A Review of the Notion of Social Construction of Gender from a Sociolinguistic Perspective

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the social construction of gender by utilizing some of the literature on the concept of gender, subject positioning, construction, construal, and performance from the linguistic perspectives, especially in relation to discourse. The study mainly focuses on the notion of ‘gender as performance’ and emphasizes how society constructs individual gender in public discourse and how individuals abide the gender norm by performing gender identities for the benefit of both others and themselves. This paper tries to address the empirical research in the light of Butler’s point of view despite the fact that many important questions are challenging her notion of gender and performance.