Hi! I wanted to ask if you had any literature / research / resources on femme lesbian identity? I find so much on butch but so little on femme. I feel like you've probably posted this before but the Tumblr search button is STRUGGLING for me today.
yep, I do!!! And to be honest, I very much understand the sentiment. sorry I took a while to reply, but here are a few good places to start:
The Persistent Desire edited by Joan Nestle
Persistence: All ways butch and femme edited by Ivan Coyote and Zena Shaman
S/he by Minnie Bruce Pratt
My Lesbian Husband: Landscapes of a Marriage by Barrie Jean Borich (this isn’t about the concept itself I suppose in any explicit ways, but shares the femme perspective quite heavily so I’ll include it anyways)
Rust Belt Femme by Rachael Anne Jolie
The Femme Mystique edited by Leslea Newman
Making intelligible the controversies over femme identities: A functionalist approach to conceptualizing the subversive meanings of femme genders - Heidi M. Levitt & Kathleen M. Collins
Femme: Feminists, Lesbians and Bad Girls by Laura Harris and Elizabeth Crocker
Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity by Chloë Brushwood Rose and Anna Camilleri
I hope these help, do let me know what you think if you get a chance to read them!! <3
Edit: Mind you, it’s worth adding that I have very mixed feelings about The Femme Mystique by Leslea Newman, so as I recommend it, I also need to mention, take it with a healthy grain of salt. Most of those resources come from a subjective place, from one perspective or more at a time, from different times in history, which means that some aspects that fit me perfectly might not work the same for you and vice versa. In order for you to put together your version of femme, I find it important reading about different perspectives and seeing what fits you or not, in a very conscious identity building kind of way, because it’s a complex identity, along with being in touch with your community and discussing identity with other femmes and butches, those discussions will only help you grow, especially considering how much of a community role it is along with butch.
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