"The articulation 'I feel like a woman' by a female or 'I feel like a man' by a male presupposes that in neither case is the claim meaninglessly redundant. Although it might appear unproblematic to be a given anatomy (although we shall later consider the way in which that project is also fraught with difficulty), the experience of a gendered psychic disposition or cultural identity is considered an achievement. Thus, 'I feel like a woman' is true to the extant that Aretha Franklin's invocation of the defining Other is assumed: 'You make me feel like a natural woman.'* This achievement requires a differentiation from the opposite gender. Hence, one is one's gender to the extent that one is not the other gender, a formulation that presupposes and enforces the restriction of gender within that binary pair.
*Aretha's song, originally written by Carole King, also contests the naturalization of gender. 'Like a natural woman' is a phrase that suggests that 'naturalness' is only accomplished through analogy or metaphor. In other words, 'You make me feel like a metaphor of the natural,' and without 'you,' some denaturalized ground would be revealed. For a further discussion of Aretha's claim in light of Simone de Beauvoir's contention that 'one is not born, but rather becomes a woman,' see [Bulter's] 'Beauvoir's Philosophical Contribution,' in eds. Ann Garry can Marilyn Pearsall, Women, Knowledge, and Reality (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989): 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 1996)."
See:
Blige
Clarkson
Franklin
King
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