Butch Femme Planet - View Single Post - Activism Issues: Collectives and Conferences

Heart · 07-28-2011, 06:37 PM

I too have been thinking back to "Queering Femininity," and the way in which that conference provoked femmes to come together and make their own conference space, rather than leave it to others to carve out space and grant it to us. (I planned that initial discussion in Seattle and was a co-organizer in 2006 and 2008).

Although there were conflicts and issues, I'm not sure the femmecon experienced an analogous conflict over the definition of "femme," as butches seem to be experiencing over the replacing of "butch" with Masculine-of-center." I can't imagine trying to express inclusion with the term "Feminine-of-center." I recall that we settled on "Queer Femmes" as our inclusive term. Would "Queer Butches" work? I think not. Fact is, "butch" is now seen as "too female."

So, what does that boil down to? I think it comes back to the intense policing of masculinity. The fact that there is really so little room to do masculinity in diverse ways, protestations to the contrary. Once "butch" gets un-coupled from women/female/lesbian, it enters the very limited and limiting realm of what is considered "masculine enough" And make no mistake, lesbians of the 70s had a hand in pushing butches out of women's communities. This is one of the failures/faults of the lesbian-feminist movement.

I think the BV troubles are related to something I mentioned in the Leaping Lesbians thread: serious, unaddressed, and unresolved issues between queer women and trans-masculine people - especially when it comes to marginalization and leadership. It may be past time to stop tiptoeing around this.

Next point: I have been saying since at least 2004 that we need to organize around issues in queer communities, not identities. Organizing around identities will always result in fractures and divisions and breaking things up into ever-narrower slivers.. It is the issues we share: hate crimes, access to health care, immigration, civil unions/marriages, parenting, queer youth, aging, feminism, anti-oppression work, racism, classism, misogyny, etc where we can truly be allies to each other.

I also suggested to both Joe (BV) and Sasha (Butch Nation) that they explore the possibility of using a Non-Violent Communication model (sometimes called Collaborative Communication) to work through some of the current conflicts, prevent escalation, and manage the fallout.

Heart

07-28-2011, 06:37 PM	#5
Heart Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Relationship Status: rainbows! Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NY Posts: 466 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 303 Thanked 2,531 Times in 412 Posts Rep Power: 12032609	I too have been thinking back to "Queering Femininity," and the way in which that conference provoked femmes to come together and make their own conference space, rather than leave it to others to carve out space and grant it to us. (I planned that initial discussion in Seattle and was a co-organizer in 2006 and 2008). Although there were conflicts and issues, I'm not sure the femmecon experienced an analogous conflict over the definition of "femme," as butches seem to be experiencing over the replacing of "butch" with Masculine-of-center." I can't imagine trying to express inclusion with the term "Feminine-of-center." I recall that we settled on "Queer Femmes" as our inclusive term. Would "Queer Butches" work? I think not. Fact is, "butch" is now seen as "too female." So, what does that boil down to? I think it comes back to the intense policing of masculinity. The fact that there is really so little room to do masculinity in diverse ways, protestations to the contrary. Once "butch" gets un-coupled from women/female/lesbian, it enters the very limited and limiting realm of what is considered "masculine enough" And make no mistake, lesbians of the 70s had a hand in pushing butches out of women's communities. This is one of the failures/faults of the lesbian-feminist movement. I think the BV troubles are related to something I mentioned in the Leaping Lesbians thread: serious, unaddressed, and unresolved issues between queer women and trans-masculine people - especially when it comes to marginalization and leadership. It may be past time to stop tiptoeing around this. Next point: I have been saying since at least 2004 that we need to organize around issues in queer communities, not identities. Organizing around identities will always result in fractures and divisions and breaking things up into ever-narrower slivers.. It is the issues we share: hate crimes, access to health care, immigration, civil unions/marriages, parenting, queer youth, aging, feminism, anti-oppression work, racism, classism, misogyny, etc where we can truly be allies to each other. I also suggested to both Joe (BV) and Sasha (Butch Nation) that they explore the possibility of using a Non-Violent Communication model (sometimes called Collaborative Communication) to work through some of the current conflicts, prevent escalation, and manage the fallout. Heart Last edited by Heart; 07-28-2011 at 07:02 PM.