Neil LaBute’s Some Girl(S): A Study of Gender

Abstract

This paper about Neil LaBute's play, Some Girl(S) tries to reveal the repressive aspect of the male characters' adherence to established gender norms by examining the performance of Some Girl(S). To uncover why the male characters in LaBute's works attempt to conceal their emotional selves, the author analyses them through the lens of Judith Butler and other gender theorists. In general, LaBute criticises conventional performance for stimulating change as a response to the prevalence of dangerous males and the generally negative ramifications of their positions. This change is needed because dangerous males dominate conventional performance. To illustrate this issue, LaBute draws on a substantial repertoire of different methods.