{"id":1908,"date":"2014-01-21T19:03:21","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T00:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2014\/01\/21\/gender-is-performance-says-professor\/"},"modified":"2022-11-07T18:05:25","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T23:05:25","slug":"gender-is-performance-says-professor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/gender-is-performance-says-professor\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender is performance, says professor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo by Maggie Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

What does it mean to be male or female?<\/p>\n

In a Thursday CLP titled \u201cExploring Gender Performance\u201d students were invited to explore the issue with philosophy professor Carmela Epright, Ph.D, and Bebe Zahara Benet, a drag queen performer.<\/p>\n

The lecture and performance was sponsored by Encouraging Respect of Sexualities (EROS).<\/p>\n

Benet was winner of the first season of RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race, a reality show that documents the lives of several drag queens as they compete to become \u201cAmerica\u2019s next drag superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CLP is about challenging what many see as traditional gender roles,\u201d said Rene Travis, vice president of EROS. \u201cDrag queens are an ideal example because, while they embody what many see as a stereotypical idea of women, at the same time they are breaking other idealized gender norms.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Travis, this made Benet an ideal speaker for the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were trying to bring in someone approachable and recognizable but who would also challenge Furman students to think outside the box,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

During her presentation, Dr. Epright discussed the concept of gender performativity and its connection to broader social ideas about gender and how this impacts our daily social interactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cGender is a performance,\u201d she says. \u201cWe are constantly practicing gender and being judged on how we practice it.\u201d<\/p>\n

These social norms, says Dr. Epright, spark the controversy surrounding those who dare to blur the divide between male and female, namely, drag queens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can remember in 2007 receiving death threats for having the Kinsey Sicks, a famous drag troupe, perform on campus,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While Thursday\u2019s event proved to be far less controversial than the one seven years ago, this did not stop Benet from stirring things up with the 350 member audience that packed the seats of Daniel Recital Hall. After her initial lip-synced dance routine, Benet engaged the audience with some playful taunting\u2014a typical component of drag shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer performance was fantastic and I think she really challenged a lot of people to step outside their comfort zones,\u201d said EROS president Mary Catherine Wilder.<\/p>\n

However, Benet\u2019s performance was not all light-hearted entertainment. She also discussed the many challenges that come with living outside of accepted social norms. Born Nea Marshall Kudi in the republic of Cameroon in western Africa, Benet recalled the struggle to conform to her culture\u2019s traditional customs concerning gender and masculinity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried for many years to be what I was expected to be,\u201d she said. \u201cI was miserable.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Benet, it was after moving to the United States and being introduced to the world of drag performance that she found an escape from the rigid cultural expectations of her homeland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much power in drag,\u201d says Benet. \u201cYou can dress up and be whoever you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benet concluded her presentation with one final message to the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust be who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does it mean to be male or female?<\/p>\n

In a Thursday CLP titled \u201cExploring Gender Performance\u201d students were invited to explore the issue with philosophy professor Carmela Epright, Ph.D, and Bebe Zahara Benet, a drag queen performer.<\/p>\n

The lecture and performance was sponsored by Encouraging Respect of Sexualities (EROS).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":12772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-philosophy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}