Female Masculinity Summary
Halberstam, Jack

Female Masculinity Overview

Jack (Judith) Halberstam’s Female Masculinity is a gender and queer theories book that traces the historical and modern perceptions and embodiments of masculinity within women. Halberstam draws from historical accounts of “female husbands” and gender “inverts,” the literary depiction and social perception of the “stone butch” in twentieth century lesbian communities, films depicting butch women characters, the performances of drag kings, and his own experiences growing up as a masculine woman in a gender binary world. Throughout Female Masculinity, Halberstam focuses on the themes of gender performance, gender embodiment, the separation of “masculinity” from “maleness,” the creation and validity of alternative masculinities, and the historical and contemporary importance of the language we each use to identify ourselves.