What Can Femme Teach us About Pedagogy?

What is it about?

Femme is an expansive term for thinking critically and intersectionally about femininity outside of womanhood. Femme comes from working-class lesbian bar scenes and Ballroom scenes in North America. Femme pedagogy--that is, femme approaches to teaching and learning--have not gotten as much attention as feminist, queer, and trans approaches. Why is that? This paper explores three possible reasons for why that is: both femme and pedagogy are expansive concepts that are difficult to define; both femme and pedagogy have some problematic origins; and both femme and pedagogy are seen as contradictory (both lacking and excessive). Instead of seeing these as reasons to dispose of femme and pedagogy, this paper thinks alongside these perceived "failures," a concept I borrow from queer theorist Jack Halberstam, to articulate what femme pedagogy might teach us about desire.

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