Gender is a performance according to Judith Butler. All bodies, she asserts, are sexed from birth; sometimes even earlier, we can now determine sex in the womb. For Butler, society dictates one's gender and the individual reinforces that gender through performance. “Actions make the actor,” in Butler’s words; there is no subject before the performance. Butler's concept of gender, however, leaves us wondering: what about those who are unable to perform their assigned gender? If a person is unable to perform, are they left genderless, devoid of subjectivity and social identity? If no human being is sexless, as Butler claims, then where does his theory stand? Either gender is more than just a performance, or we can exist without gender. Severe autistics can be seen as a challenge to Butler's theory in this way. One of the main symptoms of autism is social impairment, which often leaves autistic people unable to understand high-level concepts such as social roles or gender. If one is unable to understand the gender role expected of them, then are they really capable of playing that role? Otherwise, Butler's gender theory is missing a crucial element of internal understanding. In this essay I will argue that Butler's theory does indeed lack this vital element. Her theory of gender performance and the role society plays in gender formation, while strong on many levels, lacks recognition of the internal subjectivity and cognitive abilities necessary to be able to perform a role. Throughout this essay, I will use the case of genderless severe autistics to show that, if a person is incapable of internal understanding, then they are incapable of fulfilling the gender that society has assigned to them. Focusing on autism as a challenge...... middle of article...... the creation of disability identities in Hypatia Vol. 17, n° 3, Feminism and disability, part 2, 2002, pp. 67-88. Blackwell Publishing on behalf of Hypatia, Inc. Murray, S. 2010. Autism Functions/ The function of Autism, in Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol 30, No 1, 2010. The Society for Disability Studies. Samuels, E. 2002. Critical Divides: Judith Butler's Body Theory and the Question of Disability in NWSA Journal, Vol. 14, no. 3, Feminist Disability Studies, 2002, pp. 58-76. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Wong, S. 2002. At home with Down syndrome and gender in Hypatia, Vol. 17, no. 3, Feminism and disability, part 2, 2002, pp. 89-117. Blackwell Publishing on behalf of Hypatia, Inc. Golder, B. 2009. Foucault, anti-humanism and human rights. Published online by the Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia, Underdale, SA, 2009.