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‘Masculinity’ in lesbian discourse? The case of butch and femme Lucy Jones lucy.jones@hull.ac.uk 1
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Introduction Can ‘masculinity’ exist in isolation from men? Is what lesbian women do in conversation really ‘masculinity’? Conversation between a community of practice (CoP) of lesbian women AIMS: unpick the indexical links between apparently ‘butch’ behaviour and hegemonic ‘masculinity’ 2
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Butch identity and masculinity (1) ‘Mannish’ ‘butch’ Butch is “a category of lesbian gender that is constituted through the deployment and manipulation of masculine gender codes and symbols” (Rubin 1992: 467) Achieved through the use of “masculine identifiers” (Inness 1997: 185) Shows women “disrupting and decentering heterosexual masculinity” (Wilton 1995: 104) 3
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Butch identity and masculinity (2) Gender order: non-feminine = acting like a man Butch: acting like a man? Or acting like a lesbian? Masculinity: being a man – Competition and hierarchy (Kiesling 1997, 2002) – Heterosexuality (Pujolar 1997) – Misogny (Bucholtz 1999) – “animated by entirely traditional anxieties about being seen at all times as red-blooded heterosexual males: not women and not queers.” (Cameron 1997: 62) 4
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Theoretical framework Lesbian women found to use lesbian stereotypes to construct shared, meaningful identity (Morgan and Wood 1995, Queen 2005, Morrish and Sauntson 2007, Jones 2011) Sociocultural linguistics (Bucholtz & Hall 2005) : – Identities are constructed in interaction; stereotypes and ideologies are reworked within that interaction Personae constructed within interaction – relevant to shared experience (ethnographic level) and broader sociocultural context 5
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The Sapphic Stompers British lesbian hiking group: typically women in their late fifties to early sixties, feminists, identified as butch or androgynous Jones (in press): the women used discursive strategies to position themselves and others in line with ‘authentic’ or ‘illegitimate’ personae that they themselves constructed – Dyke (authentic) or Girl (inauthentic) The interaction: Claire, Marianne, Sam and Lucy (Author) Makeup negotiated re: construction of authentic lesbian identity 6
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Rejecting lipstick Collaborative stance against makeup Generational experience – Positions makeup as an inauthentic resource for lesbians of their generation (lines 4-6) Queering heteronormative concept of lipstick – Unattractive rather than sexually appealing (line 9) Clear distinction between lesbian women and straight women – Lipstick: accessible symbol of heteronormative femininity 7
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Shifting stances towards authenticity Marianne’s attempt to shift the group’s stance – Use of hedging Failure to change the group stance; shifts her own stance – Lipstick is ‘quite nice actually’ (line 19) lipstick is ‘a bit horrible actually’ (line 26) Why does Marianne’s attempt fail? – Strong ideological link between makeup and femininity – Strong link between makeup and patriarchy Reveals the salience of rejecting symbols of heteronormative femininity in the construction of a butch identity. 8
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Indexing a butch persona Claire (line 21 onwards): – ‘Put your foot down’ Indexes dykey/butch persona – Direct index: domineering/controlling – Indirect index: butch, in contrast to femme – Draws on prevalent ideologies of masculinity and femininity to construct a specifically lesbian stance: Masculinity may have an indexical relationship to butch, but not necessarily a direct correlation 9
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Conclusions Butch is about more than taking on masculine signifiers or role-playing a male identity – Butch is an alternative style of womanhood Butch is not a non-female identity – One can reject femininity without rejecting femaleness Masculinity is about all things associated with hegemonic manliness, Butch is about all things associated with stereotypical lesbianism. Butch is a valuable resource for queer identity construction 10
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‘Masculinity’ in lesbian discourse? The case of butch and femme Lucy Jones lucy.jones@hull.ac.uk 11
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