Making intelligible the controversies over femme identities: A functionalist approach to conceptualizing the subversive meanings of femme genders

Abstract

Quite a number of heated arguments have been put forth in the controversy about the meanings and appropriate uses of femme identities. In this article, the authors apply a functionalist theoretical framework, developed to explicate the links between gender and gender identities, to reframe the disputes about femme gender. They position two femme identities as responding to distinctive forms of oppression—one that centralizes the affirmation of gender diversity in the face of cisgenderism, and one that centralizes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) femininity to counter femmephobia. They consider the subversive functions of the two identities in terms of unmet needs across four domains. These needs include the need for authenticity in identity (psychological domain); for the prizing of socially devalued characteristics (cultural domain); for security and affiliation (interpersonal domain); and for aesthetic desirability rather than shame (sexual domain). Instead of seeing the two femme identities as at odds, they see them as serving some shared functions, but also distinctive functions in resisting stigma of varied forms. The framework can be applied to other forms of femme-inity (and other genders) to distinguish the varied meanings inherent in gender identities and facilitate research that advances gender theory.

Keywords:

• Femme
• gender
• cisgender
• lesbian
• sexism
• femme identity

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Heidi M. Levitt

Heidi M. Levitt, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is a past-president of the Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology and is a fellow of American Psychological Association Division 5 [Quantitative and Qualitative Methods], Division 29 [Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy], Division 32 [Society of Humanistic Psychology], and Division 44 [Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity].

Kathleen M. Collins

Kathleen M. Collins, MA, is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She studies the processes through which heterosexism impacts LGBTQ + mental health using mixed methods.