Femme

For other uses, see Femme (disambiguation).

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Femme (/fɛm/;[1] French: [fam], literally meaning "woman") is a term traditionally used to describe a lesbian woman who exhibits a feminine identity or gender presentation.[2][3] While commonly viewed as a lesbian term, alternate meanings of the word also exist with some non-lesbian individuals using the word,[4] notably some gay men and bisexuals.[1] Some non-binary and transgender individuals also identify as lesbians using this term.[5]

Heavily associated with lesbian history and culture,[3] femme has been used among lesbians to distinguish traditionally feminine lesbians from their butch (i.e. masculine) lesbian counterparts and partners.[a] Derived from American lesbian communities following World War II when women joined the work force,[6] the identity became a characteristic of the working class lesbian bar culture of the 1940s–1950s.[8] By the 1990s, the term femme had additionally been adopted by bisexual women.[6]

  1. ^ a b "femme (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Femme definition and meaning". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b Miller, Meredith (2006). Historical Dictionary of Lesbian Literature. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 65.
  4. ^ Herbitter, Cara; Levitt, Heidi M. (2016). "Butch–Femme". In Goldberg, Abbie E. (ed.). The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies (1st ed.). SAGE Publishers. p. 177. ISBN 978-1483371306.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Firestein, Beth A., ed. (2007). "16. Gender Expression in Bisexual Women: Therapeutic Issues and Considerations". Becoming Visible: Counseling Bisexuals Across the Lifespan. Columbia University Press. pp. 301–310. ISBN 978-0231137249.
  7. ^ Ukockis, Gail (2016). "5. Lesbians and Bisexual Women: Concerns of Lesbian and Bisexual Women: Butch/Femme Stereotypes". Women's Issues for a New Generation: A Social Work Perspective. Oxford University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0190239411.
  8. ^ Theophano, Teresa (2004). "Butch-Femme" (PDF). glbtq.com. Retrieved 14 March 2020.


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