Performance Art And Its Impact On The Public Arena

Women’s movements have long used their voices as a disruptive force to subvert and undermine the patriarchal institutions at work. It is through their art and writings that their voices are heard by those who are listening. However, only being heard by those who are willing to listen is not sufficient enough to permanently install their presence in the public arena. This is why artists have turned to the method of performance art to actively communicate their messages without being disregarded by the public. Performance art goes beyond the relative scope of visual art in that it is actually executed in front of an audience. It is an aggressive â€Å"form of consciousness raising† that not only breaches the confines of one’s personal space but†¦show more content†¦Transgendered models have the power to transcend patriarchal definitions of masculinity and femininity because they perform constructions of gender identity that are in direct opposition to â₠¬Å"forcibly imposed ideals of what bodies ought to be like† (Undoing Gender 114). They take it one step further through performance art by wielding not only their voices but also their bodies to disrupt political and hetero-cultural realities that perpetuate restrictive gender boundaries within public space. Before delving deeper into the debate over whether or not transgender modeling should be considered performance art, we must first understand that there is a direct correlation between biological sex and performed gender that creates heteronormative modes of feminine or masculine embodiment. Butler defines performed gender as â€Å"a kind of imitation†¦that produces the very notion of the original as an effect and consequence of the imitation itself† (Imitation and gender Insubordination 306). The body then is not an empty vessel on which gender norms and heterosexual identities are imposed upon. Rather, it is a result and consequence of us trying to imitate s omething that does not exist in the first place. We only continue to experience our bodies as gendered because we remain participants in the performance of gender and therefore in the production of gender. Through the performance of gender,