Genderfuck

Genderfuck is a portmanteau which refers to the self-conscious effort to "fuck with" or play with traditional notions of gender identity, gender roles, and gender presentation.cite journal
last=Lawless
first=Elaine J.
title=Claiming Inversion: Lesbian Constructions of Female Identity as Claims for Authority
journal=The Journal of American Folklore
volume=111
issue=439
pages=3–22
date=Winter 1998
url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8715%28199824%29111%3A439%3C3%3ACILCOF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X
accessdate=2007-08-30
month=Dec
year=1998
doi=10.2307/541317 ] It falls under the umbrella of the transgender spectrum.

Genderfucking

Genderfuck, as a form of gender identity or gender expression, uses parody and exaggeration to call attention to its transgression of gender roles, seeking to expose them as artificial [Wilkinson, Sue and Celia Kitzinger (1996). "The Queer Backlash". In cite book |last=Bell |first=Diane |authorlink= |coauthors=Renate Klein (eds) |title=Radically Speaking: Feminism Reclaimed |publisher=Zed Books |date=1996 |location=London |pages=375-382 Quoted in cite book |last=Weedon |first=Chris |title=Feminism, Theory, and the Politics of Difference |publisher=Blackwell Publishers |location=Cambridge, MA |year=1999 |pages=74-75 |isbn=0-631-19824-5 | oclc = |doi=] , oftentimes by manipulating one's appearance to create gender dissonance or ambiguity in stark opposition of the gender binary. In this way, genderfuck shares many characteristics with genderqueer, although they are two separate concepts.

Examples of genderfuck in relation to physical performance or appearance include people prominently displaying secondary sex characteristics of different sexes together, such as breasts "and" a beard.

Genderfuck is generally an intentional attempt to present a confusing gender identity which contributes to dismantling the perception of a gender binary.

Genderfuck implies not only the instigation of confusion for the sake of breaking down the binary, but also leaving more fluid room to be self-expressive and self-explorative with less expectations of a norm and more room to play via being radically honest. Though genderfuck is often associated with queer identities such as homosexuality and bisexuality, people of any sexual orientation may practice genderfuck.

History

Genderfuck is a politics of identity stemming from the identity politics movements of the 1950s and 1960s, a guiding principal of which is the idea that the personal is political. [Elisa Glick. Sex Positive: Feminism, Queer Theory, and the Politics of Transgression. Feminist Review, No. 64, Feminism 2000: One Step beyond?. (Spring, 2000), pp. 19-45.]

The term dates at least to 1974, when an article by Christopher Lonc, entitled "Genderfuck and Its Delights", appeared in the magazine "Gay Sunshine". Lonc wrote "I want to criticize and poke fun at the roles of women and of men too. I want to try and show how not-normal I can be. I want to ridicule and destroy the whole cosmology of restrictive sex roles and sexual identification." [Quoted in cite book
last=Bergman
first=David
title=Camp Grounds: Style and Homosexuality
publisher=University of Massachusetts Press
location=Amherst
year=1993
pages=7
isbn=0-87023-878-7
oclc =
doi=]

See also

* Boi (gender)
* Drag king
* Drag queen
* Cross dress
* Crossplay
* Faux queen
* Gender and sexuality studies
* Gender bender
* List of transgender-related topics
* Queer

Notes

References

* Altman, D. (1996). Rupture or Continuity? The Internationalization of Gay Identities. "Social Text" 48:77-94.
* Coviello, P. (2007) review of "World Enough Sex and Time in Recent Queer Studies", "GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies" 13:387-401.
* Glick, E. (2000) Sex Positive: Feminism, Queer Theory, and the Politics of Transgression, "Feminist Review" 64:19-45.
* McKenna, Jack (2000). "How I Became a Queer Heterosexual", p.65.
* citation
last=Stepp
first=Meredith
title=Playing our parts in ‘genderfuck’
newspaper =Southern Voice
date=2005-07-15
url=http://www.sovo.com/2005/7-15/view/columns/playing.cfm
* Reich, J.L. (1992) Genderfuck: the law of the dildo. "Discourse: Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture" 15:112-27.
* Thomas, Calvin, ed. (2000). "Straight with a Twist: Queer Theory and the Subject of Heterosexuality". University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06813-0.