”Jag vill gärna göra motstånd, men jag vill inte vara motstånd” – En studie av hur icke-binära könsidentiteter relaterar till performativitet och motstånd

Abstract

The aim of this study was to answer the following two questions relating non-binary gender identities to performativity and resistance:  In which ways do performativity relate to the creation of non-binary gender identities? Are there any performative acts amongst the interviewed people?  In which ways can non-binary gender identities be understood as a form of resistance? The study builds largely on Judith Butler’s theory about gender and performativity, and how resistance understood as performative acts can be used as a resistance strategy. It builds partly on queer theory and ten semi-structured, face to face interviews with people with various non-binary gender identities. It reaches the conclusion that performativity is related to non-binary gender identities to the extent that there seems to be two different kinds of performativity in creating non-binary gender identities, the first being a form of gender expression in which typically female and male coded attributes such as lipstick, high heels and a beard are combined at the same time in the expression of a person. The other form of performativity uncovered in this study is one striving to reach androgyny. For a person assigned female at birth, which most of the interviewed people were, to reach this it seems it is helpful to conform to an expression with masculine connotations for example with short hair, a flat chest, a lower voice. The study also reaches the conclusion that these forms of performativity can be understood as a form of resistance against the societal structure that ostracizes individuals that do not fit in the gender binary and that some of the interviewees resistance strategies, such as using a gender neutral language, gently correcting people when being misgendered and educating people about non-binary gender identities, can be seen as everyday resistance in the sense that they are acts that often go unnoticed in relation to resistance, and that the interviewees could be in danger if more open acts of resistance had been made.