it's hard enough to define femme, even harder to define it briefly!
i've been brainstorming..... between mandy's help, and the last hour i've spent reading old posts in rad_femmes, this is what i've got so far. most definitely not the end result, and most definitely not all encompassing. there are lots of things that i think are part of my femme id that i haven't even mentioned, and lots of things that are part of other people's identity that haven't been mentioned either. please feel free to add things. in fact, PLEASE add things!
femme is a mass of contradictions.
it's a fucked up version of feminity.
it's feminity on our terms, not society's.
it's a queered gender, by both new and old definitions of queer.
it's genderqueer.
it's feminity gone wrong.
it's NOT the opposite of butch.
it's not some lesbian thing.
it's pink with irony.
it's girly by choice, or not.
it's an identity, not a label.
it's confidence.
it's sex positive.
it's powerful.
it's shameless.
it's got nothing to do with who you fuck.
it's dominance.
it's submission.
it's being a switch.
it's gender in drag.
it's feminist, by the true definition.
it's strength.
it's attitude.
it's fierce.
it's challenging stereotypes.
it's lipstick that lasts all night.
it's activism.
it's competence.
it's inspiration and creativity.
it's way more and way less than all of this.
one of my absolute favourite quotes-
"Feminity is a demand placed on female bodies and femme is the danger of a body read female or inappropriately feminine. We are not good girls--perhaps we are not girls at all."(from the intro to Brazen Femme, Chloe Brushwoood Rose and Anna Camilleri)
and this is part of the description i wrote when a friend asked the same question after i e-mailed out the very first call for submissions-
"femmes recognize the politics of feminine and aren't accepting the notion of feminine but rather are warping it. femme is using your power to the best of your advantage and recognizing the advantage that power gives you."
femme is a mass of contradictions.
it's a fucked up version of feminity.
it's feminity on our terms, not society's.
it's a queered gender, by both new and old definitions of queer.
it's genderqueer.
it's feminity gone wrong.
it's NOT the opposite of butch.
it's not some lesbian thing.
it's pink with irony.
it's girly by choice, or not.
it's an identity, not a label.
it's confidence.
it's sex positive.
it's powerful.
it's shameless.
it's got nothing to do with who you fuck.
it's dominance.
it's submission.
it's being a switch.
it's gender in drag.
it's feminist, by the true definition.
it's strength.
it's attitude.
it's fierce.
it's challenging stereotypes.
it's lipstick that lasts all night.
it's activism.
it's competence.
it's inspiration and creativity.
it's way more and way less than all of this.
one of my absolute favourite quotes-
"Feminity is a demand placed on female bodies and femme is the danger of a body read female or inappropriately feminine. We are not good girls--perhaps we are not girls at all."(from the intro to Brazen Femme, Chloe Brushwoood Rose and Anna Camilleri)
and this is part of the description i wrote when a friend asked the same question after i e-mailed out the very first call for submissions-
"femmes recognize the politics of feminine and aren't accepting the notion of feminine but rather are warping it. femme is using your power to the best of your advantage and recognizing the advantage that power gives you."