Performative Acts of Gender and Cindy Sherman

In the beginning of Judith Butler's article “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory" she outlines her intentions for the remainder of the work. The introduction, before Part 1, constitutes many ideas that are embodied in Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills series and her later works . Butler begins by discussing the involvement of theatrical acts within philosophy, while there are none directly, she says, she points out the discourse of "acts that maintains associative semantic meanings with theories of performance and acting." She uses the branch of phenomenological philosophy to explain the more specific type of "acts" she is interested in and how they can reflect social and gender realities. Marleau-Ponty, among others theorized the act "seeks to explain the mundane way in which social agents constitute social reality, through language, gesture, and all manner of symbolic social sign." Sherman uses gesture and symbolic social signs within her works that create a gender specific image of a very feminized woman in the stills. Sherman's use of make up, costume, setting and composition, create an identifiable image of a woman. Instead of just an ordinary woman, in an ordinary world, she attempts to re-create the familiar and sought after "actress" image from Hollywood black and white films. I believe this is an attempt to embody a certain "type" of woman that was the ultimate female but forever unattainable. This "type" of woman had been evolved through social tastes and popularity, creating a gender specific fantasy through certain behaviors and dress on screen. Butler thesis, essentially captures the process in which Sherman creates her works: "I will draw from theatrical, anthropological, and philosophical discourses, but mainly phenomenology, to show that what is called gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social sanction and taboo."