Identity, individuality, and frames of self-expression
In our day-to-day we are often subjected to frames regarding our identity. We are defined by our dietary restrictions, the music we listen to, our sexual preference and cultural background. The list goes on and on. The term pigeonholing (in Dutch "Hokjesdenken", literally translates to "thinking in boxes") refers to the small grid-like birdhouses pigeons (fig. 32). are kept in. It describes a way of categorizing things or people without nuance. This way of thinking makes assumptions based on stereotypes and disregards any possibility of individuality. The term is often used in a negative context, but because we are social creatures, it can also help us recognize our "tribe" and find our community. In their project "Exactitudes" (1994 – ongoing) (fig. 33)., Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek show how "our desire to differentiate ourselves is also matched by a need to belong to a specific group"18. In this long-term project, they exhibit the uniformity within individualistic expression among social types and sub-cultures. In this case identity is shaped by a common interest or background.
Simone de Beauvoir famously stated that "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" 19, arguing that femininity isn't a biological phenomenon, but a result of nurture rather than nature. The subject –the woman– is shaped by the frame of pre-existing circumstances –her environment–. A similar thing happens with Judith Butler's "Gender Performativity". In their 1990 book "Gender Trouble"20 they argue that gender is something to be performed, rather than something to be. "Performance" in this context encompasses all forms of behavioral expression, the way we walk, talk, etc. Butler argues that this performance is not choreographed by each individual, but that is the culmination of a long history of gender expression.
Pre-existing norms, conventions and power dynamics flavour our interactions and forge our malleable sense of self. The fact that we are not just a pigeon in a hole, but individuals with agency and unique perspectives, may be the real "human experience". It is a privilege to acknowledge and embrace each other’s identities, to share our similarities and celebrate our differences.
Antoni Ferrer, “Exactitudes - Curator, London,” n.d.↩︎
Simone De Beauvoir, Constance Borde, and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, The Second Sex (Place of publication not identified: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012).↩︎
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge Classics (New York: Routledge, 2006).↩︎
Identity, individuality, and frames of self-expression
In our day-to-day we are often subjected to frames regarding our identity. We are defined by our dietary restrictions, the music we listen to, our sexual preference and cultural background. The list goes on and on. The term pigeonholing (in Dutch "Hokjesdenken", literally translates to "thinking in boxes") refers to the small grid-like birdhouses pigeons (fig. 32). are kept in. It describes a way of categorizing things or people without nuance. This way of thinking makes assumptions based on stereotypes and disregards any possibility of individuality. The term is often used in a negative context, but because we are social creatures, it can also help us recognize our "tribe" and find our community. In their project "Exactitudes" (1994 – ongoing) (fig. 33)., Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek show how "our desire to differentiate ourselves is also matched by a need to belong to a specific group"18. In this long-term project, they exhibit the uniformity within individualistic expression among social types and sub-cultures. In this case identity is shaped by a common interest or background.
Simone de Beauvoir famously stated that "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" 19, arguing that femininity isn't a biological phenomenon, but a result of nurture rather than nature. The subject –the woman– is shaped by the frame of pre-existing circumstances –her environment–. A similar thing happens with Judith Butler's "Gender Performativity". In their 1990 book "Gender Trouble"20 they argue that gender is something to be performed, rather than something to be. "Performance" in this context encompasses all forms of behavioral expression, the way we walk, talk, etc. Butler argues that this performance is not choreographed by each individual, but that is the culmination of a long history of gender expression.
Pre-existing norms, conventions and power dynamics flavour our interactions and forge our malleable sense of self. The fact that we are not just a pigeon in a hole, but individuals with agency and unique perspectives, may be the real "human experience". It is a privilege to acknowledge and embrace each other’s identities, to share our similarities and celebrate our differences.
Antoni Ferrer, “Exactitudes - Curator, London,” n.d.↩︎
Simone De Beauvoir, Constance Borde, and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, The Second Sex (Place of publication not identified: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012).↩︎
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge Classics (New York: Routledge, 2006).↩︎
Identity, individuality, and frames of self-expression
In our day-to-day we are often subjected to frames regarding our identity. We are defined by our dietary restrictions, the music we listen to, our sexual preference and cultural background. The list goes on and on. The term pigeonholing (in Dutch "Hokjesdenken", literally translates to "thinking in boxes") refers to the small grid-like birdhouses pigeons (fig. 32). are kept in. It describes a way of categorizing things or people without nuance. This way of thinking makes assumptions based on stereotypes and disregards any possibility of individuality. The term is often used in a negative context, but because we are social creatures, it can also help us recognize our "tribe" and find our community. In their project "Exactitudes" (1994 – ongoing) (fig. 33)., Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek show how "our desire to differentiate ourselves is also matched by a need to belong to a specific group"18. In this long-term project, they exhibit the uniformity within individualistic expression among social types and sub-cultures. In this case identity is shaped by a common interest or background.
Simone de Beauvoir famously stated that "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" 19, arguing that femininity isn't a biological phenomenon, but a result of nurture rather than nature. The subject –the woman– is shaped by the frame of pre-existing circumstances –her environment–. A similar thing happens with Judith Butler's "Gender Performativity". In their 1990 book "Gender Trouble"20 they argue that gender is something to be performed, rather than something to be. "Performance" in this context encompasses all forms of behavioral expression, the way we walk, talk, etc. Butler argues that this performance is not choreographed by each individual, but that is the culmination of a long history of gender expression.
Pre-existing norms, conventions and power dynamics flavour our interactions and forge our malleable sense of self. The fact that we are not just a pigeon in a hole, but individuals with agency and unique perspectives, may be the real "human experience". It is a privilege to acknowledge and embrace each other’s identities, to share our similarities and celebrate our differences.
Antoni Ferrer, “Exactitudes - Curator, London,” n.d.↩︎
Simone De Beauvoir, Constance Borde, and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, The Second Sex (Place of publication not identified: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012).↩︎
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge Classics (New York: Routledge, 2006).↩︎
Identity, individuality, and frames of self-expression
In our day-to-day we are often subjected to frames regarding our identity. We are defined by our dietary restrictions, the music we listen to, our sexual preference and cultural background. The list goes on and on. The term pigeonholing (in Dutch "Hokjesdenken", literally translates to "thinking in boxes") refers to the small grid-like birdhouses pigeons (fig. 32). are kept in. It describes a way of categorizing things or people without nuance. This way of thinking makes assumptions based on stereotypes and disregards any possibility of individuality. The term is often used in a negative context, but because we are social creatures, it can also help us recognize our "tribe" and find our community. In their project "Exactitudes" (1994 – ongoing) (fig. 33)., Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek show how "our desire to differentiate ourselves is also matched by a need to belong to a specific group"18. In this long-term project, they exhibit the uniformity within individualistic expression among social types and sub-cultures. In this case identity is shaped by a common interest or background.
Simone de Beauvoir famously stated that "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" 19, arguing that femininity isn't a biological phenomenon, but a result of nurture rather than nature. The subject –the woman– is shaped by the frame of pre-existing circumstances –her environment–. A similar thing happens with Judith Butler's "Gender Performativity". In their 1990 book "Gender Trouble"20 they argue that gender is something to be performed, rather than something to be. "Performance" in this context encompasses all forms of behavioral expression, the way we walk, talk, etc. Butler argues that this performance is not choreographed by each individual, but that is the culmination of a long history of gender expression.
Pre-existing norms, conventions and power dynamics flavour our interactions and forge our malleable sense of self. The fact that we are not just a pigeon in a hole, but individuals with agency and unique perspectives, may be the real "human experience". It is a privilege to acknowledge and embrace each other’s identities, to share our similarities and celebrate our differences.
Antoni Ferrer, “Exactitudes - Curator, London,” n.d.↩︎
Simone De Beauvoir, Constance Borde, and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, The Second Sex (Place of publication not identified: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012).↩︎
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge Classics (New York: Routledge, 2006).↩︎