Reviews

Female Masculinity by Jack Halberstam

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nkim77's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

very interesting points that are more accepted and widely known today about female masculinity and gender performance. main argument is that female masculinity is a specific gender with its own cultural history and not just derivative of male masculinity. masculinity in genera owes a lot to lesbians and butch culture. definitely want to read more cherrie moraga

mykoyamo's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

i won’t lie i mostly decided to read this book because the first edition was published the day i was born and that felt funny to me. this book made me think so i enjoyed that. the chapters that focused more on history interested me the most. i think the cultural and societal critiques are very outdated in a way that feels almost jarring but i suppose with the legalization of gay marriage, the rising mainstream lesbian representation (that very much femme queer as opposed to butch) + anti trans legislation and sentiments on the rise, 1998 feels like a very very very long time ago for masculine women. i didn’t always agree with the author’s assertions especially about tomboys and trans men but i think that’s mostly because i’m existing in a completely different queer cultural landscape. there’s more gay trans men than butch drag kings now. my biggest pet peeve about the book was how critical the author was of trans men who want to distance themselves from butch women. as a trans man, i don’t feel this way personally as i spent many formative years as a lesbian and that is still a part of me. but would we as a “queer community” hold it against a trans woman who doesn’t want to be mistaken for a twink? exactly. this book is good queer history, would recommend if you’re interested in the subject.

nilescrane's review

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4.25

Fascinating and, while certain chapters have aged now, it still holds up and is still so important.

silkm0ths's review against another edition

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3.0

3 1/2 stars.
My favourite sections were the analysis on female masculinity in history, butches on film and drag kings, the other sections where they started theorising on sex (the act)personal expression and personal identity seemed a little silly to me. Yes those things are obviously influenced by the world we lived in everything is, but they are not really a political act as they are not really something one gets to decide. For example the whole thing about certain forms of mutual sex being completely asexual and unerotic was just too judgemental, also what even is eroticness anyway. I think also masculinity is just a very hard thing to define so when it gets too seperated from case studies and people it just becomes meaningl. mplications that"gender is only reversible one way"or that feminity in men is not mocked, is slightly ridiculous but when i think back to 1998 perhaps it was more acceptable to be a feminine man then a masculine woman then. Its interesting cause in a way its a very dated clearly 90s book but also its just soo relevant to today. Queer people have been debating the same things since the beginning of history lols and people have been using the same arguements to defend the gender binary just with changing targets.