Research Paper on The Kids Are All Right: Unraveling Gender and Heteronormativity

Gender has often been considered to be woven in the social fabric and where its identity is regarded as a performative accomplishment. Judith Butler, in her book Gender Trouble, gave an insight into the cultural meaning of gender (Butler, 1990). Butler's argument tends to uncover the assumption that gender is premised on heterosexualism that dictates a natural relationship to be comprised of male and female only. In the film, The Kids Are All Right by Lisa Cholodenko, a departure from heteronormative values is created where a lesbian family successfully raises their two children (Cholodenko et al., 2011). Notably, a cultural nom has been promoted, which tends to assert that humans are naturally divided into males and females and assigned different natural roles in their life. Further, Butler maintains that sexual desire and sexual identity are not natural and that anatomical differences between males and females are influenced by the categorization and expectation outlined by the cultural setting (Jenkins & Finneman, 2018). Butler further argued that gender is anchored on performativity, where it is focused on what the human being does. The paper will critically analyze the theory of gender performativity and how the concept can be used to explain ideas about culture and family in the film The Kids Are All Right by Lisa Cholodenko.

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Understandably, Butler outlines that contemporary culture deeply emphasizes that sexuality is linked to people's identity. Sex and sexual desires have been for a long period considered by modern culture as a definition of which human beings are (Butler, 1990). Butler sought to disrupt this notion by developing the theory of performativity, which not only communicated the aspect of gender identity but also constructed it through repetition. Additionally, there is always a convergence in the belief of what male and female signify created by different cultural discourses (Jenkins & Finneman, 2018). Undoubtedly, the presence of strong social forces often creates an environment where boys and girls can assume roles apportioned to males and females. In Butler's view, gender identity is a trap that will gradually harden to dictate the behavior of boys and girls (Butler, 1990). Notably, Butler's argument on gender performativity is reflected in the film, The Kids Are All Right, where a long-term and successful relationship was established between Nic and Jules (Cholodenko et al., 2011). The concept of performativity highlights that's gender cannot be viewed through a heterosexual lens but rather through the roles performed by the individuals.

Furthermore, Butler notes that deviants such as bisexuals, homosexuals, and hermaphrodites are inevitable in the contemporary social dispensation (Jenkins & Finneman, 2018). This is attributed to the fact that the social environment is comprised of different discourses, which can hardly achieve full domination. Non-heterosexual feelings and actions cannot be expunged by creating compulsory heterosexuality (Jenkins & Finneman, 2018). However, individuals that have been labeled as deviant often suffer from inner guilt that may adversely affect their individuality. According to Butler, social pressure often influences the behavior of people, which consequently makes them conform to established cultural norms (Butler, 1990). Undeniably, Butler's argument is integral in explaining the lives of Nic and Jules where a disruption on heterosexual values are depicted in the way they related to each other in the same-sex marriage (Cholodenko et al., 2011). Also, the concept established a mother and mother of a third person, and this provided a new understanding of gender identity. Moreover, Butler demonstrates that identity is often subject to aggression that can ultimately create consistencies in people's relationships (Blumenfeld, 2017). She further highlights that identity is often performatively created by acts and not planted on people.

Cultural orders often facilitate desires and fantasies, which, in effect, determines gender identity. Butler observed that identity is greatly influenced by culturally instituted beliefs about masculine and feminine behavior (Butler, 1990). Moreover, biological characteristics are often used when distinguishing males and females. However, Butler provided a departure from this notion by highlighting that the differences that punctuate the identities of men and women can be changed notably because they have been produced by social fabrics. She noted that gender cannot be determined by biological sex and that an individual cannot become a given gender because of belonging to a particular sex (Butler, 1990). This explains the family structure in the film The Kids Are All Right, the biological features of Jules and Nic were not used in determining their gender. Further, Butler's concept was instrumental in understanding the fact that there is always a distinction between parental system and child system (Cholodenko et al., 2011). Joni and Laser, who were the adolescent children of Nic and Jules, charted their path of life despite being raised by the lesbian parents (Cholodenko et al., 2011). More critically, Butler argued that gender is often unstable compared to sex, notably because it is socially constructed.

Moreover, the norms of gender and sex are often created by people in the position of power. Cultural norms have been hardened to dictate that an individual must be either a male or female sex, and that informs the reason why babies with confusing genitalia are being operated to assume the sex of either a male or a female (Jenkins & Finneman, 2018). More significantly, people in power always determine what is right and what is not in the society. According to Butler, a norm that depicts the idea of heterosexuality as normal and that describes homosexuality as deviant has been woven in the social fabric by the powerful people in the society (Butler, 1990). Furthermore, different traits of gender have been socially constructed, which determines the behavior and actions of men and women. The ideas presented by Butler are helpful in proving that masculine dominance still exists, as indicated in the film, The Kids Are All Right. Men are often socially stationed to play the father role, and this significantly played out in the marriage between Nic and Jules. It should be noted that gender norms may be different in other cultures (Cholodenko et al., 2011). For instance, it may be normal for people with same-sex to walk while holding hands in some cultures, while the same may be different in others.

Also, social interventions often determine differences between gender identities, where people may be trained to behave in a certain way as behaving otherwise would create a mismatch for their gender (Blumenfeld, 2017). Different cultures always have different definitions for masculinity and femininity, just like different behavioral attributes associated with them. Butler argued that women were considered feminine, and men being associated with masculinity may not be influenced by biological features but rather socially determined (Butler, 1990). Notably, Butler used the term performative, as it results in different effects. Performativity is anchored on the repetitiveness of actions that have been performed. She further demonstrated that gender identity is similar to "a ritualized production," as gender acts are often done repeatedly (Butler, 1990). This concept provides a linkage with the ideas highlighted in the film The Kids Are All Right by Cholodenko. For instance, the femininity and masculinity of Nic and Jules were socially and culturally constructed. Social interventions redefined the gender of Nic, where he played a masculine role in the family despite being biologically a woman (Cholodenko et al., 2011). Undeniably, this reality is in line with Butler's argument that the performance of gender acts influences gender performativity. For instance, a woman may be associated with masculinity if she repeatedly performs masculine roles.

More significantly, gender identity can only be created by the execution of gendered acts. Butler argued that heterosexual construction is often hinged on the reproductive organs of men and women (Butler, 1990). Further, gender identity is always concealed by the coherence of social and cultural constructions. Gender identity may be manufactured in line with the established cultural norms. Equally important, stable identity is often inscribed in the bodies where fabrication mechanisms always play an integral role in determining the roles of men and women (Butler, 1990). Additionally, there is always a difference between the sex of an individual performing gender acts and the action itself. Different gender experiences often create heterosexual continuity in most cultures where gender identity will be naturalized (Jenkins & Finneman, 2018). The theory of performativity immensely plays out in the film The Kids Are All Right, where a masculine and feminine identity is demonstrated in a similar way. Moreover, cultural setting, as depicted in the film, greatly influenced sexual orientation in the marriage between Nic and Jules (Cholodenko et al., 2011). Repetition in different gender acts helped in reinforcing how masculine and feminine is viewed in society.

Additionally, imitative practices have constructed the notion and illusion of an inscribed gendered self. Butler highlights that gender performance often depends on its connection ton cultural setting where the system may erase it if it does not conform to the established norms (Butler, 1990). She further argues that discrete gender plays an integral role in humanizing individuals in modern culture. It is worth noting that individuals, who tend to show deviance to ideals of gender identity as determined by a particular culture, may face different consequences. Cultural fictions are often embedded in gender norms and act, which creates pressure on individuals to adhere to them (Butler, 1990). More imperatively, performativity outlines that gender should always be maintained within the binary boundary to ensure that men and women are adequately consolidated. Butler observed that gender identity should be constituted in time to help in maintaining its repetitive path. In the same vein, it is always impossible to attain full internalization and embodiment of gender norms. Butler's argument is in line with the happenings in the film The Kids Are All Right, Nic depicted all manly roles in the marriage by offering protection to Jules and the family in general (Cholodenko et al., 2011).

Butler demonstrated that gender could be regulated in different ways. She sought to establish whether there is a prior regulation of gender or if individuals are products of the regulation (Jenkins & Finneman, 2018). Understandably, some actions are always regarded as an expression of particular gender identity, and the actions often tend to lean on expectations of the society. Butler took issue with a common reference to a group of either belonging to men or women as that common identity often breeds problems in society (Blumenfeld, 2017). In the film The Kids Are All Right, Jules is demonstrated to be belonging to particular gender identity, that is, women notably because she depicted feminine roles in her marriage with Nic (Cholodenko et al., 2011). Undeniably, Butler's assertions confirm that gender identity is unstable as it is near impossible to be a gender or sex-based on the social norms maintained by society (Butler, 1990). More critically, gender is performative because it exists when it is being performed. Quite evidently, actions that were being performed by Nic significantly influenced her gender identity, where she became associated with masculinity.