"Femme(inine) Diaspora": Queering the Lesbian Femme

Abstract

"Femme(inine) Diaspora" forms part of a continuing discussion between feminists and queer theorists in the sex/gender/sexuality debates and the politics of gender performance. Some feminists have argued that the greater emphasis placed on sexuality in this approach obscures the axis of gender and its specific relationship to women. This particular concern is exemplified in the butch/femme relationship. Whilst gender performance is able to articulate the subversion of the "butch" to heteronormativity, by cross-gender identification, it is unable to conceptualise the dissidence of the lesbian femme leaving her vulnerable to accusations of "passing." This article offers an alternative model for theorising the femme by drawing on French feminists' explorations of the subversive potential of the "feminine" as well as recent queer appropriations of "diaspora" and the politics of borders to the representation of (hetero)normalised (sexual) identity. This model concentrates on the space between "sex" (female) and "gender" (feminine) and suggests ways in which such a framework is able to create an alternative dialogue of both distance and nearness to the "body."