The Ambivalence of Recognition in Kristina Lepold's Reconstruction

The text analyzes the mechanism of social recognition as a condition for an individual's survival, drawing on the theories of Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu. The author indicates that being 'understandable' to society requires fitting into rigorous gender and class norms, which creates normative coercion. Gender is not treated here as a fixed essence, but as an effect of performativity—repeatable actions and gestures forced by the fear of exclusion or symbolic violence. The article emphasizes the tragedy of the ambivalence of recognition: on one hand, it is essential for full personhood; on the other, it requires submission to the oppressive schemes of the binary gender system, where any deviation threatens social unreality and marginalization.