Femme ain’t frail”

(Re)considering Femininity, Aging, and Gender Theory

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12459033
AutoresJami Mcfarland (0000-0002-2525-7828, Department of Women’s Studies & Feminist Research, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, autor de correspondencia), Allison Taylor (0000-0001-8825-714X, Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Año2020
Volumen25
Número1
Páginas53-70
Fecha de publicación2020-02-12
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Lesbian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1089-4160 • E-ISSN: 1540-3548
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10894160.2020.1722925
PMID32048569
OpenAlexW3005597628
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas29

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