Sometimes the volume of my interspersed commentary in an LHMP entry is an index to how much I disagree with it. But sometimes--as in the present case--it's because I find the content so challenging and engaging that I was to become part of the conversation. I want to discuss the subject, to dig deeper, to bring in additional angles, to talk my way through the process of integrating the ideas into my own global understanding.
I'm not in the position of having those conversations with the authors. And I don't know if there would be enough interest for a book discussion group even if I had the time and energy to lead one. So I hold that conversation in square brackets within my summaries. Halberstam, Judith Jack. Female Masculinity. Duke University Press, Durham. ISBN While Halberstam reaches into the 19th century to explore the historic background of female masculinity, I think the topic is done a disservice by not including a much deeper timeframe.
As studies of classical and medieval theories of sex and gender--such as Laqueur and Cadden--demonstrate, the idea that certain characteristics are inherently masculine or inherently feminine, despite appearing in persons of any bodily sex, is long-standing. Latin had a word specifically for their understanding of female masculinity: virago. And medieval and early modern concepts of hermaphroditisim when not being a framework for addressing intersex bodies speak directly to the idea that gender identity and gendered performance will not always align.
When socially-valued characteristics are arbitrarily assigned to the category of masculinity, it means that women who embody those characteristics will tend to be read as masculine, regardless of all other gender performance. What are some of the valued characteristics that have historically been treated as masculine?
Robust health. Desire for women. This is the flip side of the problem. Do you accept the label or challenge it? Or do you push back and argue for the right of women to do and be things that have been labeled masculine without losing their gender identity?
