Very poetic! I’ll probably come back to this (those ‘phila’ trip me up). Anyway, my 2 cents. Society gives two (broad) classes of gender marking clothes. Dresses, skirts made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable? As a kid in the ‘50s & ‘60s I picked jeans! Felt freeing- could climb trees and such. Some like the femme stuff, men & women both. Not sure these choices say anything about a person’s sexuality? You could say, statistically, more women who eschew femme stuff are lesbian? Empirical question. you’d have to define lesbian, which, following Beauvoir, is strictly a personal matter & means (billions of?) different things? So maybe not classes but a scale? Maybe easier to judge wardrobe?
For many of us same-sex attracted. gender non-conforming lesbians, the right boots (tux, overalls, jacket, hat, whatever) offer all sorts of benefits and pleasures, from the pragmatic to the symbolic to the erotic. They signify our powerful inhabiting of our own female bodies, as well as our attraction to/desire to attract others. Quite the opposite of a paraphilia, and threatening as hell to the dominant paradigm. We aren't some inadequate simulacrum of maleness, but, instead, the embodiment of a form of female sexuality centered exclusively on female pleasure.
Every same-sex attracted gender non-conforming lesbian girl needs a different kind of sex education, one that says to her, "in a few years, you will discover the blessing of this female body and what it can do for you and your lovers; you will discover that your special way of being will turn you into a hot, prized, rare and desired woman among women; wear what you want, grow strong and free and brave; and read a lot of lesbian history while nature is working its magic on you."
Medicalizing gender-nonconforming girls could be argued to be a projection of male autogynophilia on the female body. Butch and andorgynous lesbian sexualities, beyond the heterosexual economy of male dominance, shine a light on the lie of its inevitability, and that makes a lot of people very uncomfortable.
Thank you, this is perfect! (And I'm sad the other Aaron just keeps digging a deeper hole on this issue...) My special kink is fake (not testosterone-grown) moustaches. That's my best peacock tail!
Even for straight/bi women (and I'm technically one) I don't think there's autoandrophilia equivalent to autogynephilia in men. Because even there the fetischistic quality of masculinity is so connected to female same-sex sexuality, such as two females pretending to be gay boys together. (Perhaps the true male equivalent to that is not AGPs but gay drag queens and diva-worshippers who are really not interested in real women at all?)
Very poetic! I’ll probably come back to this (those ‘phila’ trip me up). Anyway, my 2 cents. Society gives two (broad) classes of gender marking clothes. Dresses, skirts made me feel uncomfortably vulnerable? As a kid in the ‘50s & ‘60s I picked jeans! Felt freeing- could climb trees and such. Some like the femme stuff, men & women both. Not sure these choices say anything about a person’s sexuality? You could say, statistically, more women who eschew femme stuff are lesbian? Empirical question. you’d have to define lesbian, which, following Beauvoir, is strictly a personal matter & means (billions of?) different things? So maybe not classes but a scale? Maybe easier to judge wardrobe?
Good article, Aaron.
Another totally dialed in essay.
For many of us same-sex attracted. gender non-conforming lesbians, the right boots (tux, overalls, jacket, hat, whatever) offer all sorts of benefits and pleasures, from the pragmatic to the symbolic to the erotic. They signify our powerful inhabiting of our own female bodies, as well as our attraction to/desire to attract others. Quite the opposite of a paraphilia, and threatening as hell to the dominant paradigm. We aren't some inadequate simulacrum of maleness, but, instead, the embodiment of a form of female sexuality centered exclusively on female pleasure.
Every same-sex attracted gender non-conforming lesbian girl needs a different kind of sex education, one that says to her, "in a few years, you will discover the blessing of this female body and what it can do for you and your lovers; you will discover that your special way of being will turn you into a hot, prized, rare and desired woman among women; wear what you want, grow strong and free and brave; and read a lot of lesbian history while nature is working its magic on you."
Medicalizing gender-nonconforming girls could be argued to be a projection of male autogynophilia on the female body. Butch and andorgynous lesbian sexualities, beyond the heterosexual economy of male dominance, shine a light on the lie of its inevitability, and that makes a lot of people very uncomfortable.
Yes, we do wear it better. Thanks, Aaron.
Brilliant! Yes, the AGP cohort is very invested in ridding lesbianism of butches and transmen. Maned lionesses protect the pride.
Thank you, this is perfect! (And I'm sad the other Aaron just keeps digging a deeper hole on this issue...) My special kink is fake (not testosterone-grown) moustaches. That's my best peacock tail!
Even for straight/bi women (and I'm technically one) I don't think there's autoandrophilia equivalent to autogynephilia in men. Because even there the fetischistic quality of masculinity is so connected to female same-sex sexuality, such as two females pretending to be gay boys together. (Perhaps the true male equivalent to that is not AGPs but gay drag queens and diva-worshippers who are really not interested in real women at all?)