Introduction

This chapter presents readers with the central question of this book: how might we consider femininity in a way that goes beyond mapping feminine gender presentation via a binary of empowerment/disempowerment? How can we go beyond questions of the meaning of feminine styles, to consider what femininity does? The concept of femininity is introduced through engagement with various definitions from existing feminist and queer literature, with particular focus on the idea of femininity as a “masquerade”. Here, the ways femininity has been described in relation to surface, aesthetics, and gender presentation is key. Working from this basis, this chapter argues against understanding feminine styles as a cause of women’s oppression, and also argues that femininity must be understood as more than an effect of oppression. The method of “queering” femininity employed in this book is also defined here, described as an interrogation of the presumed normativity of feminine styles. It is argued that attendance to the affective dimensions of gendered life assists in understanding the queer potential of femininity. In framing the motivation behind this work, this chapter also includes an auto ethnographic reflection on the author’s insider relationship with feminist and queer femme communities. Overall, this introductory chapter opens up the case for giving greater attention to femininity and related personal identity attachments, without arguing that individual embodiments are the best way to effect political change.