Analysis Of Giovanni's Room And Stone Butch Blues By Judith Butler

Through inspecting the protagonists in Giovanni’s Room and Stone Butch Blues with the same lens used by Judith Butler in “Imitation and Gender Insubordination”, difference in reaction to oppression via compulsory heterosexuality are revealed. In Butler’s essay, she analyzes how and why gender is performative in nature while revealing that although people commit themselves to compulsory performances, or imitations, of gender, there is no “original” or “true” gender, even though the notion of imitation seems to imply that there is. Butler uses the example of drag (which she proposes as presenting oneself as a gender one does not ascribe to) to explain that it, “…is not the putting on of a gender that belongs properly to some other group… that

‘masculine’ belongs to ‘male’ and ‘feminine’ belongs to ‘female.’ There is no ‘proper’ gender, a gender proper to one sex rather than another…” (Butler 312). In this, she proposes that although compulsory heterosexuality suggests that there is a “proper” gender for each sex, when in actuality no gender “belongs” to any sex, and that,
“Drag constitutes the mundane way in which genders are appropriated, theatricalized, worn, and done; it implies that all gendering is a kind of impersonation and approximation. If this is true… gender is a kind of imitation for which there is no original; in fact, it is a kind of imitation that produces the very notion of the original as an effect and consequence of the imitation itself” (Butler 313).
So, in other words, she explains that drag reveals the flaw in associating physical sex with gender, as there is no “proper” gender that those in drag are appropriating-- they are instead highlighting gender’s performative nature.

She also explains that drag does not imitate an “original” gender, as there is no original, even though the presence of an imitation would seem to indicate the presence of one. Butler then delves deeper into the intricacies of gender as a performance when she states that, “It is a compulsory performance in the sense that acting out of line with heterosexual norms brings with it ostracism, punishment, and violence…” (Butler 314-315). Compulsory heterosexuality dictates that gender is also a compulsive performance, as individuals that do not align with mainstream society’s views on what their “proper” gender is are put into immediate physical and societal danger. With this piece of theory in mind, while both David in Giovanni’s Room and Jess in Stone Butch Blues have an acute awareness towards the performative nature of gender, their actions to satisfy the ideals set forth by compulsory heterosexuality have sharply different outcomes, as in Giovanni’s Room, anxieties towards performing the “proper” gender “correctly” (that is, anxieties towards the possibility of emasculation) motivate and shape David’s actions throughout the entirety text, while in Stone Butch Blues Jess’ physical changes are a form of drag in the sense that they are presenting

themselves in their most acceptable form possible to mainstream society as a survival tactic in response to the compulsory heterosexuality they find themselves drowning in, even though by the end of the narrative Jess rejects the comfort of physical and societal safety for the comfort of feeling like one’s self.
Throughout Giovanni’s Room, David negotiates with compulsive heterosexuality in terms of gender performance through anxieties expressed towards being emasculated and not signifying the “proper” gender. At one point in the text, David longs for unquestioned manhood, as he states, “It was true… [that] I wanted children. I wanted to be inside again, with the light and safety, with my manhood unquestioned, watching my woman put my children to bed… I wanted a women to be for me a steady ground, like the earth itself, where I could always be renewed” (Baldwin 65). David is aware that his manhood is constantly being scrutinized to see if it aligns with his performance, and because of this he wishes that he had all the signifiers that would make him a man in his society’s eyes. He wants to be the most “true” form of man, but as Butler explains, this is impossible, as there is no original for gender. There is no way for him to become the identity itself because even if his performance is flawless in the eyes of his society, “…coherent gender, achieved through an apparent repetition of the same, produces as its effect the illusion of a prior and volitional subject” (Butler 314), meaning that although his imitation of “being” a man gives the effect of there is something he is imitating, there is no prior subject, nothing for him to become. David’s anxieties towards being emasculated by not “correctly” performing his gender are perhaps most apparent when he discusses being a “housewife” for Giovanni, his lover at the time, as he states that,
“…I invented in myself a kind of pleasure in playing the housewife after Giovanni had gone to work. I threw out the paper, the bottles, the fantastic accumulation of trash; I examined the contents of the innumerable boxes and suitcases and disposed of them. But I am not a housewife—men never can be housewives.” (Baldwin 50)
Even though David himself admits that he enjoys cleaning Giovanni’s room, he still rejects the role because he views it as a woman’s job, something that is part of their performance and not his, as he frets that if he is a “housewife” to Giovanni that he will no longer be a man. This particular anxiety is revisited later in the novel, when David and Giovanni are arguing during the termination of their relationship. The exchange goes as follows (with David leading),
“'What kind of life can two men have together, anyway? All this love you talk about— isn't it just that you want to be made to feel strong? You want to go out and be the big laborer and bring home the money, and you want me to stay here and wash the dishes and cook the food and clean this miserable closet of a room and kiss you when you come in through that door and lie with you at night and be your little girl… That's what you mean and that's all you mean when you say you love me… What do you think you've been doing to me?' 'I am not trying to make you a little girl. If I wanted a little girl, I would be with a little girl.'… 'But I'm a man,' I cried, 'a man! What do you think can happen between us?' 'You know very well,' said Giovanni slowly, 'what can happen between us. It is for that reason you are leaving me’” (Baldwin 88).
Due to David’s influence by compulsory heterosexuality, he does not understand how two men can have a fulfilling relationship together, as, to his knowledge, the performance of manhood is dictated by dominance, being the sole breadwinner, and doing household chores. In this perception of manhood, there is only (reasonably) space for one person to act in such a fashion within a relationship, and while David is aware that gender is performative in nature, he cannot accept that he does not need to participate in solely “masculine” activities. As Jacque would say, David is trying to keep his “immaculate manhood” (Baldwin 23) intact.
In Stone Butch Blues, Jess’ “transition” from androgyny to passing as a man is a form of drag, as it is a performance of a gender that they do not totally identify as, although it is crucial to note the difference between this form of drag and what drag is typically depicted as, as Jess does this as a survival mechanism and not a leisurely activity. Jess expresses the desire to present themself as a man when they state that, “‘Honey, I can’t survive as a he-she much longer. I can’t keep taking the system head-on this way. I’m not gonna make it … We were talking about maybe starting on hormones, male hormones. I was thinking I might try to pass as a guy’” (Feinberg 158). The desire to pass as a man, not to be a man is something Jess is adamant about, as they tell their then-lover Theresa that, “‘I’d still be butch… Even on hormones’” (Feinberg 163), and they even explain that although they want to start injecting hormones (testosterone) and to receive a breast reduction surgery that they know they are not a transsexual because, “‘I don’t feel like a man trapped in a woman’s body. I just feel trapped’” (Feinberg 171). Jess, similarly to David, is aware that gender is a performance, and that part of that performance is their physical appearance, and that as a butch lesbian their appearance does not align with the expectations set by mainstream society through compulsive heterosexuality, as they do not present themselves as feminine even though they are female-bodied. Jess also understands that, “…acting out of line with heterosexual norms brings with it ostracism, punishment, and violence…” (Butler 315), and that their physical and societal safety are most guaranteed when they are passing as one particular gender, as evidenced by their response that they are just, “’Trying to live’” (Feinberg 187) when they are criticized by those that knew them prior to their “transition”. Jess is literally just trying to survive and guarantee some sort of safety for themselves through their “transition” to gain access to passing privilege.
Although David and Jess both recognize that gender is performative in nature, only Jess chooses their own comfortability over being an individual that is compliant to compulsive heterosexuality. While David is too invested in his immaculate manhood to participate in activities that would bring him joy-- such as cleaning Giovanni’s room-- for fear of it being incredibly emasculating, as soon as Jess realizes that, “passing didn’t just mean slipping below the surface, it meant being buried alive. I was still me on the inside, trapped in there with all my wounds and fears. But I was no longer me on the outside” (Feinberg 186), they can no longer participate in hormone injections, as they find that, “No matter how I tried I could not sink that needle into my quadriceps as I’d done hundreds of times before” (Feinberg 240). To Jess, the physical safety that entails presenting oneself to the standards set by compulsory heterosexuality are no longer more beneficial than their sense of identity, so they stop. This is a crucial difference between Jess and David, as while David appears to sacrifice his own personal happiness for the sake of performing his gender “correctly”, Jess refuses to feel uncomfortable in their own skin and “transitions” back to presenting as more obviously butch, even though that decision comes at the expense of their physical and societal safety.
Although David and Jess are familiar with the performance that entails gender, David frets over every decision he makes, wondering if it is emasculating or invalidating his gender, while Jess chooses the ease of feeling like one’s self over much more secure physical and societal safety.

David is so influenced by compulsory heterosexuality that he does not understand how two men can have a fulfilling relationship together, nor does he understand that while gender is a performance, one does not need to confine themselves to stereotypical activities and attitudes of the gender they ascribe to. He also expresses a longing to have “unquestioned manhood” -- he wishes to become the epitome of a man, someone with so many signifiers that no one would ever doubt his masculinity. However, as Butler clarifies, he cannot be the most “true” form of a man, as the identity itself is an illusion, with its signifiers varying across time and culture. Jess, however, is participating in a form of drag in order to pass as a man, so that they can ensure some sense of physical and societal safety, as they recognize that in the mainstream society that ascribes to compulsory heterosexuality, those that do not align with that society’s heterosexual norms are designated to abuse from members of that society. Once passing as a man stops making Jess feel more happy than it did empty, they are physically unable to further inject themselves with hormones, a testament to their determination to feel true to

themself. Through the analyses of David and Jess, the damaging effects of compulsory heterosexuality become apparent.