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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
Halberstam is name that'll always drag me back to my university days. His writings on gender theory were always pitched as more readable (and fun) than Butler's since he generally read gender through culture rather than Butler's impenetrable poststructuralist lens. Female Masculinity was a gospel but I never actually got around to reading it.
A couple years later and I can finally call myself a Halberstan. Female Masculinity is a thorough exploration of the history of the masculine female and everything that entails. Ranging from the pre-Victorian era up to its time of publication, Halberstam looks at famed masculine females in history such as Anne Lister and Radclyffe Hall, the difference categories of female masculinity from tomboys to stone butches to FTMs, and even dedicates a chapter to the state of the drag king scene in the 90s.
Despite being a book about gender theory and sexuality, it is incredibly readable and often entertaining as Halberstam has a knack for explaining even his most complex arguments in plain language (take THAT Butler). My one major criticism of the book is that Halberstam had the misfortune of writing it in 1998. A lot of the discussion, especially in the chapter about Butch/FTM border wars, seems very rudimentary and under-researched. This isn't a fault of Halberstam, there simply just wasn't enough research at the time for him to create a truly nuanced discussion that would survive the next twenty years. But thanks to his writing here, we now have troves of discourse on this topic, so it balances out.
This is an excellent and expansive work of gender theory that will leave you questioning why men getting in touch with their feminine side is seen as good but women getting in touch with their masculine side is seen as strange and unpleasant. Why are feminine gay men lauded but masculine butch lesbians treated as outsiders? Ultimately the question that Halberstam asks us in this books is: what exactly does masculinity have to do with men?
A couple years later and I can finally call myself a Halberstan. Female Masculinity is a thorough exploration of the history of the masculine female and everything that entails. Ranging from the pre-Victorian era up to its time of publication, Halberstam looks at famed masculine females in history such as Anne Lister and Radclyffe Hall, the difference categories of female masculinity from tomboys to stone butches to FTMs, and even dedicates a chapter to the state of the drag king scene in the 90s.
Despite being a book about gender theory and sexuality, it is incredibly readable and often entertaining as Halberstam has a knack for explaining even his most complex arguments in plain language (take THAT Butler). My one major criticism of the book is that Halberstam had the misfortune of writing it in 1998. A lot of the discussion, especially in the chapter about Butch/FTM border wars, seems very rudimentary and under-researched. This isn't a fault of Halberstam, there simply just wasn't enough research at the time for him to create a truly nuanced discussion that would survive the next twenty years. But thanks to his writing here, we now have troves of discourse on this topic, so it balances out.
This is an excellent and expansive work of gender theory that will leave you questioning why men getting in touch with their feminine side is seen as good but women getting in touch with their masculine side is seen as strange and unpleasant. Why are feminine gay men lauded but masculine butch lesbians treated as outsiders? Ultimately the question that Halberstam asks us in this books is: what exactly does masculinity have to do with men?
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This books touches base on almost every curiosity we might have surrounding the idea of a female masculinity.
Halberstam explains with precision the points of divergence and congruence between sex assignment and conscious gender adoption.
Halberstam also presents a good case for the Stone Butch revealing how valid and full of an identity the Stone Butch is even as it is the only sexual and gender identity that’s defined by what the beholder will or will not do intimately; by the fact that the beholder is deemed “untouchable”.
Throughout the book we’re welcomed to think of female and alternative masculinities as imaginatively recreated through writing and other forms of cultural production as opposed to hegemonic.
I enjoyed the chapters on Perverse Presentism, Transgender Butches and Lesbian Masculinity.
What’s disappointing though—like with most progressive books I’ve read from the 70s-90s—is how little we’ve transgressed the binary or escaped normatives that were well theorized against decades ago.
It’s time for a cataclysmic shift. Highly recommend!
Halberstam explains with precision the points of divergence and congruence between sex assignment and conscious gender adoption.
Halberstam also presents a good case for the Stone Butch revealing how valid and full of an identity the Stone Butch is even as it is the only sexual and gender identity that’s defined by what the beholder will or will not do intimately; by the fact that the beholder is deemed “untouchable”.
Throughout the book we’re welcomed to think of female and alternative masculinities as imaginatively recreated through writing and other forms of cultural production as opposed to hegemonic.
I enjoyed the chapters on Perverse Presentism, Transgender Butches and Lesbian Masculinity.
What’s disappointing though—like with most progressive books I’ve read from the 70s-90s—is how little we’ve transgressed the binary or escaped normatives that were well theorized against decades ago.
It’s time for a cataclysmic shift. Highly recommend!
Although some parts felt a bit dated now, and I would love to see an updated version, Jack Halberstam covers a lot of ground in this book. The material is compelling, but the language and tone is a bit dry and academic in parts. Although not as dense or convoluted as the works of Judith Butler, Female Masculinity would benefit from more accessible language since it is an important, interesting book that should definitely be more widely read.
This book at times irritated me, but often interested me. I learned a new word "tribadism" (google it but not in a public place like I made the mistake of doing). Many of the observations are true, and as she reaches what seem like conclusions she seems to trouble them enough to add complexity, depth and honesty- there are no answers.
At times it seemed to me the idea of "female masculinity" was built upon essentialist assumptions (although at other times Halbestram deconstructed that). I thought the connection between female masculinity and feminism was a bit contrived and the connection between female masculinity and making any real change to the negative excesses of white male masculinity was wishful thinking. The book ended weakly.
Nevertheless it is rich with complexity, thought provoking and full of types and versions of women you may never have thought of. I sort of found myself in there, not directly but at its best the text allowed the reader to differ from the types it was presenting. Initially I read it from a lgbtiq perspective but in fact I think it would be a useful book for any women, even very deliberately "feminine"/femme straight women.
If you can cope with the idealisation and almost idolisation of the butch (I realise where it comes from but still...)
Anyway it never bored me...
At times it seemed to me the idea of "female masculinity" was built upon essentialist assumptions (although at other times Halbestram deconstructed that). I thought the connection between female masculinity and feminism was a bit contrived and the connection between female masculinity and making any real change to the negative excesses of white male masculinity was wishful thinking. The book ended weakly.
Nevertheless it is rich with complexity, thought provoking and full of types and versions of women you may never have thought of. I sort of found myself in there, not directly but at its best the text allowed the reader to differ from the types it was presenting. Initially I read it from a lgbtiq perspective but in fact I think it would be a useful book for any women, even very deliberately "feminine"/femme straight women.
If you can cope with the idealisation and almost idolisation of the butch (I realise where it comes from but still...)
Anyway it never bored me...
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I always feel full-to-bursting with thought provoking content by the end of a Halberstam book. This time, they've given me inspiration for my own exploration of masculinity.
This book is an affirming look at the history of contributions women have made to masculinity, an exploration of the fuzzy space between butches and trans men, and an unpacking of the complex narratives in our culture around female masculinity.
You can certainly find those who will detail for you the limitations of Halberstam's viewpoint, but here once more I found a lot of compassion, insight and constructive challenge.
This book is an affirming look at the history of contributions women have made to masculinity, an exploration of the fuzzy space between butches and trans men, and an unpacking of the complex narratives in our culture around female masculinity.
You can certainly find those who will detail for you the limitations of Halberstam's viewpoint, but here once more I found a lot of compassion, insight and constructive challenge.
Tough reading. For realz. The book is dense and academic, although still accessible if you've got the time.
You can definitely see the gender-binary within the pages of this, despite the concept being about masculine women. As a co-worker put it, gender is "one hot mess", not a "spectrum", necessarily, as it tends to leave out asexual and intersex folks. Genderqueer, genderfuck, guydykes and girlfags are all rather left out of the equation with the spectrum concept.
Regardless of the tendency to rely too much on society’s definitions of gender and sexuality, Halberstam does do a good job, throughout the text, of explaining how gender organizes social life - something I'm glad about. The politics of peeing come up in the first chapter, and my thoughts keep coming back to that - too many trans friends for it not to.
Overall, not a terrible book, and did get me thinking. Probably wouldn't have read it were it not assigned literature for my Feminist Theory class, but definitely put Queer Theory into perspective for me.
You can definitely see the gender-binary within the pages of this, despite the concept being about masculine women. As a co-worker put it, gender is "one hot mess", not a "spectrum", necessarily, as it tends to leave out asexual and intersex folks. Genderqueer, genderfuck, guydykes and girlfags are all rather left out of the equation with the spectrum concept.
Regardless of the tendency to rely too much on society’s definitions of gender and sexuality, Halberstam does do a good job, throughout the text, of explaining how gender organizes social life - something I'm glad about. The politics of peeing come up in the first chapter, and my thoughts keep coming back to that - too many trans friends for it not to.
Overall, not a terrible book, and did get me thinking. Probably wouldn't have read it were it not assigned literature for my Feminist Theory class, but definitely put Queer Theory into perspective for me.
This book purported to examine and explain masculinity through the lens of female masculinity (like butches and stuff), in order to distinguish between masculinity and man-ness. And it's an interesting book! But I still have no damn clue what masculinity is. The most interesting part to me was the history, both from a couple hundred years ago and more recent, of masculine women/cross dressing/passing as men/etc. I had hopes for the chapter comparing and contrasting butches and trans men, but it was not as interesting as I hoped because it seemed to just be an academic squabble. Also the book is 20-some years old now so some of the terminology is not super current.
I read the 1st edition, and just saw there's a 20th Anniversary out, so ebook-sampled to catch Halberstam's preface to that.
Readable; at home in history and popular culture.
Readable; at home in history and popular culture.