Resistance of stereotyped gender performance in selected short stories in English by contemporary Malaysian writers

Existing studies had shown that identity issues particularly on gender are still apparent in Malaysian English literature. By utilizing the concepts of ‘gender performance’ and ‘performativity’ introduced by Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble (1990), this study aims to expose that there is an act of resistance among new generations/contemporary Malaysian writers in English against gender stereotyped norms. This is done through the construction of their characters’ ‘troubled’ gender identity in their short stories. 25 Malaysian Short Stories: Best of Silverfish New Writing 2001 – 2005 was chosen as the scope of the study to meet the objectives of (a) to identify psychological and sociological stereotyped ‘gender performance’ of the characters in the selected short stories collection, and (b) to examine how contemporary Malaysian writers in English perform ‘gender trouble’ through ‘gender performativity’ in their writings. The study found that there are two types of gender repression portrayed in the selected short stories. They are; (a) the internal gender repression which includes the expectations on the characters to fit into gender and social roles and also (b) external gender repression which are the pressure placed on the characters to fit into certain social statuses. Contemporary Malaysian writers in English are seen as ‘gender troubled’ through the representation of their characters’ ‘gender performativity’ in the narration. Based on the results of this study, it is hoped that the misconceptions on gender and the conventional way of thinking about gender in Malaysian society can be somewhat liberated.

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