Gender Performance in Walden

Abstract

This article examines Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1854) through gender theory, focusing on how Thoreau’s self-presentation both reproduces and challenges nineteenth-century gender norms. Drawing on Judith Butler’s concept of gender performativity, the article analyzes how Thoreau performs traditionally masculine-coded behaviors such as building his cabin, cutting wood, and emphasizing rugged self-reliance, while simultaneously engaging in activities associated with feminine domestic labor, including baking, housekeeping, and caring for guests. These moments complicate the text’s apparent celebration of masculine individualism and reveal gender as a set of culturally constructed and performative practices rather than a fixed identity. The article further situates this analysis in a contemporary context by comparing Thoreau’s gender performance with that of the protagonists in the film One Battle After Another (2025). Together, the works illustrate how gender norms are negotiated, destabilized, and reimagined across different historical and cultural moments.