User:Ajcart06/sandbox

This is a sandbox.

These are the pages I'm interested in: Butch and femme, gender variance, and lesbian feminism.

This is for my own enjoyment:

Brown, Windy M., et al. "Differences In Finger Length Ratios Between Self-Identified 'Butch' And 'Femme' Lesbians." Archives Of Sexual Behavior vol. 31, no. 1, 2002, pp. 123. Academic Search Complete, www.search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6524442&site=ehost-live

Possibly Relevant Sources:

Gender Within Lesbian Sexuality: Butch and Femme Perspectives

Levvit, Heidi M., and Katherine R. Hiestand. "Gender Within Lesiban Sexuality: Butch And Femme Perspectives." Journal Of Constructivist Psychology vol. 18, no. 1, 2005, pp. 39-51. Academic Search Complete, doi: 10.1080/10720530590523062.

Butches, Femmes, and Feminists: The Politics of Lesbian Sexuality

Smith, Elizabeth A. "Butches, Femmes, And Feminists: The Politics Of Lesbian Sexuality." NWSA Journal vol. 1, no. 3, 1989, pp. 398. Academic Search Complete, www.search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=8652739&site=ehost-live

Patriarchy, Power, and Female Masculinity

Nguyen, Athena. "Patriarchy, Power, And Female Masculinity." Journal Of Homosexuality vol. 55, no. 4, 2008. pp. 665-683. Academic Search Complete. www.search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=35940878&site=ehost-live

"G.I. Joes in Barbie Land" : Contextualizing Butch in Twentieth-Century Lesbian Culture

Inness, Sherrie A., and Michelle Lloyd. "'G.I. Joes In Barbie Land': Recontextualizing Butch In Twentieth-Century Lesbian Culture." NWSA Journal vol. 7, no. 3, 1995, pp. 1. Academic Search Complete, www.search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=8701800&site=ehost-live

Sexual Minority Women's Gender Identity and Expression: Challenges and Supports

Levitt, Heidi M., et al. "Sexual Minority Women's Gender Identity And Expression: Challenges And Supports." Journal Of Lesbian Studies vol. 16, no. 2, 2012, pp. 153-176. Academic Search Complete, 10.1080/10894160.2011.605009

In contrast to ONE, Inc. studies, more conservative homophile organizations, such as the Daughters of Bilitis, discouraged butch-femme roles and identities. This was especially true in relation to the butch identity, as the organization felt that the variant gender identities and expressions developed within the lesbian community were preventing what the Daughters of Bilitus perceived to be the goal of the homophile movement, lesbian assimilation and acceptance into a heterosexual society.

Source: Smith, Elizabeth A. "Butches, Femmes, And Feminists: The Politics Of Lesbian Sexuality." NWSA Journal 1.3 (1989): 398. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

In the 1970's, radical lesbian feminists argued that butch-femme roles were politically incorrect and imitating patriarchal, heterosexual roles (Faderman). This encouraged the emergence of androgyny, with many lesbians wearing clothing like t-shirts, jeans, flannels, and boots (very similar to what butches had been wearing). What had previously been the primary way of identifying lesbians and quantifying lesbian relationships had been turned into a "perversion of lesbian identity." (Smith) Lesbian feminists often were not inclusive of working class women, or women of color, where butch-femme roles persisted and grew even strong in the 70's.

Feedback to article contribution draft

These comments are in no particular order. And they assume that the paragraph that begins "in the 70s" is the draft.

• In such a potentially fraught area of conversation (feelings easily hurt), word choice and specificity seem especially important.
  • All radical lesbian feminists? Some of them? Particular named groups of them?
  • "Politically incorrect" is definitely in the eye of the beholder. That phrase seems to need context, explanation, something to make it clear to a reader how it should be interpreted.
  • Naked this - This encouraged - What encouraged? This what?
• Does the wearing of androgynous clothing amount to a rejection of femme identity since the clothing is the same as what butches had been wearing? What's the significance of this point?
• Is it the butch-femme dichotomy that was turned into a "perversion?" The focus of that sentence isn't obvious to me coming on the heels of the conversation about dress. Was the androgyny the perversion? I'm not clear.
• Last sentence - once again - all lesbian feminists? some lesbian feminists? the lesbian feminists who published most prolifically? The lesbian feminists who were most engaged in public forms of activism? Are we talking only about white middle class lesbian feminists? Is it more accurate to say (from an affirmative construction) that white lesbian feminists were engaged in one conversation (describe) while black lesbian feminists, represented by (whom) were engaged in a different conversation (describe)?
• You've used only two of your many sources here. Do others have something to contribute?Jagrif02 (talk) 15:24, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

Annotated Bibliography

Crawley, Sara L. “Are Butch and Fem Working-Class and Antifeminist?” Gender and Society, vol. 15, no. 2, 2001, pp. 175–196. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3081843.

This source studied personal ads of “women seeking women” to determine the extent to which the butch/femme stigma that emerged from lesbian feminism in the 70s affected lesbians’ identification with butch/femme. The study found that there was a rise in women who identified as butch or femme in their personal ads in the 90s, as compared to the 70s or 80s. I plan to use this source while writing my research paper, as it is one of the few sources that really tests the claims of lesbian historians such as Faderman, Kennedy, and Davis.

Faderman, Lillian. “The Return of Butch and Femme: A Phenomenon in Lesbian Sexuality of the 1980s and 1990s.” Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 2, no. 4, 1992, pp. 578–596. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3704264.

This article was originally a chapter in Faderman’s novel, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, a book well known by academics interested in lesbian history. Faderman’s novel was used as a source in several of the journal articles I read, but this chapter was cut from the final version of the novel. It details the change in perception of butch/femme culture during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. I used this source to create my major contribution on Wikipedia, specifically to discuss the distaste 70s lesbian feminist ideology held for butch/femme roles.

Inness, Sherrie A., and Michelle Lloyd. "'G.I. Joes In Barbie Land': Recontextualizing Butch In  Twentieth-Century Lesbian Culture." NWSA Journal vol. 7, no. 3, 1995, pp. 1. Academic Search Complete, www.newwsa.com.

Inness and Lloyd's purpose was to define butch outside of the dichotomy of butch vs. femme. The authors concluded that the primary identifying factor of a butch lesbian was masculinity. I used this source to gain a broader understanding of the common stereotypes and assumptions about butch lesbians. This source also provided me with a general timeline of the evolution and popularity of butch/femme.

Kennedy, Elizabeth L, and Madeline D. Davis. Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community. Penguin Books, 1994.

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold studies lesbian bar culture of the 40s and 50s in Buffalo, New York. The novel’s main source of research is interviews with lesbians who were active in the bar culture of Buffalo during that time period. It was referenced in several of the other sources I read as well, and provides a very in depth look into the important role butch/femme played in lesbian culture. I plan to use this source to flesh out my knowledge on the origins of and the first popular usage of butch/femme.

Kraus, Natasha. “Desire Work, Performativity, and the Structuring of a Community: Butch/Fem Relations of the 1940s and 1950s.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 17, no. 1, 1996, pp. 30–56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3346893.                                          

In this article, Kraus focuses on the development of butch/femme communities in the 1940s and 50s, and how they helped create structure within lesbian communities. This source provides me with historical information specific to the 1940s and 50s, whereas many of my other sources are focused on the 70s, 80s, and 90s. This allows me to flesh out the timeline of butch/femme in my research paper.

Levvit, Heidi M., and Katherine R. Hiestand. "Gender Within Lesiban [sic] Sexuality: Butch And Femme Perspectives." Journal Of Constructivist Psychology vol. 18, no. 1, 2005, pp. 39-51. Academic Search Complete, doi: 10.1080/10720530590523062.

Levvit and Hiestand analyzes butch and femme as genders within the lesbian community, evaluating how these “variant” genders shape sexuality, power dynamics, and political values. This source provides a different perspective on butch/femme culture, as it identifies butch and femme as genders that exist specifically in the lesbian community, not just as sexual roles, preferences, or dress codes. By validating butch and femme as genders, this source demonstrates the tension between the lesbian community and transgender community, a subject I would like to address in my research paper.

Miriam, Kathy. “Liberating Practice: A Critique of the Expressivist Turn in Lesbian-Feminist and Queer Practice.” NWSA Journal, vol. 19, no. 2, 2007, pp. 32–54. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40071204.

This source criticizes lesbian feminism and queer theory because of the ideologies’ perceived failure to establish a theory of praxis. While this article does not directly relate to butch/femme history, it offers a critique of two ideologies that I plan to discuss in my paper, lesbian feminism and queer theory. This source provides a different and new perspective, discussing the faults of both theories, not simply pitting lesbian feminism and queer theory against one another.

Smith, Elizabeth A. "Butches, Femmes, And Feminists: The Politics Of Lesbian Sexuality." NWSA Journal vol. 1, no. 3, 1989, pp. 398. Academic Search Complete, www.newwsa.com.

Smith’s article exams the views that the homophile organization Daughters of Bilitus held toward butch/femme culture in the 1950s and 60s. Smith especially focuses on the DOB’s publication, The Ladder, where butch/femme roles were often criticized. I used this source to make my first minor contribution on Wikipedia. My contribution concerning DOB’s view of butch and femme added a new perspective, as only 1950s lesbian bar culture was previously mentioned in the ‘History’ subsection on Wikipedia.