ABSTRACT
This chapter turns to examine the queer femme identity within the LGBTQ community, to understand how femininity cannot simply or easily be understood in relation to oppression. This chapter draws on interviews undertaken with queer femmes in Australia in 2013, as well as analysis of a variety of texts produced on the topic of femme. Queer femme identity refers predominately to people who present as normatively feminine but who do not identify as heterosexual. Historically the term has been paired with the masculine identifier butch, though in recent years standalone femme subcultural spaces have emerged around the world. Femmes often report feeling invisible in both LGBTQ and mainstream heterosexual spaces because people assume that they are straight based on their appearance. As such femme presents a different perspective on the question of femininity. Queer femme communities have often advocated for recognising the queer potential of femininity and for general audiences to change their perceptions about what femininity signifies. This chapter specifically focuses on issues of visibility, recognition, and representation for queer femme identifying people but also looks at the difficulty of defining the queer dimensions of femme femininity, if it is assumed that “queer” must always be positioned as alternative to the mainstream.
