ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at ways that we might rethink queer femme to more broadly understand the queer potential of femininity, without foreclosing space between the femme who is “queer enough” and the femme who does not meet these criteria. This chapter emphasises the affective dimensions of femininity that assemble to form femme identity and that can thereby be understood as the connective force between those bodies which present along a spectrum of femininity, whether they be LGBTQ or otherwise. The focus in this chapter is on the feelings of femme, the moments of astonishment, joy, and desire, among other material and sensate dimensions that contribute to the feeling of being femme. While this focus on the materiality of femme allows for seeing connections across sexuality and gender lines, it also makes spaces for rethinking the specificity of certain desires and pleasures that may be particular to femme within LGBTQ spaces.
