GENDER PERFORMATIVITY AND THE THIRD SPACE IN AYSHA'S SHIFTING IDENTITIES IN UNICORNS (2023)

Abstract

This study examines the shifting identity of Ashiq/Aysha in the British film Unicorns (2023) through Judith Butler's Gender Performativity and Homi K. Bhabha's Third Space. Ashiq, a British man of Indian-Muslim descent, maintains a masculine identity within his family and workplace while performing as Aysha, a drag queen, within London's Gaysian community. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, this study analyzes selected dialogues, scenes, character actions, and visual symbols interpreted through Butler's concepts of performativity, the heteronormative matrix, subversion, as well as Bhabha’s concepts of negotiation, in-betweenness, and hybridity. The findings show that Aysha's identity is shaped through performative acts repeated across social spaces rather than fixed by biological sex, demonstrating resistance to heteronormativity and to patriarchal and religious expectation. Findings also show that a third space forms through negotiation among Aysha's Muslim-Indian heritage, queer identity, and Western environment, producing a hybrid identity in which both cultures operate fully, exemplified in her relationship with Luke. Taken together, Aysha's identity is shaped primarily by repeated performative acts resisting heteronormative and patriarchal fixity, and further negotiated within the third space between cultures. Overall, Unicorns (2023) represents identity as fluid and continuously negotiated, thereby contributing to discussions of queer identity and cultural hybridity in film.