Female Masculinity

by J. Jack Halberstam

Book Overview

Masculinity without men. In Female Masculinity Judith Halberstam takes aim at the protected status of male masculinity and shows that female masculinity has offered a distinct alternative to it for well over two hundred years. Providing the first full-length study on this subject, Halberstam catalogs the diversity of gender expressions among masculine women from nineteenth-century pre-lesbian practices to contemporary drag king performances.
Through...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822322439
• ISBN13: 9780822322436
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

an important historical analysis

this book will not hold your hand as you discover your masculinity. it will, however, inform you about the bredth and depth of female masculinity from a variety of perspectives. it is thorough in it's look at the affects of class and race and also contains a very interesting and important chapter on the tensions between butch, transgender, and FTM. this book is an important read for any student of women's or queer studies.

In case you're unsure . . .

Halberstam is brilliant, and so is this book.

Insightful analysis of female masculinity

When picking up a book that does not purport to be anything other than academic, one must be prepared for the contents to be just that - academic. Halberstam writes well, her ideas are important, and she adds complexity and insight into several areas of scholarly research and debate. I would strongly recomend this to anyone interested in feminism, gender, difference and social justice.

a great foundational book in the area

This is a good introduction to the topic. Helps you think through the difference between masculinity and maleness. Wish there were more about how race and class effect masculinity.

a stunning history of female masculinity

A highly readable and stunning history of female masculinity in Britain and the USA, considering court cases, literature, film, pop culture and drag king performances. I learned that the most interesting masculinities are not male, and that the history of the occlusion of butchness is a crucial foundation for understanding gender construction of all kinds.