while i was doing h.w.

[hazezpaze]

So after a month of putting it off I decided to finally buckle down and work one my research paper. I am laying out my thoughts and typing them out to try to takes notes of course and try to jot down my thoughts to make sure I remember later

Comments

[lojak23]

well, without femme there is not butch. can you have one without the other?

let's use a different example. say, men and women.

if we don't have a category "men" we can't have a category "women". without those distinct categories we just have "people" or "humans" or whatever word you want to use.

being different from something else is what makes identities tick.

your question is very good, and just because contrast is a driving force in identity doesn't mean research should not be done on femmes as independant of butches, b/c it clearly should and can be.

i think the lack of research comes from our faulty assumption that femme women are just like "straight" women and that they are not worth studying beyond their connection to butches and lesbianism.

but, feel free to tell me i'm wrong and to fuck off. :)

[hazezpaze]

I identify as a femme and my partner is NOT a butch, so the identity has evolved from what it was

[femqueer]

Of course femme exists without butch - There are plenty of femmes who don't date or partner butches at all, and of course they're femmes. As someone who mostly dates butches, I'm just as femme when I'm single or alone as I am when I'm with them.

Historically, butch and femme were very much constructed together and that's why you're finding a lot of study of butch-femme and not as much study of femme on its own.

(ps - I found your blog through google alerts)

Peace,
Maggie

www.thefemmeshow.com