Resisting Gender Norms in Exit West: A Study of Performativity and Doing Gender through Judith Butler and West & Zimmerman

Abstract

This research analyses the character of Nadia in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West through the theoretical frameworks of Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity and West and Zimmerman’s concept of “doing gender.” The study explores how Nadia consistently subverts traditional gender norms by engaging in behaviours socially marked as masculine—such as rejecting marriage, living independently, performing physically demanding labour, leading decision-making in her relationship, and ultimately separating from her male partner. Although she outwardly maintains a gendered appearance by wearing a robe, her repeated actions contradict the submissive and domestic traits expected of women in patriarchal societies. Through close textual analysis, the research illustrates how Nadia’s performance of gender challenges essentialist binaries and reveals gender as a socially constructed role rather than a biological given. In doing so, this study highlights how subversive and repeated acts within everyday life can destabilise normative expectations and expose the constructed nature of gender identities.