In this quintessential work of queer theory, Jack Halberstam takes aim at the protected status of male masculinity and shows that female masculinity has offered a distinct alternative to it for well over two centuries. Demonstrating how female masculinity is not some bad imitation of virility, but a lively and dramatic staging of hybrid and minority genders, Halberstam catalogs the diversity of gender expressions among masculine women from nineteenth-century pre-lesbian practices to contemporary drag king performances. Through detailed textual readings as well as empirical research, Halberstam uncovers a hidden history of female masculinities while arguing for a more nuanced understanding of gender categories that would incorporate rather than pathologize them. He rereads Anne Lister's diaries and Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness as foundational assertions of female masculine identity; considers the enigma of the stone butch and the politics surrounding butch/femme roles within lesbian communities; and explores issues of transsexuality among “transgender dykes”—lesbians who pass as men—and female-to-male transsexuals who may find the label of “lesbian” a temporary refuge. Halberstam also tackles such topics as women and boxing, butches in Hollywood and independent cinema, and the phenomenon of male impersonators. Featuring a new preface by the author, this twentieth anniversary edition of Female Masculinity remains as insightful, timely, and necessary as ever.
He had the innocence and tenderness of Montgomery Clift in Red River or a young Henry Fonda, the naive determination of Jimmy Stewart. He was a rebellious outsider like James Dean, a shy, courtly gentleman around women like Gary Cooper ...
... me to where I wanted to go . So this man came by and asked me if I wanted a ride , and I said yes , and then he ... scream ? S : No , but I can see you . G : Don't you know what I want ? How come nobody ever knows what I want ? I keep ...
An increasingly important topic in political science and sociological academia, this book aims to break new ground in the discussion of the politics of gender and identity.
"This book is a significant revision of my 2006 doctoral dissertation, 'Bold with the bow and arrow: Amazons and the ethnic gendering of martial prowess in ancient Greek and Asian cultures' ..."--Preface.
This first modern scholarly edition of Mary Gibson's early fiction features ten tales of teenage girls (seemingly much like Gibson herself) who fearlessly appropriate masculine traits, defy contemporary gender norms, and struggle to fulfill ...
The stories within come from scientists, teachers, fathers, veterans, and artists who share how being visible as the masculine humans they identify as has developed, changed, and evolved their sense of masculinity.
A-list Anglo historical figures like Billy the Kid haunt us with their toxic masculinities. These are the themes creatively explored by the eighteen contributors in Decolonizing Latinx Masculinities.
This book analyzes the contributions of popular culture from the perspective of queer theory, focusing especially on Judith (Jack) Halberstam's groundbreaking work on female masculinity, and on Judith Butler's provocative work on the ...
Significantly, then, the punch line in Austin Powers 2 is not from a low-budget spy film, a drag king performance, or even a Carry On comedy but instead from the Tom Cruise blockbuster romance Jerry Maguire: Dr. Evil is reunited with ...
This is the treatise on the asterisks for which we have been waiting, blending academic and popular discourse in that Halberstam way.