Discursive Theories of Gender

Discursive theories of gender see gender as something that is enacted on a daily basis through discourse. This understanding is in contrast to seeing gender as a property of persons or a set of adjectives associated with a person. Discursive theories of gender are part of wider approaches that see gender as a social construction, and they are thus central to understanding gender and society. What is unique about discursive approaches to gender is that discourses are seen as producing certain gendered subjects.

Discourse is a contested term, and many approaches lay claim to the term. The term discourse comes from the Latin word discurrere, which literally means to run to or through without objective. Discourse can refer to a poststructural definition often linked to Foucauldian theories and to a more linguistic understanding of language in use. In the Foucauldian understanding, discourse refers to the regulatory system that creates the order of things in a society through distinctions such as right/wrong, masculine/feminine, and so on. Discourse is here seen as a large sum of statements that regulate what is accepted as knowledge in a given society. Discourse can also be seen in a more linguistic version as language in use. This means that spoken and written texts can be subjected to an analysis of what is said when and how. Through this analysis, it is possible to analyze how the societal order is re-established through the use of language. Discursive theories of gender draw on Foucauldian as well as linguistic definitions of discourse to theorize gender as something that is performed.

Judith Butler is one of the most prominent thinkers who uses Foucauldian approaches to theorize gender. For Butler, gender is something that is done. This is in contrast to other understandings of gender where gender is seen as a property of persons or a set of adjectives. Drawing on Foucault, Butler argues that discourses, as large sums of statements, make certain subject positions available. Subject positions are the basis on which gender identities are formed. Discourse is thus powerful in defining what one understands to be gender and what it means to be a man or a woman in a given society. Gendered subjects are created through responding to or enacting these discourses. Although there are multitudes of discourses, certain discourses are more dominant than others, which makes them hegemonic. These hegemonic discourses determine how the ideal man or woman is supposed to be and oppresses other ways of enacting gender.

Another approach to gender as discourse is to understand discourses as the spoken word and as embedded in conversations. Various researchers have explored how gender is enacted through talk. For instance, Deborah Tannen believes that men and women have different talking styles and that this becomes evident in everyday life, with women more often using “we,” and men using “I” more often. Other researchers have studied micro-interactions to explore how gender is created in a situation. Don Zimmerman and Candace West found that patients are more likely to interrupt female medical doctors than male medical doctors. This study highlights how societal gender assumptions are embedded in and perpetuated through spoken discourse. Such studies are based on the insight that gender is created through everyday interactions and that talk can be easily accessed to study these mechanisms and show how gender is enacted.

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