to studies on the archaeology of gender. Judith Butler’s important works include – Gender Trouble: Feminism and…

AMERICAN LITERATURE, KERALA UNIVERSITY SYLLABUS - PG, PERFORMING GENDER

What Is Performing Gender? Insights from Judith Butler

November 24, 2024October 20, 2026 Dr Aswathy Aravindakshan 6 Comments

Reading Time: 2 minutesGender performativity is a term popularised by the poststructuralist American theorist and philosopher Judith Butler. According to her, neither gender nor sex is entirely a biological concept. Both are naturalised due to performances over time. Gender is inscribed in performances or behaviours that show what society expects from men and women. It is evident in…

KERALA UNIVERSITY SYLLABUS - PG, PERFORMING GENDER

Providing a Past for ‘Bodies That Matter’ Today

November 16, 2024October 20, 2026 Dr Aswathy Aravindakshan 2 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes The article ‘Providing a Past for ‘Bodies that Matter’: Judith Butler‘s Impact on the Archaeology of Gender, by Elizabeth M. Perry and Rosemary A. Joyce, discusses how Judith Butler’s theories about performing gender impact archaeological studies on gender. The article is divided into four sections, including an introduction and conclusion, and builds on Butler’s core tenets…

PERFORMING GENDER

Adichie: Discussing the Challenges of Balancing Two Opposite Cultures

October 20, 2024July 3, 2026 Dr Aswathy Aravindakshan 4 Comments

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, born on September 15, 1977, in Enugu, Nigeria, grew up in a nurturing academic environment with her parents deeply involved in the University of Nigeria. Her father was a professor of statistics, and her mother was the university’s first female registrar. Her family lived on the university campus, in a house…

AFRICAN LITERATURE, KERALA UNIVERSITY SYLLABUS - UG, POST COLONIAL LITERATURE, WOMEN'S WRITING