#author: minnie bruce pratt

[that-butch-archivist]

"Q: Finally, putting this all together, what does femme mean to you? MBP: Femme means to me that I have a feminine gender expression as a site of resistance of old values. Those values say that I am not a fighter, I am not smart, I am not tough, or that I can't be sexual and be a mother too. There are a lot of these should-nots attached to the old way of being femme that I have cast aside. In making my life a site of resistance, I walk through life my own way and create a kind of power and defiance that says "You can't touch me unless I say yes." To me, femme means being powerful in myself, in my own body, with all her feminine ways. It means saying to myself I don't have to take care of other people or give myself up for somebody else. Femme means that I am conscious about what people are saying and doing around me, toward me, as a woman, and that I always maintain my dignity and power. [...] I do not think that femme means making your butch take the trash out for you. I do not think that femme means loving to shop. If loving to shop for clothes was femme, Leslie would be a femme. I don't think femme is having long fingernails. I don't think femme is not understanding how to deal with money. Those are old degrading stereotypes that establish femme on a foundation that is degrading to women. And I do not agree with that at all. For me, femme is a place of resistance to that degradation, a place to divest femininity of limiting stereotypes, and a place to assert the power and dignity of femaleness."

An excerpt from "Pronouns, Politics, and Femme Practice: An Interview with Minnie Bruce Pratt," as recorded in Fem(me): Feminists, Lesbians, and Bad Girls. Questions developed by Laura Harris and Elizabeth Crocker, the interview conducted by Tania Hammidi. (Emphasis in bold is my own.)

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Bob McCubbin

In Minnie Bruce Pratt, Leslie Feinberg found the profound sensitivity, understanding, and love that had always been elusive in her previous relationships. And Minnie Bruce was herself a courageous fighter, had always been a fighter, had fought the homophobic, transphobic, racist state that took her children from her to punish her for her audacity in coming out publicly at a time and place when and where it was simply outrageous and unacceptable to do so. From the point of view of the racist Southern establishment, she must be punished for being a proud lesbian, a fiercely anti-racist activist, and an outspoken opponent of imperialist war.

[femmeunderfoot]

when people post their lesbian book hauls and I don't see any books by or about femmes and I just go ohhhh okay. No I get it

[mercymornsimpathizer]

an even less exhaustive list of femme literature

since a made of a list of butch lit, I thought it would be nice to make a list of femme writing by (mostly) femme authors as well. books I've read myself in bold; take the rest with a grain of salt. I'd really appreciate additions, especially of fiction!

fiction:

dykette by jenny fran davis

perfume and pain by anna dorn

trash by dorothy allison

all the pretty girls by chandra mayor

femme confidential by nairne holtz

bottle rocket hearts by zoe whittall

nonfiction:

brazen femme: queering feminity ed chloe brushwood rose and anna camilleri

femme: feminists, lesbians, and bad girls ed laura harris and elizabeth crocker

the femme mystique ed leslea newman

out of the closet and nothing to wear by leslea newman

fierce femmes and notorious liars by kai cheng thom

dirty river by leah lakshmi piepzna-samarasinha

s/he by minnie bruce pratt

naked in the promised land by lillian faderman

a restricted country by joan nestle

rust belt femme by raechel anne jolie

my dangerous desires by amber hollibaugh

odd girls and twilight lovers by lillian faderman

another mother tongue by judy grahn

boots of leather, slippers of gold by elizabeth lapovsky and madeline davis

the persistent desire ed joan nestle

persistence: all way butch and femme ed ivan coyote and zena sharman

articles/essays:

our own words by rosza daniel lang/levitsky in e-flux

high femme camp antics by jenny fran davis in la review of books

with gratitude and struggle by nan alamilla boyd in autostraddle

that time I went on a lesbian cruise and blew up my life by shannon keating in buzzfeed

femme-inism by paula austin in colonize this!

[ileaveclawmarks]

in memory of Minnie Bruce Pratt (1946-2023), remembered as a prolific author, poet, and lesbian-feminist activist. view her works here.

photography by leslie feinberg

[and-her-saints]

how are you lesbian and any pronouns?isnt lesbian woman who loves another woman? Ive never nmlnm before but I think its sexist since it puts men as the standard. Idk though

well, i don't identify with nmlnm. i'm also not wlw. i'm femme. a lesbian. non-binary. a lesbian isn't "a women who loves other women." a lesbian is a lesbian. semantics is not something i'm interested in, because i am infinitely more invested in the material reality of being queer and in relationship with other queer people. identity and experience aren't really something you can earnestly explain in a single-sentence definition.

you cannot spend your life sweating over the exact boundaries of labels and identities. it's not worth it. they are meant to be helpful language to put words to similar life experiences, not dogmas.

here's one of my favorite quotes about this is by the incredible Minnie Bruce Pratt —the poet, activist, educator and essayist. the wife of equally incredible author-activist Leslie Feinberg, the author of 'Stone Butch Blues.'

"She has said to me. "A butch is not a man." Now I say, "A femme is not a woman, at least not the woman people think. It's a case of mistaken identity." - Minnie Bruce Pratt, S/He (1989)

so.... almost all my lesbian friends are trans in some way or another, because lesbianism tends to affect the way you perceive, interact and perform 'womanhood.' anyway, that's it. i will never engage in this type of discourse ever again.

[blood-choke]

Don’t know if this has been asked before but do u have any book recs for exploring butch identity, lesbian-ism, and queerness in general? Love your work by the way! Both blood choke and northern passage are my top favs right now and the way you navigate and explore gender identity is just chefs kiss

thank you!

i've recommended a few books here and there... stone butch blues, obviously, and then s/he by minnie bruce pratt, the persistent desire: a butch/femme reader, transgender warriors by leslie feinberg, whipping girl by julia serano, sister outsider by audre lorde, we both laughed in pleasure by lou sullivan, gender outlaw by kate bornstein... some of these are dated of course but still worth the read. when it comes to reading dated queer literature i always approach it with compassion and remind myself that the community was different back then, and the community will be different twenty years from now, and that it's worthwhile to understand these differences and respect them. also a lot of these authors have huge catalogues of work, i'm just suggesting their more well-known pieces.

some more "modern" books i'd suggest are gender failure by ivan coyote and rae spoon, tomboy survival guide by ivan coyote, black on both sides: a racial history of trans identity by c. riley snorton, hijab butch blues by lamya h, the will to change: men, masculinity, and love by bell hooks, miss major speaks with toshio meronek, my lesbian experience with loneliness by kabi nagata, burning butch by r/b mertz, the secret diaries of miss anne lister (not modern but the presentation is)

i haven't read all of these myself, most of these are lifted right from my to read shelf, but hopefully you see something that interests you! also keep an eye out for content warnings, i think a few of these are pretty heavy reads.

for the older work i always suggest checking if it's on the internet archive (i think almost if not all of them are, i'm just too lazy to look and link them myself rn) there's also the digital transgender archives which are fun to explore!

[outerspace-iiinnerspace]

Books and movies of 2024

My new year's resolution for 2024 was to write down every book, movie, short story, TV show, podcast, and video game I experienced and my reactions to them. It is a LONG list, but I want to share at least the books and movies, at least the ones I actually finished. Under the cut:

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (1928) - Heavily recommended. Really good book. There were certain bits that just hit me like a punch in the gut because of how close to home they were. Things like, oh, I've experienced that exact same emotion or thought process or gender angst. Really good book.

A Story of the Days to Come by H. G. Wells (1899) - I love old weird future stories. The factory that completely lacks automation. The only mental health treatment is hypnotism but that's fine because it works perfectly.

Radioactive Dreams (1984) - The soundtrack for this movie is soso good. I keep listening to the songs over and over and watching this movie got me into Sue Saad. The movie itself is also really fun. I keep thinking about the scene in the bunker where the Philip and Marlowe are arguing about whether their dads are dead.

The Death of Grass by John Christopher (1956) - I did not enjoy this book. It's poorly written and the environmental angle is unconvincing.

The Expanse series by James A. Corey (Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War, Abaddon's Gate, Cibola Burn, Nemesis Games, Babylon's Ashes, Persepolis Rising, Tiamat's Wrath, Leviathan Falls) (2011-2022) - The first book is a little eh, but the rest of the series is so great! Best space opera I've read in a while. I am especially impressed by the way the authors managed to stick the ending, which is HARD when it comes to a series like this. It's a little funny how the book where the Earth is decimated by space rocks manages to feel like a breather episode. I want to watch the TV adaptation this year.

The Accursed Vampire by Madeline McGrane (@tomb-of-madeline) (2021) - Reread. It's a cute/melancholy/funny book! I love vampire stories and this is a nice twist on the usual. The art is so nice!

Shazam: Fury of the Gods (2023) - Kind of a standard superhero movie. I enjoyed it! I don't remember the first movie well enough to say whether it's better or worse, but I enjoyed it! The ending was super lame though.

S/He by Minnie Bruce Pratt (1995) - I was recommended this as, quote, "the femme version of Stone Butch Blues." That is a completely inaccurate representation of this book BUT it's still very good.

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (2002) - Every single cyberpunk and/or noir cliche is in this book. The plot is ridiculously convoluted. It's great! Sort of reminded me of a grittier version of Hopscotch.

920London by Remy Boydell (2020) - I actually didn't take any notes on this and I don't remember it well. However, since it's by Remy Boydell I feel confident saying the art is likely really good.

Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson (2002) - Reread. I was SO into this series in middle/high school and it was formative to my love of overconvoluted space opera with dozens of characters and half as many plotlines. There's some really good stuff in there but unfortunately does not hold up as well as I wanted it to :( Mainly the politics.

The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe (The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, The Citadel of the Autarch) (1980-1983) - Godddddd these are so good. I love the worldbuilding, the dialogue, the narrator, the language. It's kind of grimy and unpleasant in ways but you may know that I love when fiction is grimy and unpleasant in ways.

↑ This sentence made me actually snort out loud.

Electric Dreams (1984) - Good movie. The editing is super cool especially in the computer sequences. I think I already posted about this before but Edgar got done so dirty in this. Nothing was his fault #JusticeForEdgar

Steven Universe: The Movie (2019) - Rewatch, obviously. What is there to say?

Dust by Hugh Howey (2013) - I liked it! The ending was kind of pat and I have sooooo many unanswered questions but it was very well written. Super tense. Unsure why it took me so long after the first ones to finish the series.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald translation (1859) - I was actually kind of underwhelmed. This is probably because all the best parts have been quoted and borrowed so many times that there are no surprises left! Very good, just overexposed. Many of the verses I'd heard before were unattributed and I didn't know until now this was the source.

Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir by Lamya H (2023) - Very evocative writing. Really good memoir.

Seven Days in May (1964) - This drags at points, but it's a solid political thriller. Has some good dry humor, as well as some unintentionally funny moments. The senator from Georgia is the best character in the movie.

Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (1970) - This is another one of those where I wonder why it took me this long to get to. I can't really say anything new about it, except that my copy is an old edition that I got free because it was mangled and covered in coffee stains which really adds to it. Good book, recommended.

The Education of Hyman Kaplan by Leonard Q. Ross (1937) - Reread. Written in a surprisingly modern style, you can sort of forget it was written in the 1930s except for the parts where it is extremely 1930s. The accents are spelled phonetically, but in this case I defend the decision.

The Education of Robert Nifkin by Daniel Pinkwater (1998) - I will not repeat my "Daniel Pinkwater is one of my favorite authors" spiel here. This is a good book. It is not his best book. The end twist is genuinely funny but also kind of sad. Here is the post I made after reading it the first time. I don't mention the Neddiad or the rest of that series in the post because those were written afterwards, but there's a conversation to be had about a relation there as well.

Mrs Searwood's Secret Weapon by Leonard Wibberly (1954) - This book combines a lot of my personal favorite things (ghosts, farce, smalltown drama, old ladies doing ludicrous stunts), and it's very funny. I liked it a lot.

TMWWWBSASATWI: An Illustrated Novella by "beany tuesday" (@beanytuesday) (2021) - Good, weird, bittersadsweet. I'm still thinking about this one.

School of Rock (2003) - Mostly very funny, kinda predictable but what can you do and the music wasn't bad either. Kid actors did a good job.

Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (1977) - I still can't decide whether I like this or not. The character work (the ones that aren't complete caricatures) is really good. The actual disaster and the immediate aftermath are the best parts, the ending and the battle are the weakest. I think you could read this book and stop right after the tidal wave and it would be fine.

Lupin the 3rd (2019) - This is a good movie! It's a very different take on the Lupin characters, to the point where I think it may have been a stronger movie if it was just its own thing but if they did that I probably wouldn't have watched it, so. It is very funny and very fun and you don't need about the franchise to enjoy it. Recommended.

The Masquerade series by Seth Dickinson (The Traitor Baru Cormorant, The Monster Baru Cormorant, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant) (2015-2018, unfinished) - These are so good. These are so good! THIS is the lesbian literature I want. I love suffering closeted butches having bad sex and only terrible girlfriend options and mental illness and destroying the world. The worldbuilding is exquisite. The politics are so good. Sort of funny this is the second book I've read recently where a gay character almost dies of meningitis. Is that a thing now.

The Killing of Sister George (1968) - It's kind of funny that this is all you had to get a X rating in 1968, but also kind of sad. This is a homophobic movie, and it's a sad movie. I enjoyed it.

The Question of Palestine by Edward Said (1979) - Obviously, this not an up-to-date book, but it is straightforward and focuses a lot on the history and the reason things happened/are happening. It's informative and well-written.

How To Die on the Planet Earth by beanytuesday (@beanytuesday, again) (2020) - This is another one that's scratched its way into my brain and won't get out. I was never able to predict where the story was going, and I did not like the ending. In a good way though? It was satisfyingly unsatisfying.

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir by Roz Chast (2014) - Reread. I've been rereading this about every six months since [life event] and it still gutpunches me every time. Very good book.

Take Me To Your President by Leonard Wibberly (1957) - This is okay. It's not his best book, but it's not his worst book. The only scenes that really stick out to me as I'm thinking about it are the ones with the Prime Minister near the beginning, which are pretty funny.

The Afterlife Diet by Daniel Pinkwater (1995) - Reread. I liked it much better on reread than the first time I read it. I think it's much more interesting in the context of his other books, because he deals with topics he's dealt with before, but in a VERY different way. The plot is sort of scattered and the supernatural elements come in a little late to be convincing but overall it is a good book.

On Basilisk Station by David Weber (1993) - I tried really hard to enjoy this, but it's a total slog. Honor is a great character and she deserves to be in a better book. I may try one of the later books in the series, to see if they improve or not.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) - Not a masterpiece by any means but a really fun movie! The sight gags are pretty good and the special effects are better than expected.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (2016) - Some of the worldbuilding passed me by, but I loved the character work. The author really knows how to build tension and set a scene. Super dense, which is a compliment in this circumstance.

Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars by Daniel Pinkwater (1983) - Reread. I have read this book so many so many times. It is formative to me. I mentally quote it all the time. I like it a lot.

Lost Continents: The Atlantis Theme in History, Science, and Literature by L. Sprague De Camp (1954) - This is a very informative book, if you want to learn about the historical and literary origins of the Atlantis story and associated conspiracy theories. However, the author uncritically repeats as facts or at least reasonable speculation several related conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific idea. The Atlantis information is good, but take everything else with a lot of skepticism.

Stolen Lupin (2004) - This is a good Lupin movie. It is super funny, lots of physical humor, and balances the time well between the characters. The plot is nothing special but it is a good time.

Graustark: The Story of a Love Behind a Throne by George Barr McCutcheon (1901) - Romance is not my genre, but I enjoyed this. It's a surprisingly funny book.

Return of the Magician (2002) - This movie sucks. Bad movie.

Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (1974) - Rewatch. I love a farce. I love this movie. It's not a good movie, but I enjoy it every time. Sex jokes, slapstick, situation comedy.

Will Destroy the Galaxy for Cash by Yahtzee Croshaw (2020) - I liked this a lot, definitely more than the first book. It has some of the same issues in regards to pacing but is much less of a straightforward parody. There are some genuinely good plot twists and the style has improved a lot.

The Wandering Earth by Liu Cixin (2021) - This is an anthology. My favorite stories were "The China Sun" and "Cannonball." "With Her Eyes" also deserves a mention for being completely terrifying.

Beverly of Graustark (1926) - This is a good, funny, movie. I love old-timey crossdressing stories, I love royal nonsense, I love assassination attempts. I don't buy the romance because Beverly is insane and the guy should be running for his life, but it is hilarious to watch.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (2022) - I liked this a lot. I've never read any of Beaton's non-comedic work before, and it's very good. I gave this to my mom and she loved it. Talked my ear off about it.

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel by Jason Reynolds (2020) - I didn't take any notes on this one, but I remember being really impressed by the art. It's very evocative and a very good use of watercolor.

The Crossroads at Midnight by Abby Howard (2021) - Another anthology. None of the stories really scared me, but "Kindred Spirits" will stick for a while. Art is gross in a very cool way.

Sunbelt Blues: The Failure of American Housing by Andrew Ross (2021) - I used to know a guy named Andrew Ross closely enough that I immediately looked him up when I got this book. The author is a different guy though, just happens to have the same name. It's a very good book, well researched, sympathetic, and an engaging writing style.

The High Desert by James Spooner (2022) - Really good memoir.

Policing the City: An Ethno-Graphic by Didier Fassin (2022) - This is a really interesting format for an ethnography, and there is a great forward that goes into detail about some of the choices, which is interesting both by itself but also because I like to hear authors justify their decisions.

Banned Books Club by Kim Hyun Sook (2020) - This book was so hyped up that I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't spent years hearing how good it was. That said, it was a good book and I did enjoy it. I did not like the art style, which seemed pretty dissonant with the story, but that could have been on purpose.

Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki (2008) - I didn't take any notes on this one and I don't recall reading it at all. Sorry.

Danse Macabre: An Essential Overview of the Horror Genre by Stephen King (1981) - I disagree with a lot of the things King says in this book, but it's really interesting as an overview and he isn't a half bad nonfiction writer.

What is Extinction? A Natural and Cultural History of Last Animals by Joshua Schuster (2023) - This is dense but it's worth it. The specific selection of topics was frustrating in places, but given the depth each section got in, I understand why a lot of things were just not brought up. Recommended.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin (1967) - I don't know why everyone focuses on the devil stuff when the actual horror of the book is her husband. You can tell it was written by same guy who did The Stepford Wives, there are a lot of parallelisms and similar themes.

The Quest of Excalibur by Leonard Wibberley (1959) - This is a really quintessential Wibberley book. I thought it was really funny, and a good comedic take on "King Arthur returns" stories. Could have done better at establishing the fact it takes place in the future; I was wondering when the heck there was a Queen Maud.

The Greymare Romance by Edwin John Ellis (1891) - Does this even count as a book? I'm including it because I liked it a lot. It's cute.

The Mouse That Roared (1959) - Rewatch. Still a really funny movie. The romance plotline was pretty awful - the romance in the book was much better but I can sort of see why they changed it. I don't think it was a good decision, but I can see why they made it. The bit with the "Diplomacy" boardgame gets me every time, I wish it was a real game so I could play it.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe (2014) - Reread. I have such intensely mixed feeling about this book and they get weirder every time I read it. On a purely objective level, it is a good book.

Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth by Elizabeth Williamson (2023) - Very well written, respectful account. The variety of sources the author got is impressive.

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (2014) - More horror short stories! The first one did not do much for me, but all the rest were terrifying. The art style is really good, and I love her use of black fields and negative space.

The Curious Human Knee by Han Yu (2023) - This was alright. The concept was better than the execution but I enjoyed reading it and I think I learned a lot. However, I did spot a couple of inaccuracies so it may be best to take with a grain of salt.

The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop and the Promise of Self Care by Rina Raphael (2022) - This was okay. It was informative. I have issues with the prose and the way the author presents herself, but I am neither the target audience nor one of the people the book is about.

The Dreamer Trilogy series by Maggie Stiefvater (Call Down the Hawk, Mister Impossible) (2019-2021) - Haven't read the third book yet. Very good, exciting, confusing. Declan is my favorite character I think. Have not been taken so hard sideways by the ending of a novel since Horus Rising.

The Wednesday Tales series by Jon Berkeley (The Palace of Laughter, The Tiger's Egg, The Lightning Key) (2006-2009) - Reread. I read the first book around the end of 2023. These are solid middle-grade fantasy novels and they stuck with me long enough to want to reread as an adult. Confusing worldbuilding, interesting ideas and characters. Very clearly written by a man who has never unpacked a stereotype in his life.

Josie and the Pussycats (2001) - I don't actually remember watching this.

My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) - Cute story, animation was good, music was underwhelming for a theatrical movie. There were better songs in the show. Watched with friends, which was pretty funny because one person kept saying "Fuck Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie is so stupid" and everyone else was like "NO!"

Corner Gas: The Movie (2014) - Really good! Really funny, good continuation for the series. The horse subplot and the casino subplot 100% felt like ideas they had for the show but couldn't do on a TV budget.

The Nice Guys (2016) - Rewatch. I actually love this movie. It's so fucking funny.

Wolfwalkers (2020) - Rewatch. The art in this movie is so textured and lush. It's beautiful.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) - Perfectly serviceable action movie. All the robot dialogue is so hacky and overdrawn it becomes very funny, especially contrasted to Mirage who is the only one who talks like a normal person.

Billy Budd by Herman Melville (1891) - Very good book. Melville's prose is often an obstacle, but once you get into the rhythm I actually like it. Another one I keep thinking about.

The Three Stooges (2012) - I did not think I would like this movie but I liked this movie. It's really funny. Impeccably cast. My favorite bits were the dynamite one and salmon farming one.

Transformers One (2024) - Good movie. Good animation.

Wicked (2024) - I don't even have to say anything about this. Dancing Through Life was my favorite number, I loved the skating on the books.

Mean Girls (2024) - This was too close to the original to be an effective adaptation for me. The music was also sort of underwhelming, but it wasn't bad.

Lupin III vs Detective Conan (2009) - Good movie. Not spectacular, but solid. I don't know anything about Detective Conan other than the Lupin crossovers, but the story was great and I wasn't confused about who anyone was. Fujiko was awesome in this.

Rockula (2000) - Rewatch. Much better the second time. The music is really good and as mentioned, I love nonstandard vampire stories. They kill a guy and leave him at the club.

I Love Melvin (1953) - Bad movie. I'm fairly certain this was a contract movie that no one involved with cared much about, since it wouldn't take a lot of effort to make it a good movie. I know how exactly I would do it. The script feels like a first draft and it is very short, even with a bunch of random extended dance numbers to pad it out.

The Last Delivery by Evan Dahm (2024) - Good. Hell of a downer ending, but that's why they call it the horror genre. Had to put it down in a few parts because it made my stomach hurt. Good book.

Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) - Rewatch. One of my absolute favorite movies! Highly recommended. Psychological horror but not really gory, lots of twists and clues, the acting is phenomenal. Does not pass a reverse Bechdel test, which I find hysterical. The gay tension between the female leads is off the charts. Every time I watch it I notice something new.

[manic-pixie-dick-girl]

I was looking up stuff about Stone Butch Blues and I learned that Minnie Bruce Pratt, Leslie Feinberg's spouse and activist and author in her own right, died a week ago?? What? Here's her website with an update from 2nd July 2023:

I don't really have any words, I'm just shocked and I'm so deeply saddened that I had no idea. I didn't even know she was in poor health.

Anyway this post isn't about me, if you see my posts you're probably the kind of queer who would care to know, so now you know.

Rest in peace Minnie Bruce.

[massivearachnids]

Author: Minnie Bruce Pratt

Crime Against Nature, (1990)

Rebellion: Essays, 1980-1991

Inside the Money Machine, 2011

[gatheringbones]

The more lesbian literature you read and the more authors you become familiar with, the more you’ll be able to see just how many of them are completely unacceptable to terfs, swerfs, and all of the other ghoulish bottomfeeders that have been flapping around since time immemorial, and just how much lesbian art and history they have to cauterize and denigrate in order to build their shitty little sandcastles.

Joan Nestle, founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives? Unacceptable. Adores trans people, trans expression, let trans women join the archives, did so much writing on lesbian as a third sex, goes into raptures when she describes the first time she heard Leslie Feinberg speak. Leslie hirself? Anathema. No one thought terfs were more full of shit than hir. Ze went to bat for Cece McDonald until hir dying day. Judy Grahn, dyke poet laureate, who wrote that being transgender was the beginning of “a vast evolutionary step”? Get out of here, traitor. Willyce Kim, the first Asian lesbian poet to be published in the US, with her glorious, punchy, powerful, genitally dubious erotica centered on the sacred history of sex workers in the lesbian world? Setting a bad example; traitor. Minnie Bruce Pratt? Delusional traitor. Ivan Coyote? Became a traitor as soon as they decided they were no longer comfortable with going by she. Jewelle Gomez, author and director of the Horizons Foundation? Traitor. Storme Webber, two-spirit poet and professor? Barbara Smith, who fought to include minority sexualities when the mainstream gay and lesbian movement left them behind? Guess.

And I love that long quote I found from Joan Nestle about Dworkin, it says it all:

“I think many of the women who turned into sex thought-police were truly concerned about violence against women, and had their own horrible experiences: a very deeply experienced vulnerability and a frustration with how to make this culture responsive to the well-being of women. Those are their best motives. But I think they took the wrong way. I think that what came in there was perhaps a lack of exposure to other sexual energies, to other sexual ways of being. And there were some women who just are fervent, who are arrogant in their sense that they think they know how to protect women. I'm thinking of women who make careers out of stimulating an anger we all feel, and that anger and that pain is where they've decided to make their culture. And I've decided to make a culture out of another side of it, which is sexual exploration and celebration. And I think both sides are needed. I felt the censorship coming from their side, not from my side. Andrea Dworkin's books are all in the Archives. I would never say, 'Keep her books off the shelf.' But they would say, 'Keep Joan's books off the shelves.'"

[firstfullmoon]

Adrienne wasn’t a terf..........she was thanked in the intro to a disgustingly transphobic book but that doesn’t imply she was involved/approved and she was known to be friends with Leslie feinberg which I highly doubt would’ve been the case if she were transphobic

“Janice Raymond cited Rich in the acknowledgments section of her 1979 book The Transsexual Empire, writing “Adrienne Rich has been a very special friend and critic. She has read the manuscript through all its stages and provided resources, creative criticism, and constant encouragement.” In the chapter “Sappho by Surgery” of The Transsexual Empire, Raymond cites a conversation with Rich in which Rich described trans women as “men who have given up the supposed ultimate possession of manhood in a patriarchal society by self-castration.” [...] Folks have also cited that Leslie Feinberg and Minnie Bruce Pratt thanked Adrienne Rich in their books as proof that she probably changed her tune on trans issues. Neither of these authors are trans women. So, like many people, Adrienne Rich could very well have supported trans men and/or genderqueer folks who were assigned female at birth, and been actively transphobic towards trans women and/or genderqueer folks assigned male at birth. And whether or not she changed her mind about trans women and didn’t share this publicly, The Transsexual Empire is still contributing to the destruction of trans women’s lives. Pervasive beliefs devaluing trans women’s lives are just as insidious and destructive as ever.”

[yrbutchgf]

do you have a resources written by femmes about being femme? or do any of your followers?

persistence, all ways butch & femme (ivan coyote, zena sharman) -- free epub available

s/he (minnie bruce pratt) -- minnie bruce pratt has also written other things, so tht's a good general author rec

lesbian fashion struggles (caroline earleywine) -- book of poetry

Visible: A Femmethology, Volume One/Two, an anthology of poetry written by femmes

brazen femme: queering femininity (chloe brushwood rose, anna camilleri)

femmes of power: exploring queer femininities (del lagrace volcano, ulrika dahl)

some articles i ran into in the resource & reference sections of my servers -- jsyk, i can't verify all of these are written by femmes specifically, but they seem interesting!

the evolution of femme -- a historical essay on the usage of femme as an identity in the lgbt community. note: as this contains references to historical sources, outdated language that could be offensive today is often used, especially around trans identity but as well as the q slur, f slur, and d slurs.

In this project I hope to explore the evolution of femme identity and the changes it has gone through from the middle of the 20th century until now, and I argue that femme is a term that has history in many parts of the LGBTQ community. Some themes I will be discussing include: - femme as a lesbian/sapphic identity - femme as a trans identity - femme as a gay male identity - femme as it intertwines with class, race, etc. - femme as it has been appropriated by cishet society and the conflict surrounding who is "allowed" to use the term. I will also be discussing my own experiences and my opinions on this subject.

contemporary understandings of femme identities and related experiences of discrimination. note: frequent use of q slur.

the bisexual to be corrected: interrogating the threat and recuperation of women's femme bisexuality -- from the summary, "in this project i seek to explore the ways in which women's performance of femme bisexuality constitutes a threat to existing regimes of gender and sexuality in the west." note: use of q slur.

here's also a post by one of my mutuals on her own femme identity as a nonbinary bi femme!

these are all i could find from my servers & the stuff in my femme tag. hope these help, and anyone else with recs, please drop them in the comments/reblogs!

[coolestfinch]

do you know if they are still printing stone butch blues or can i only buy an used copy of it?

i love getting this question so much. so you can actually read stone butch blues for free online! zie wanted hir work to be available to the public at no cost. you can find that here. for a printed version, they were out of print for a while but hir wonderful wife, minnie bruce pratt, has put them back up! they are 11$, you can find those here. while im here, im also gonna tell yall to go support mbp!! she is a very kind woman, ive spoken to her personally, and she is still doing activist work. she wasn't in the public eye for a while after leslies passing, but she's getting back out there now. she is also an author! you can find her works on amazon, and other online bookstores (she is still working on getting them up on her own personal website). 

[that-stone-butch]

2, 13, & 14? :)

2- what you love most about being butch/femme?

i love the way, as a butch, i can take masculinity and make it this positive, safe thing. i love making people feel safe and happy, and do that WITH the hallmarks of a gender presentation that is so subversive.

13- who are your butch/femme heroes?

lauren hough is pretty cool. gotta love a working butch who sticks up for people. minnie bruce pratt is a classy femme and activist and author and i owe so much to the work she's done.

14- if you could meet one butch/femme from history who would it be and why?

oh man i don't think i can narrow it down to just one? it feels bigger than that. like sure there are famous butches in history but i really have so many to thank. i guess i would pick the butch i saw as a young kid that opened my eyes to the fact you could even be butch. it was a very small thing but it opened my eyes. i'd like to thank them. maybe they're not a singular feature in history but they're a singular feature in MY history for sure.

[butchhistorynerd]

A list of lesbian / wlw fiction and non-fiction

This list is entirely based on what I have read or want to read in the future. I can not attest to whether or not the ones I haven’t read are any good. I hope someone enjoys reading this list just a fraction of how much I enjoyed compiling it.

Non-fiction

Butch/Femme culture; gnc lesbians 

Stone Butch Blues - Leslie Feinberg

Butch is a noun - S. Bear Bergman

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme - Ivan Coyote

S/He - Minnie Bruce Pratt

The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader - Joan Nestle

Dagger: On Butch Women - Lily Burana

My Lesbian Husband: Landscapes of Marriage - Barrie Jean Borich

Female Masculinity - Jack Halberstam

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community - Elizabeth Lapovsky

wlw; lesbians in general

Gentleman Jack - Anna Choma

The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister - Helena Whitbread 

New Our Right to Love: A Lesbian Resource Book - Ginny Vida

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name - Audre Lorde

The Sewing Circle: Hollywood's Greatest Secret. Female Stars Who Loved Other Women - Axel Madsen

Inseparable - Emma Donoghue

Vita & Virginia: The lives and love of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West

Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America - Rachel Hope Cleves

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America - Lillian Faderman

Gentleman Jack: A biography of Anne Lister, Regency Landowner, Seducer and Secret Diarist - Angela Steidele

Female Fortune: Land, Gender and Authority - Jill Liddington

No Priest But Love (The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister Vol. 2) - Helena Whitbread

Nature’s Domain Anne Lister and the Landscape of Desire - Jill Liddington

Fiction

The Moss House - Clara Barley

Carmilla - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Good enough to eat - Alison Grey

Mac and PC - Fletcher DeLancey

All the Little Moments - G. Benson

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness - Kabi Nagata

She's my Ride Home - Jacquelyn Bushore

Everything Leads to You - Nina LaCour

Taking the Long Way - Lily R. Mason

Her Name in the Sky - Kelly Quindlen

The Gravity Between Us - Kristen Zimmer

Patience & Sarah - Isabell Miller

The Price of Salt: or Carol - Patricia Highsmith

Hunter’s Way  Gerri Hill

And Playing the Role of Herself - K. E. Lane

Dare Truth or Promise - Paula Boock

Wildthorn - Jane Eagland

The World Unseen - Shamim Sarif

Leaving L.A. - Kate Christie

Keeping You a Secret - Julie Anne Peters

Crybaby Butch - Judith Frank

Rubyfruit Jungle Rota Mae Brown

Once & Future - Cori McCarthy

In the Vanishers’ Palace - Aliette de Bodard

Ash - Malinda Lo

Thorn - Anna Burke

This London Love - Clare Lydon

The Long Weekend - Clare Lydon

London Calling - Clare Lydon

Once Upon a Princess - Clare Lydon

All I want - Clare Lydon

Twice in a Lifetime - Clare Lydon

You’re My Kind - Clare Lydon

Noting to Lose: A Lesbian Romance - Clare Lydon

Bond the Trail: Six Short Stories - Jae

Laid Bare: A Collection of Erotic Lesbian Stories - Jae

Ein Happy End kommt selten allein: Dreizehn romantische und erotische Kurzgeschichten - Jae

Vollmond über Manhattan - Jae

Westwärts ins Glück - Jae

Vorsicht, Sternschnuppe - Jae

Berührt von ihr - Jae

Aus dem Gleichgewicht - Jae

Hängematte für zwei - Jae

Perfect Rhythm - Herzen im Einklang - Jae

Liebe à la Hollywood - Jae

Cabernet und Liebe - Jae

Alles nur gespielt - Jae

Tintenträume - Jae

The Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend: A Nancy Clue and Cheery Aimless Mystery - Mabel Maney

Sword of the Guardian - Marry Shannon

Finding Ms. Write - Jove Belle

In Development - Rachel Spangler

Sweet Surrender - Anna Cove

Lucky Love - Anna Cove

Gay Pride and Prejudice - Kate Christie

Tipping The Velvet - Sarah Waters

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters

(I included some German ones as well since that’s my main language)