We Are All Subversives: Femme Strength and Queer Solidarity

Both of us were struck by the fact that communities which are so focused on transgression could simultaneously place such great emphasis on masculinity and patriarchal structures of power. Both of us were saddened that we often felt disrespect and spite from the people whom we love and struggle alongside, simply because we identify in ways which we have all been taught to stigmatize.

There are other ways to be powerful.  Our femme identities are so powerful, in the way we claim and embody them.  I will not change my identity to fit what is seen as visibly queer.  Instead, I will expect people to learn to see differently, to see that queer comes in a lot of different forms.  I will transgress the expectations of what queer looks like and in so doing try to change those expectations.