In Her I Am
Chrystos
Incredibly moving, sensual, brutally real, and very hot poetry from a femme who tells it like it is. Chrystos is a powerful voice for the Native and Femme communities. I particularly value her working class perspective. A strong and beautiful femme who was the keynote speaker at the 1998 Femme Gender Conference in San Francisco, where she spoke eloquently and courageously about being a femme in pre-stonewall working class butch/femme bars and about the celebration of/reverence for transgendered individuals from a Native perspective.
A Restricted Country
Joan Nestle
Full review forth-coming. Note: an early collection of essays by much loved and admired Joan Nestle, a truly courageous and mezmorizingly beautiful femme. If you are a femme who hasn't read Joan Nestle's work... you need to read it NOW! It will change your life.
A Fragile Union
Joan Nestle
Joan Nestle's most recent collection of essays. Review coming soon.
S/he
Minnie Bruce Pratt
Lyrical and poetic short essays which reflect upon the author's journey of self identity and sexual desire. Beautifully written, intelligent, passionate, personal and political, this book repeatedly moved me to tears and speaks to me like no other. In my opinion, this is by far the author's best work to date. Highly Recommended. (Note: Minnie Bruce Pratt is partnered with transgendered activist and author Leslie Feinburg.)
Order Information:
S/HE by Minnie Bruce Pratt
Firebrand Books,141 The Commons
Ithaca, New York 14850
ISBN 1-56341-059-1 Paper $10.95
ISBN 1-56341-060-5 Cloth
Femme: Feminists, Lesbians & Bad Girls
Laura Harris (ed.), Elizabeth Crocker (ed.)
Full review still to come. But note that there is an excellent essay from a femme married to an FTM in this collection of essays written by and about femme identity.
Femme Mystique
Leslea Newman (ed.) Full review coming soon! Note: in this book of essays by and about femme lesbians is a wonderful ground-breaking essay, "Stand By Your Man", written by Deborah Berkovitz (a personal friend of mine and member of our online transgender femme community!), which specifically addresses the experience of witnessing a butch partner's gradual shift into transgender identity. This essay was my saving grace as I witnessed a similar emergence of TG identity in my own lover. Debbie doesn't hold back in this essay which captures eloquently and gracefully the struggles she and her partner faced in these early stages of transition. It is a moving testament to the love and erotocism they share. A must read!