In Performative Acts, Butler argues that the performance of gender itself creates gender. The essay compares the performativity of gender to performance in the theater, noting such similarities as the idea of each individual functioning as an actor of their gender. However, Butler highlights a critical difference between gender performance in reality and theater performances: because there is a clear distinction from reality in the theater, a theater performance does not produce the same fear in an actor that gender performances often encounter in real life.