Reiterations of Misogyny Embedded in Lesbian and Feminist Communities' Framing of Lesbian Femme Identities

Uncompromising Positions: Reiterations of Misogyny Embedded in Lesbian and Feminist Communities' Framing of Lesbian Femme Identities Anika Stafford is a PhD student with the Introduction Centre for Women's and Gender Studies at There is a popular conception that the University of British Columbia. Her work misogyny, a hatred of women, is solely has been published in anthologies such as perpetuated by "men" as a group against Queers in American Popular Culture and "women" as a group. This notion has Who's Your Daddy? And Other Writings on contributed to the idea that lesbians and/or Queer Parenting. She is currently conducting feminists would not be capable of institutional ethnographic research on perpetuating misogyny. However, misogynist transgender people and elementary school conceptualizations of female bodies have experience. created insidious cultural norms wherein associations with traits deemed feminine Abstract come to be seen in a derogatory light. As Queer femmes in 1950s bar cultures were everyone, regardless of gender or gender often not viewed as "real lesbians;" radical expression, is indoctrinated into dominant feminism condemned femmes as trying to cultural misogynist systems of power, please patriarchy. This paper investigates everyone is implicated in reproducing or ways such views regarding femmes reiterate challenging such norms. misogynist notions of female bodies. It places Within feminist/queer theory, much femme narratives challenging such debate has taken place regarding lesbian conceptualizations as contesting butch-femme bar cultures of the 1950s and counter-cultural reiterations of misogyny. 1960s. Despite myriad debates regarding Résumé revolutionary potentials of such gendered Les femmes queer dans la culture des bars identities, an examination of how views of des années 50 souvent n’étaient pas vues femininity within feminist/queer discourses comme de “vraies lesbiennes”, le féminisme can reiterate misogynist views of female radical condamnait les femmes queer disant bodies has remained under-theorized. qu’elles essayaient de plaire à la patriarchie. Examining the position of femme-identified Cet article étudie les façons dont ce genre de people within lesbian and queer women's vues au sujet de femmes réitère les notions communities provides an interesting point of misogynes sur le corps féminin. Il place les departure for investigating ways misogynies narrations su les femmes en mettant en défi can be reiterated. As bodies in question may ce genre de conceptualisation comme all be assigned "female," different discourse contestant les réitérations contre-culturelles takes place depending on the gender de la misogynie. expressions (masculinity, femininity, androgyny) of those involved. Rather than continue arguments that place butch-femme bar cultures in a feminist/anti-feminist binary, I engage writing regarding the 1950-1960s bar cultures as well as 1970s-1980s lesbian feminist responses to this period and examine www.msvu.ca/atlantis PR Atlantis 35.1, 2010 81 how both had complicated relationships to Femmes Fighting Misogyny: Femme misogynist discourse. Narratives This article begins with an overview of Whether writing about the 1950s and some narratives from anthologies where 1960s or writing about current North femmes speak of their experiences in American queer communities, what is community. Many femme-identified people consistent throughout femme narrative writing have written about the need to assert the is the defense that those with femme gender validity of their identities within their lesbian expressions are as equally able to know, and queer counter-cultures. This overview is navigate, and make decisions regarding their not intended to be a comprehensive review or sexual desires as those with other gender to speak to the experience of all femmes. expressions. Although there have been Rather, it is meant as a point of analysis - the limiting views regarding femmes because of discourse that some femmes have found their femininity there is a long standing necessary to invoke within narrative writing presence of self-identified femmes who have illustrates possible ways for misogynies to be not accepted such limitations - be it from the reiterated from dominant to counter-cultural dominant culture or from within their settings. From there I discuss sexological and communities. For example, in Amber psychoanalytic framing of female Hollibaugh's book, My Dangerous Desires, homosexuality, examining how misogynist Cherrie Moraga refers to a conversation she constructions of female bodies were had with Hollibaugh regarding femme identity differently iterated against women who were during the bar culture era. She recounts, "I seen as "masculine" and "feminine" lesbians. told you once that what I thought of as femme Psychoanalytic theory, though far from was passive, unassertive, etc. and you didn't universally read, has contributed to cultural fit that image. And you said to me, 'W ell, assumptions regarding gendered change your definition of femme'" (Hollibaugh bodies/psyches. Such assumptions form 2000, 74). Here Hollibaugh challenges the taken-for-granted norms that become part of inevitability of misogynist understandings of dominant cultural thought, whether or not the femme identity. Distinguishing limiting general public is aware of the various interpretations of femme identity from histories of such gendered norms. I use this possibilities for femme-identified people is overview as a basis from which to discuss reiterated by many femme authors. ways counter-cultural views regarding Dorothy Allison discusses ways she femmes can unintentionally recreate such and her femme peers in the 1950s and 1960s misogynist norms. In order to explore the were expected to adhere to erotic codes that significance of writing in femme anthologies, did not always suit them - particularly those this article traces a lineage of queer femme which expected a femme to be passive. She gender expression beginning in the bar also asserts that many femmes of that era cultures of the 1950s and 1960s. I provide an transgressed these codes as they saw fit. overview which summarizes some of the Allison states, "I had no intention of behaving defining characteristics within bar cultures like a good femme if it meant limiting my own that demarcate particular femme cultural sexual horizons" (Allison 1994, 130). histories. This history underwent extensive Similarly, in the well-known anthology, The criticism by radical-lesbian-feminist theorists Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader in the name of challenging psychoanalytic (1992), Joan Nestle writes about femme theory. Both eras will be examined as to ways being a location in which she can misogynist discourse can be recreated even unapologetically express the extent of her as it is challenged. desire (Nestle 1992b, 5) and as "wonderful erotic traveling" (Cruikshank and Nestle 1997, 112). Both assert the power and agency they utilize when constructing their gender 82 Atlantis 35.1, 2010 PR www.msvu.ca/atlantis expressions in marked contrast to misogynist "Freud persisted there were 'no other roots' of readings of femme as passive, immature, and femininity than penis envy" (Buhle 1998, 79). without awareness of their sexualities. The solution Freud proposed to the penis Later anthologies on femme gender envy a female bodied person must feel when expression such as Femme: Feminists, realizing her lack was to reach maturity by her Lesbians, and Bad Girls (Harris and Crocker desire to have a baby (as well as the sexual 1997) and Brazen Femme: Queering activity that would lead to pregnancy). Femininity (Rose and Camilleri 2002) further "Female homosexuality" was then positioned engage with countering the idea that femmes as a masculine way of resolving penis envy are passive objects of desire and not desiring (Buhle 1998, 73). subjects. Harris and Crocker assert that Femme gender expression could not femme is a "contestatory lesbian identity, a easily be assimilated into theories of radical feminist position, and a subversive development in relation to penis envy. A queer model" (Harris and Crocker 1997, 1). feminine lesbian was not trying to have the Such assertions are furthered in Cloe phallus, as she was not expressing a gender Brushwood Rose and Anna Camilleri's that read as masculine. Neither was she Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity. Rose trying to be the phallus, as she was not and Camilleri write about femme as an enacting femininity in a heterosexual context independent, sexually forthright identity that engaging in sexual activity that would produce occupies multiple subject positions, all of a child (potentially one with a phallus). In which are dangerous to the status quo that Bodies that Matter, Judith Butler writes that would equate femmes with a history that being seen as "having" or "being" the phallus constructs femininity as passive. They write has become so ingrained in cultural that a femme's combative "nature emerges, understandings of gender that it has come to but this does not define her essence or her demarcate a person's intelligibility as human essential irony. What cannot be seen, what (Butler 1993, 139). As a feminine lesbian's cannot be domesticated...Femme is the blade gender expression did not fit neatly into either - fatally sharp; a mirror reflecting back fatal of these two dichotomous understandings of illusions" (Rose and Camilleri 2002, 13). what made someone intelligible as a mature While important in the face of discourse that

Load more