Female MasculinityDuke University Press, 1998 - 329 pages Masculinity without men. In Female Masculinity Judith Halberstam takes aim at the protected status of male masculinity and shows that female masculinity has offered a distinct alternative to it for well over two hundred years. Providing the first full-length study on this subject, Halberstam catalogs the diversity of gender expressions among masculine women from nineteenth-century pre-lesbian practices to contemporary drag king performances. Through detailed textual readings as well as empirical research, Halberstam uncovers a hidden history of female masculinities while arguing for a more nuanced understanding of gender categories that would incorporate rather than pathologize them. She rereads Anne Lister's diaries and Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness as foundational assertions of female masculine identity. She considers the enigma of the stone butch and the politics surrounding butch/femme roles within lesbian communities. She also explores issues of transsexuality among "transgender dykes"--lesbians who pass as men--and female-to-male transsexuals who may find the label of "lesbian" a temporary refuge. Halberstam also tackles such topics as women and boxing, butches in Hollywood and independent cinema, and the phenomenon of male impersonators. Female Masculinity signals a new understanding of masculine behaviors and identities, and a new direction in interdisciplinary queer scholarship. Illustrated with nearly forty photographs, including portraits, film stills, and drag king performance shots, this book provides an extensive record of the wide range of female masculinities. And as Halberstam clearly demonstrates, female masculinity is not some bad imitation of virility, but a lively and dramatic staging of hybrid and minority genders. |
From inside the book
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Page 56
... sexual activity by saying that some women left records of what they did sexu- ally one or two hundred years ago ; other women's sexual practices were recorded in law books when the women were charged with sexual mis- conduct ...
... sexual activity by saying that some women left records of what they did sexu- ally one or two hundred years ago ; other women's sexual practices were recorded in law books when the women were charged with sexual mis- conduct ...
Page 113
... sexual practices and sexual meanings as- sociated with specific queer identities . Paying close attention to the pecu- liarities and variable pleasures of an identity long associated with sexual dysfunction , I use the stone butch to ...
... sexual practices and sexual meanings as- sociated with specific queer identities . Paying close attention to the pecu- liarities and variable pleasures of an identity long associated with sexual dysfunction , I use the stone butch to ...
Page 114
... sexual practices , and yet we still seem to think that anal sex be- tween men and oral sex between women provide paradigms for gay and lesbian sexual behavior in much the same way that vaginal intercourse might for heterosexuals ...
... sexual practices , and yet we still seem to think that anal sex be- tween men and oral sex between women provide paradigms for gay and lesbian sexual behavior in much the same way that vaginal intercourse might for heterosexuals ...
Contents
John Radclyffe Hall and the Discourse | 75 |
Even Stone Butches Get the Blues III | 111 |
ButchFTM Border Wars and | 141 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
androgynous Anne Lister argue Barker bathroom become bian binary butch-femme called camp Catherine Opie century chapter cinema club contemporary cross-dressing culinity discourse dominant drag king drag king contest drag king performances drag queen dyke Elvis embodiment essay example female body female masculinity femininity feminism femme film forms Furthermore gay and lesbian gay male gender identity gender variance girl Hall's heterosexual homosexuality identify images invert John kind lesbian feminism lesbian feminist Leslie Feinberg linity lives Loneliness lover male impersonation male masculinity mascu masculine women Miss narrative Newton notion novel obviously perverse play pleasure political produced queer theory Radclyffe Hall relation representation role Routledge same-sex scene seems sexual identity sexual practices simply Sister George social Souline Stephen stereotype Stone Butch Blues suggests tend theatrical tion tomboy tomboy film trans transgender transsexual tribadism University Press woman York
References to this book
G-Strings and Sympathy: Strip Club Regulars and Male Desire Katherine Frank No preview available - 2002 |