“You Can Only Deny Me for So Long by Saying That I Don't
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“YOU CAN ONLY DENY ME FOR SO LONG BY SAYING THAT I DON’T EXIST”: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF RACIALIZED FEMMEPHOBIA AND FEMME INVISIBILITY by: Céline Françoise Donelle, B.A. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Post-Doctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Women’s and Gender Studies Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2017, Céline Françoise Donelle Abstract This is a research project exploring the intersections of femme subjectivity, femmephobia, and race and racism. Specifically, I critique an essentialized understanding of femmephobia which centralizes ‘unmarked’ white femme bodies, and thus silences the experiences of queer racialized femmes. By way of semi-structured interviews with ten queer racialized femmes and an exploration of corporate media representations of racialized queer femmes, this thesis examines how discussions of race and racism are integral to discussions surrounding femmephobia and femme invisibility. I argue both that corporate media productions increase invisibility and erasure for femmes but also how this invisibility and erasure has shaped the experiences of racialized queer femmes in particular. i Acknowledgements First and foremost, thank you to my thesis supervisor, Patrizia Gentile, for the endless guidance, patience, and wisdom. You have taught me that through life’s many adversities, I can get back up and keep writing. That my insecurities are not flaws, but rather building blocks to something greater. This process would have not been the same without you. I would also like to extend thanks to my second reader, Grace Adeniyi Ogunyankin, for her support and insightful feedback throughout the writing process. Thank you to my external examiner, Dan Irving, for offering many valuable and important critiques during my thesis defence. I would also like to thank Tina Barton for her kind words of encouragements, support, and countless edits. I would like to thank my partner, Adella Khan, for the countless support. Your love, through meal preps and pep talks and spontaneous date nights has showed me what it feels like to let love in. You have taught me the importance of hard work but most importantly, the importance of self-care. This last year you have stood by my side through trauma and health issues, all while encouraging me to keep writing. You inspire me to better myself every day. This thesis is as much yours as is it mine. I would like to extend many thanks to my best femme friend, Matthew Conte. Thank you for being a kind and supportive friend throughout this entire process and for letting me vent and cry to you more times than I can count. In you I have found a lifetime friend, a fellow queer angel, and I truly believe, as we would always say during our Masters that, “if this M.A. doesn’t get us anything else in life at least we got this friendship”. These last two years would have not been the same without you. I attribute much of my personal and academic growth to you and our friendship. ii I would like to thank the femmes in my life that have offered me such love, support, and countless laughs throughout these past years: Melissa Conte, Chloe Barker, Mars Ramlogan, and to the year-long friendships that have gotten me to this point: Jeremie Brun, Miguel Robichaud, Carolyne Mellon, Malika Rogosin, Sarah Conway, Stephanie Webber. Merci à ma grande soeur, Véronique Donelle, pour toujours m’avoir encouragé à être une better personne. Pour toujours être la pour me cheerer on. Chtaime beaucoup. Un gros merci à mes parents, Françine Donelle pis Gary Donelle. You have taught me the value of hard work and have raised me to believe in myself no matter what. You have showed me that it does not take countless degrees, or any degrees at all, to understand social injustice and to take action. That I should be proud of who I am and where I came from and to never let anyone make me feel otherwise. Thank you for encouraging me to talk about my research even though many of these words do not translate into Chiac. Even though many of these words you have not heard before. Décoller du Nouveau-Brunswick était une decision pomale difficile but garde mam pis dad! Jlai faite! iii Dedication To all the femmes who have moved mountains. iv Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Contextualizing Femme Within My Work ................................................................................. 5 Methodological considerations ................................................................................................... 9 Participants ................................................................................................................................ 12 Chapter Summary ..................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER TWO: Situating Racialized Queer Femmes Within Theory .............................. 16 Tensions in Femme Theorizing ................................................................................................ 18 Foundational Texts in Femme Theorizing ................................................................................ 21 Questions of Passing ................................................................................................................. 23 ‘People of Colour Can’t Be Queer’: Passing and Homonormativity ........................................ 30 Forms of Knowing and Learning .............................................................................................. 33 Cultural Theory ......................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER THREE: Representations of Racialized Queer Femmes in Contemporary Media ............................................................................................................................................ 48 Corporate Media and Embodying Racialized Queer Femmes .................................................. 50 When Racialized Queer Femmes are Really Bad ..................................................................... 57 Gay Best Friends and Sassy Black Girls: Racialized Queer Femmes as Sidekicks ................. 59 Resisting the Tide: Challenging Racialized Queer Femme Stereotypes .................................. 66 CHAPTER FOUR: Femmephobia, Femme Invisibility, and Experiences of Racialized Queer Femmes ............................................................................................................................. 72 v “We’re Just So Afraid of People Showing Femininity”: Negotiating Femmephobia as Racialized Queer Femmes ........................................................................................................ 73 “Oh but You’ve Never Been with a Woman, How Do You Know You’d Like It?”: “Faking” Femme Subjectivity .................................................................................................................. 76 “Only White People are Queer and Only White People are Trans”: Erasing Racialized Queer Subjectivities ............................................................................................................................. 82 “A Lot of These Prejudices We Didn’t Have and Were Handed Down to Us”: Colonialism and the Discourse of Modernity ...................................................................................................... 87 “Like It’s Gonna Happen Together If It’s Gonna Happen”: The Inseperability of Femmephobia and Racism ........................................................................................................ 94 “We’re Here”: Femme as Political Reclamation ...................................................................... 97 CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusion ................................................................................................. 102 Future Research and Limitations to this Study ....................................................................... 104 Final Thoughts ........................................................................................................................ 106 Appendix A: Certification of Institutional Ethics Approval................................................. 107 Appendix B: Certification of Institutional Ethics Clearance ................................................ 109 Appendix C: Interview Guide .................................................................................................. 111 Appendix D: August 1993 Vanity Fair Cover ....................................................................... 113 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................... 114 vi CHAPTER ONE: Introduction they will say that femininity is not powerful. but i have stopped traffic simply by going outside. i have suspended time. i have made everyone watch. i have shed every category, word, and lie. i have etched myself so deep inside, they will never forget me. i have found a way to live forever. they will say femininity is not powerful. so i will put on my dress. so i will go outside. so i will prove them wrong. —Alok Vaid-Menon, They Will Say My interest in femme invisibility and femmephobia started years ago when I first came out. I have always considered myself a feminine person and