Gender Studies

Gender studies is an interdisciplinary field that studies gender — the sociocultural construct of sex — as opposed to biological sex. In literary studies, gender studies, developing the legacy of feminist criticism, analyzes how texts construct, reinforce, or undermine notions of the 'masculine' and 'feminine' and how gender identity is formed. The theoretical foundation was provided by Judith Butler's 'Gender Trouble' (1990), with its conception of gender as a 'performative' — not an essence but a repeated practice. Gender studies also embraces the study of masculinity and queer theory, which examines nonconforming forms of identity and sexuality (Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, 'Epistemology of the Closet'). The movement is linked to poststructuralism and cultural studies. In Ukrainian literary studies, gender approaches are developed by Vira Aheieva, Tamara Hundorova, and Solomiia Pavlychko, reconsidering the gender aspects of the national literary tradition.