Up until the last few decades, a person's gender was defined by "the state of being male or female" (Webster). Even in the cases such as hermaphrodites there was no distinction a sex was chosen and so therefore that child became one sex or the other (Britannica). Butler defines gender "an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts"--a performance from which social constructs are formed (Butler). A person's identity should not be defined by their biological sex but rather by what they choose to be. However this idea is not a readily accepted by mainstream society. Butler believes that gender is not a conscious choice and "neither is it imposed or inscribed upon the individual, as some post-structuralist displacements of the subject would content". Many consider the idea of choosing a gender or not identifying to a specific type goes against their belief system. Additionally others find that there has to be some base line to determine what we are and are not. For example when someone says that woman is beautiful if there is not a standard or guideline, how do we define beauty? Also in terms of identifying a person, people have preconceived views and the people who don't fit in them are wrong. Society has set the guidelines and molds us into what is stated to be the natural pattern for what makes a man or a woman. .
The concept of gender performativity is "real only to the extent that it is performed" (Gender Trouble). What this means is that the male or female character is created by a set of actions a person does to create the affect they present to the world. Take for example a woman getting ready to for work at a bank. It requires showering, shaving, putting on make-up, styling hair, and dressing attractive yet not sexy. Butler states "We act and walk and speak and talk in ways that consolidate an impression of being a man or being a woman.