Gender is something we do: from symbolic interactionism to gender performativity

There are three ways in which gender can be thought of as something we ‘do’.The first argues that to do gender is to perform it, as an actor performs a role. Secondly, to ‘do’ gender can mean that we have to work at it. This tends to emphasize that doing gender is more like work than play. Thirdly, gender can be understood as performative, which means gender is pro­duced through the repetition of gender norms. This tries to get away from the idea of actors doing gender, without going back to the idea that our gender is a fixed part of who we are; but more of that later. Initially I want to explain the influence of a dramaturgical approach to gender.