Butler and "Transamerica"

One of the most fascinating topics we covered in class over the past few weeks was Judith Butler’s queer theory and fluid identities. I have found myself thinking about her work, and seeking out media that represent what she is talking about.
I’ve found it difficult to find anything that really goes beyond gender as a binary, and admittedly I was often confused when I did. This notion of binaries is not only gender, but to a degree in sexual preference. As a comfortably out gay man, I feel that I understand heterosexuality and homosexuality. For some reason I find it difficult to grasp bisexuality, being transgendered, or other sexualities. Likewise, I found the clips we watched in class, and some of the clips dealing with sexuality difficult to “digest”.
While I was falling asleep the other night, I was thinking about the notion of gender performativity. Gauntlett, (2008) explains gender performativity as the way that we express our gender as a performance. One way in which popular culture has dealt with notions of gender performativity is through film. This clip from “Transamerica” illustrates how I view gender performativity:
“Transamerica” a film from 2005, provides us another way to view gender, and I believe this film carries us from binaries in gender and sexuality to a broader view. When we watch the trailer, which I’ve provided, we get only a glimpse of this very complex film. We can clearly see Felicity Huffman’s charcter Bree performing her gender on a daily basis. We can see the struggles that Bree goes through on a daily basis to perform her gender.


In addition to the struggles Bree faces we can see some of the struggles her son Toby (Kevin Zegers) goes through in the film. Toby is forced to not only deal with his biological father’s new identity as a woman, but examine his own sexuality.
Throughout the film Toby is solicited for sex by men, and also has sex with women. It is apparent that Toby is accustomed to this lifestyle. We can see this when he is trying to seduce Bree before he knows that Bree is his father. This dramatic scene illustrates Toby’s rejection of his father’s identity, and some very interesting dynamics of the film.
The film is also interesting when we look at subversion. According to our text subversion can be explained the following way “…if society were to witness unpredictable, seemingly ‘random’ performances of identity, which challenge our expectations about gender—that’s the proliferation of ‘subversive confusion’ that she’s [Butler] talking about—then our taken-for-granted gender categories would be shaken and, if subjected to enough challenges, might eventually fall apart altogether” (Gauntlett, 2008, p. 152). What I find most interesting about “Transamerica” is the fact that we watch Bree go to great lengths to avoid subversion. Arguably Bree’s existence is a big performance of gender, but not the way Butler advocates.
Although the film doesn’t move towards a neutral gender as Butler would wish the film is still an excellent way to understand what Butler is talking about. We can use this film to refute what critics of Butler’s theory may say. Pages 158-162 list Tim Edward’s critiques of queer theory. I will address Edward’s critiques in terms of “Transamerica”
Edward’s first argument is that identities are usually stable. In this film we can see that Bree is stable in her identity. She had had her feelings about her identity as long as she could remember, and has made the decision to perform her life in this matter. Although Bree was stable in her identity, her performance of that identity changes throughout her life, and throughout the film. Bree starts to assume more of a mothering role, which changes who she is as a person. Also, much work is put in by her social worker before her sex-change operation to ensure that her identity is stable.
The text makes further arguments against queer theory by saying, “queer theory cheats, by focusing on fancy theories and cultural texts rather than real life” and “queer theorists gaze optimistically at popular culture” (Gauntlett, 2008, p. 159) As much as I’d like to argue these points, they are undeniable as I’m using a film to explore Butler’s theory. However, to the point of gazing optimistically at pop culture we must step back and look at the film. The film was wildly popular and somewhat controversial. The film opened the dialogue for people to discuss gender issues.
Another argument Edwards makes is, “celebration of diversity may lead to individualism and fragmentation” (Gauntlett, 2008, p. 160) Similarly he states, “by celebrating difference, queer politics reinforces the idea of gays and lesbians as marginal and ‘alternative’”(Gauntlett, 2008, p. 161). I think “Transamerica” doesn’t take a stance of “celebration of diversity” but actually takes diversity and puts it into a day to day context. Although the film is focusing on the struggles faced by Bree as a transsexual individual, it puts it into an everyday context. To that same point, the portrayal of Bree isn’t alternative. In fact, her character does all that she can to fit in through gender performances. Clearly, this isn’t an example of an alternative or marginalized identity.
The last argument that Edwards makes about queer theory is “Queer theory celebrates pleasure, sex, the visual, the young and trendy” (Gauntlett, 2008, p. 162). Transamerica clearly does not fall into this trap. Bree is far from young or trendy. Her character is also socioeconomically poor and struggling to survive. The film doesn’t have the glamour and ‘sparkle’ that this argument is saying it should have. Bree isn’t sexually active, although Toby is. Toby is portrayed as having sex for survival. I don’t find his sexual activities in the film as celebrating pleasure, sex, or being glamorous.
Queer theory provides us an interesting lens through which to view “Transamerica”. I believe that this film can make some interesting points on sexuality, and that popular culture may embrace Butler’s views more than we may have initially thought.