Femme ain’t frail”
(Re)considering Femininity, Aging, and Gender Theory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12459033 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jami Mcfarland (0000-0002-2525-7828, Department of Women’s Studies & Feminist Research, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, corresponding author), Allison Taylor (0000-0001-8825-714X, Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 53-70 |
| Publication date | 2020-02-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Lesbian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1089-4160 • E-ISSN: 1540-3548 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10894160.2020.1722925 |
| PMID | 32048569 |
| OpenAlex | W3005597628 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 29 |
We analyze the intersection of femme, aging, and later-in-life disability by using the popular, contemporary slogan "femme ain't frail" to explore who is erased, excluded, and overlooked when fem(me)ininity is conceptualized as strong, fierce, and chosen. Building from Lisa Walker's position that dominant femme discourse marginalizes the experiences of aging femmes, we analyze the narratives of Amber Hollibaugh, Joan Nestle, Mary Frances Platt and Sharon Wachsler to explore femme experiences of later-in-life disability and aging, and to further trouble existing, popular constructions of femme identity that are predicated upon youth and able-bodiedness. We elaborate on discourses of femme and frailty, bringing them together to explore the ways femme is or, can be, frail. Insofar as femme is located in vulnerability, and vulnerability is associated with frailty, we see how femme might, indeed, be frail, and why this relationship is important to explore, not disavow. We contend that considerations of the frailty of fem(me)ininity can challenge the ageist and ableist orientation of contemporary femme politics and the broader cultural devaluation of fem(me)ininity
Aesthetics · Art · Femininity · Heteronormativity · Human sexuality · Identity (music · Life course approach · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Slogan · Sociology · Vulnerability (computing · Aging and Gerontology Research · Gender Studies · Obesity and Health Practices · Psychology · Social Psychology
Disability Theory
Age Matters
The Persistent desire
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Aging
The Nature of their Bodies
Black Sexual Politics
Commodity feminism
Gender Trouble
Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Theorizing Femme Narrative
Contemporary understandings of femme identities and related experiences of discrimination
Femme resistance
Newsworthy” Victims
Gee, I Didn't Get That Vibe from You”
Female Fem(me)ininities
The social construction of frailty
Unhealthy Disabled
Figuring the Feminist Femme
Constructions of frailty in the English language, care practice and the lived experience
Medicalization and the Refashioning of Age-Related Limits on Sexuality
The future of femme
Femmebodiment
A fem(me)inist manifesto
The Only Thing You Have to Do Is Live
Queer Theory, Butch/Femme Identities and Lesbian Space
Asian American Women And Racialized Femininities
Older Women and 'Frailty
Compulsory Sexuality
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |