Product Description

What is femme? French for woman? A feminine lesbian? A queer girl who loves to dress up? Think again! Going beyond identity politics and the pleasures of plumage, Femmes of Power captures a diverse range of queerly feminine subjects whose powerful and intentional redress explodes the meaning of femme for the 21st century. Femmes of Power features both every-day heroines and many queer feminist icons, including Michelle Tea, Virginie Despentes, Amber Hollibaugh, Itziar Ziga, Lydia Lunch, Kate Bornstein and Valerie Mason-John. Femmes of Power unsettles the objectifying 'male' gaze on femininity and presents femmes as speaking subjects and high-heeled theorists. Look closer - these powerful, sexy and sincerely ironic feminine figures are larger than life, bravely challenging femininity's negative connotations and replacing femme invisibility with a fresh new face for femme-inism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #311470 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
"'Magnificent and breathtaking. Del continues to define the avant-garde in sex and photography' Susie Bright 'Accessible, adroit and most certainly mischievous' New Internationalist"

About the Author
Del LaGrace Volcano is one of the world's leading queer cultural producers, cited and reproduced in numerous publications, journals and books on visual art, as well as queer and feminist theory for the past 15 years. FEMMES OF POWER is his fifth photographic monograph. Ulrika Dahl is a writer, activist and cultural anthropologist. She teaches Gender Studies at Södertörn University College in Stockholm.

Customer Reviews

Fabulous Femme Fun
My first thought is what took you so long?After all the hype surrounding drag queens and kings a book of BIO queens has been a long time coming.I LOVE THIS BOOK.Not only are the images fantastic with lots of variety but unusually the subjects speak for themselves rather than being overanalysed by some dry academic.Femmes of Power is a pandoras box of images and interviews which will hopefully go a long way in getting femmes the recognition and respect they deserve.

RE: Totally AWESOME!
I'm not a gender studies student nor do I even consider myself queer but I found this book to be DELICIOUS! I devoured it--but not in one sitting--this is not fast food, it takes some time to digest. The images are amazing and powerful. It's rare to see women that are their own people and not just objects of beauty. Loved the writing too...made me realize how sexist this world really is. As an aging hetero femme I found Lois Weaver's STILL COUNTING essay especially relevant. Some of the essays and images were, shall we say, challenging? But that is exactly what I love about this book. It doesn't play safe. Thank you!