Tuesday, February 16, 2010
From Womyn to Bois
I thought Levy provided an interesting perspective on the current state of lesbianism, however a particular point of feminist history seemed puzzling. Levy references (on page 20) a publication entitled The Furies that advocated lesbianism as not a sexual preference or natural quality women are born with but rather a political rallying cry to promote women and "end male supremacy." This seems so far removed from current political discussions on gay marriage where homosexuals are praying for people to understand that their sexual orientation is a trait one is born with. Today gay people advocate for marriage rights because they presumably want to show a commitment to their partner but The Furies completely combat that argument in 1972 by claiming they merely want to make a political stand and change the culture of society from masculine-based. I wonder what current homosexuals publicly advocating for marriage rights would say about such a statement. Also, it would be interesting to see how current conservatives claiming gay marriage is unnatural would incorporate such a publication in 1972 into their argument or opinions.
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ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the chapter Levy describes the differences in social performance between "bois" and "femme" lesbians. It was interesting as it shed light onto gender performance among different groups. The women who described themselves as "bois" took to performing "male" characteristics. They liked partying and enjoyed having multiple partners with little emotional attachment, attributing this kind of behavior to young men, or "bois". This was an interesting part of the article as it showed how social programming at its core. These women choose to perform "male" characteristics and thoughts, a conscious decision, while men, believing this kind of behavior to be inherent to their sex, act in this manner do to their programming. What, then, are gender performances truly if they are all socially constructed forms of behavior?
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