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Tytuł:
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Why femme stories matter: Constructing femme theory through historical femme life writing.
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Autorzy:
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Brightwell L; Department of Gender, Feminist and Women's Studies at York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Taylor A; Department of Gender, Feminist and Women's Studies at York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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Źródło:
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Journal of lesbian studies [J Lesbian Stud] 2021; Vol. 25 (1), pp. 18-35. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Dec 06.
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Typ publikacji:
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Historical Article; Journal Article
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Język:
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English
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Imprint Name(s):
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Publication: London : Informa Healthcare
Original Publication: Binghamton, NY : Haworth Press, 1997-
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MeSH Terms:
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Femininity*/history
Psychological Theory*
Literature/*history
Erotica ; Female ; Feminism/history ; History, 20th Century ; Homosexuality, Female ; Humans ; Narration ; Race Factors ; Sexual and Gender Minorities ; Social Identification ; Writing
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Contributed Indexing:
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Keywords: Femme; critical femininity studies; femininity; femme theory; femmephobia; lesbian feminism; life writing; memoir; narrative; queer; queer theory
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Entry Date(s):
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Date Created: 20191207 Date Completed: 20210212 Latest Revision: 20210212
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Update Code:
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20240104
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DOI:
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10.1080/10894160.2019.1691347
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PMID:
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31809661
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We argue that historical femme life writing forms a rich resource for femme theory that contributes to, challenges, and extends contemporary academic femme literature. We focus on the experiences of femmes during the second-wave feminist movement, specifically within the context of 1970s and 1980s U.S. lesbian feminism. The texts we examine include My Dangerous Desires by Amber Hollibaugh (2000), A Restricted Country by Joan Nestle (1987), Minnie Bruce Pratt's (1995) S/he , and selections from The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader, edited by Nestle (1992). Informed by Clare Hemmings' (2011) and Victoria Hesford's (2013) critiques that past feminisms are often retold using reductive narratives, we (re)read this femme life writing to foreground the ways in which femmes have historically troubled and resisted monolithic accounts of lesbian feminism, lesbian identities, femininity, and sexuality. By centering queer feminine voices from this period to highlight major themes of this life writing, and drawing on Andi Schwartz's (2018) positioning of femme cultural production as a basis for theory, we argue that earlier iterations of queer femininities are relevant to and important for contemporary femme theory. Ultimately, we analyze what historical femme life writing reveals about the place of femininity within the lesbian and feminist communities of their time, how these dynamics inform current perceptions of queer and femme politics, and how femmes resist their cultural and critical marginalization.