User:Ramirezk6/sandbox

Femme visibility is relevant in order to show us the multiple ways in which femmes identify in different scenarios thus allowing us to see that they desire a female gaze as opposed to a male gaze. The Femme “complicates any straightforward reading of femininity as always heterosexual and opens up the possibility for agency through unknowability.” Femme Invisibility occurs due to the heteronormative assumption that gender performance is linked to sexuality. When an individual identifies as femme, the connection between femininity and heterosexuality can sometimes be made, thus erasing their credibility as a part of the LGBTQ community. Femininity, in part, is arguably the conformation of a gendered heterosexual gaze. A feminine woman who does not “return the masculine gaze” is not expressing her sexuality. The femme is usually recognized as a part of the queer identity when they are a part of a couple. The butch counterpart is paired with the femme in order to create a dynamic of a heterosexual normal attraction. However, this is not always the case. It was concluded that most femmes were predominantly attracted to butches, however, they were open to dating femme/femme and butch/butch, agreeing that relationships had to deal more with the person themselves and their personality rather than their lesbian gender label. The issue with identifying as femme is that it could sometimes makes their queerness seem invisible due to the fact that, by appearance, are “adhering to conventional gender norms.” The femme identity challenges gender by subverting original gender norms and performing them in an unexpected way because of the expectation society puts when relating gender to sexuality. Femme-ness can be a type of performativity and a playful subversion as it critiques heteronormativity through its invisibility. When one identifies as femme their sexuality is often questioned as well. Femmes are usually known to be more submissive while a butch, for example, would be more of the “giver.” In a study by Singh and colleagues (1999), they found that femme lesbians were more sexually receptive more often than the butch. However, another study was done in 2003 by Levitt and colleagues, which stated that femme lesbians could be either “top” or “bottom” and that studies done before on femme lesbians conformed to sexual behavioral stereotypes based on their gender label. Nevertheless, in the most recent study in 2005 through the Sex and Love Project,  new data was collected in order to combat some lesbian stereotypes. It was found that there were little differences in sexual attraction when it came to butch and femme lesbians. However, when it comes to femme, it was found that more lesbians that identify as femme were more likely inclined to be attracted to women using toys in order to penetrate them as opposed to butches. Although the butch and the femme might enjoy different sexual behaviors, they are able to compliment each other by understanding each other’s gender identity through their sexual interactions. Nevertheless, these studies offer a dichotomy between the butch and the femme leaving little research done on lesbians who see themselves in between the two identities.