I have chosen the keyword butch/femme. I think “butch” is meant to describe masculine-presenting individuals and femme describes feminine-presenting individuals in the queer community.
I’ll be making a zine. The Riot Grrrl zines, a feminist punk rock movement that originated in the 1990s, is an illustration of this format. It was known for using zines as a tool for self-expression and community building. These zines frequently included autobiographies, works of art, poetry, and political commentary pertaining to feminist and social justice themes. They were frequently created and circulated informally using do-it-yourself techniques like handwriting, collage, and xeroxing.
I intend to talk about my keyword in relation to history and the importance of both terms in describing gender expression in the real world. I think that my key concept intersects/overlaps with class in these ways:
- Identity
- Binaries
- Queerness
I am struggling with figuring out how to condense the history/context behind the words, without leaving anything critical out, because they are so broadly used within the community.
I have decided to use the following five sources, because they provide both historical and contemporary explanations for both words.
- Source 1: Kayvon, Shervin. “A Brief His and Herstory of Butch and Femme.” INTO, 28 May 2018, https://www.intomore.com/culture/a-brief-his-and-herstory-of-butch-and-femme/.
- Source 2: Levitt, Heidi. “The Misunderstood Gender: A Model of Modern Femme Identity Butch–Femme …” University of Massachusetts Boston, 2003, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225274019_The_Misunderstood_Gender_A_Model_of_Modern_Femme_Identity_Butch-Femme_History.
- Source 3: Manders, Kerry. “The Butches and Studs Who’ve Defied the Male Gaze and Redefined Culture.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Apr. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/13/t-magazine/butch-stud-lesbian.html.
- Source 4: Walker, Ja’nina J., et al. Butch Bottom–Femme Top? an Exploration of Lesbian Stereotypes. 12 Jan. 2012, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10894160.2011.557646.
- Source 5: Bailey, Marlon M. “Gender/Racial Realness: Theorizing the Gender System in Ballroom Culture.” Feminist Studies, vol. 37, no. 2, 2011, pp. 365–86. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23069907. Accessed 18 Dec. 2022.