Friday at the big queer conference

Ok, so we are at True Colors.  We had over 50 people in our workshop this morning. Highlights as of 5:30

• From the evaluations: “Plus 10 points for mentioning Ani Difranco.” Also: overall ability: sexy  Other comments: hotness
• We got stuck in an elevator for 20 seconds with overly dramatic queer youth who were decked out to the 9s and very concerned and vocal about how many people were in the elevator.
• Havalah fell asleep every 5 seconds Read the rest of this entry »

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Femme History

I’m really obsessed with history, especially queer history. There is no doubt in my mind that in my case the root of that interest comes from the purely selfish place of wanting to know where I come from, who my people are, and really a search for proof that there were others who came first, and of course a big part of my interest is related to learning about femme history (which isn’t always the easiest to find).

So often it seems as though any historical references to femmes are written from another’s perspective (often butches), which at times makes me feel like something is missing from the story. The topic of femme history came up the other day in an online community I am part of where someone posted asking about the importance of femme history, who were some of our favorite femme authors (of which I have soooo many : ) ) and then what is the importance of passing down a femme history to younger generations.

I know that for me coming out I felt such an invisibility around being a femme, as though paradoxically the history of femmes had been buried but also that femme was seen as nothing but a historical artifact that should never be resurrected. I believe that a big part of building and sustaining femme community needs to be recognition of the power of history for the femmes of today, but also for the femmes of tomorrow. What about you, what are your thoughts on femme history?

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To do list

We’re going to Connecticut and we are so ridiculously excited!

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A list, for you and for me

Performance pieces I’m working on this week, some femme show and some not:

1. Reviewing No Femmes Allowed for True Colors this weekend. Trying to remember where we got the clothes we used (We had to borrow some of the “dykey” clothes from Jess and Havalah’s boyfriend).
   
2. Reworking Split Personality for True Colors and the Emerson show. Dancing with the boot is soo much harder than I remember, and it’s really beating up my feet.

Read the rest of this entry »

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queer femme, lesbian femme, lipstick lesbian which word do you choose?

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave work I pulled on my jacket, navy blue with baby storybook femmes printed onto buttons. As I was picking up my messenger bag, checking my email one last time an argument broke out. My co-workers suddenly began debating what it meant to be a femme, began trying to decide what “femme” as a label, an identity, a category looked like, felt like, meant. Is a lesbian femme the same as a queer femme they wondered? What about a lipstick lesbian, is that the same as a femme? Is being feminine enough to be femme, or does the queer part have to be attached, how about the self-identification? Two days ago I read a post in an online community, positing that there are more femmes than butches, when asked if they were talking about feminine dykes or folks who self identified as femme, they said it was one in the same. Is someone femme if they don’t wear their femininity ironically? What about straight femmes, are they possible, or is queerness a requirement? I despise the term lipstick lesbian, two months ago a good friend (who also happens to be a femme) was over for dinner, and we joked that we didn’t know anyone who identified as a lipstick lesbian, that we found the term weird, strange, not connected to the ways we view our queer femininity, even if it is a rare day for either of us to leave our homes without lipstick. Last week I became friends with a femme who came to the city from half way around the world, she identifies as a lipstick lesbian. I find myself asking a lot of questions here, because I don’t have answers to give. I can talk about what is true for my own femininity, that for me queerness is intimately tied to being femme. I feel most comfortable living and presenting femininely but I also consider that femininity a social construct. I don’t consider every feminine lesbian to be a femme, I see that as a label, which must be claimed, and understood, that it’s, more than dresses, heels, lipstick. When I hear the word femme it conjures images of queerness, and dyke histories, but I know that’s only my construction, and nothing more.

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Femme Show at True Colors Conference

In a few weeks Havalah and I will be at the True Colors Conference in Storrs, CT presenting a workshop that combines performances from the Femme Show with an interactive discussion about femme identity today. We’re super excited, because True Colors is the largest LGBTQI youth conference in the country and because it’s where I had the best times as a baby queer. Also we get to go on a mini-road trip and stay with my parents.

It’s March 14 and 15 at UCONN. If you’re going, come say hi!

The Femme Show: Dispatches from the Cutting Edge of Femme
This workshop uses selections from The Femme Show, Boston’s acclaimed revue of smart, sexy, interactive performance about queer femme identity, as a jumping off point to discuss all kinds of femme identity past, present and future. Topics for discussion include femme and feminism, making femme identity inclusive, femme as gender identity, creating safe and welcoming spaces for femmes in the LGBTQ community, and anything else you want to talk about! Femme Show artists will perform excerpts including “Hair Piece: The Queer Years,” a hilarious, wrenching exploration of queer visibility through a lifetime of hair styles; and “Split Personality,” high-femme dance solo performed wearing a pointe shoe on one foot and a Doc Marten boot on the other.

Remember, if you want to bring the Femme Show to your school, group, or event, email info at the femme show dot com.

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A Few Days (bloggy mcblog blog)

I’m having one of those weeks where my brain starts to explode a little from all the different things I’m doing.  It’s not just being busy, it’s being busy in so many different ways.  Here are a few days in the life, being a teacher, activist, artist and producer.  (I feel a little disingenuous telling you about this week because it’s been super productive and not all weeks are like this, last week I was sick and lazy all week.  Oh well.) Read the rest of this entry »

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