endracismandhomophobia:

Introduction

Lately, there seems to be a trend in the gendered marketing of products. Why is it that when items associated for men are marketed to women, they are not specially marketed with a few notable exceptions such as (pink tool kit set) yet items normally associated with women are usually renamed when marketed to men - megging (legging for men) or man bag (a laughable concept a mere decade back as evident in this clip from the sitcom, FRIENDS)?

One could attribute this to the concept of femmephobia.

Concept of Femmephobia

 

Femmephobia is essentially the fear and hatred of all things associated with women and can be argued as belonging within a subset of or another form of misogyny (fear and hatred of women). No matter where its exact position within the feminism discourse, one thing is certain. Feminine associations (activities like shopping) are less accepted than masculine associations (liking sports) in contemporary societies. Femmephobia is taught from young when most boys are discouraged from participating in feminine associated activities like ballet dance but girls are encouraged to participate in masculine activities such as soccer.

Masculinity in a woman gets increasingly accepted as we age while femininity in a man is frowned upon. A woman who prefers dressing in a masculine fashion such as having short hair and wearing shirts and pants would be a non-issue in most societies today. A man, however, who prefers dressing in a feminine fashion such as wearing a dress is viewed as having a possible psychiatric disorder - transvestic fetishism.

When a man is linked to some feminine association such as showing an interest in make-up, his identity as a man is called into question. It is as though he is lowering his sense of self as he directly threatens his masculinity by aligning himself with femininity. Femmephobia hence may actually be a factor in homophobia, because of the conventional stereotyped image a person normally has of a gay person - the effeminate gay men.

Femmephobia within the gay subculture

 

It is rather strange when one thinks about the presence of femmephobia within the gay subculture. After all, homosexuality already transgresses societal’s gendered norms. The societal stereotype of homosexuality is one where masculinity is almost erased - the stereotype of a gay man is an overtly effeminate and emotional gay man who likes all things feminine.

However, within the gay subculture, the gay ideal is a man whose physique screams masculine: sculpted body of an Adonis, bulging with muscles and washboard abs. Perceived masculine traits are exalted within the subculture - perhaps due to their need to reassert their gender identity as males in a more physical sense. In fact, it is ‘a compliment for someone to tell you that you could “pass as straight.”’ (Freddy Tlatenchi, Daily Sundial. 2012, May 9).

Hence, the effeminate men, often termed as femmes, are subjected to femmephobia instead of being accepted. They face outright rejection and exclusion from the very subculture they belong to.

A quick peek into online gay dating sites as well as profiles on the smartphone application Grindr are littered with the terms:

‘No femmes’/ ‘No fairy’/ ‘No sissies’/’no queens’ as well as ‘str8 acting only/ for masc only’.

Image: A gay man’s profile on Grindr and the chat message where he defines normal

image source:http://stopracismandhomophobiaongrindr.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/yawn-heres-yet-another-homophobic-gay-guy-on/

On top of facing difficulties in trying to forge a relationship, the effeminate gay man are also unfairly blamed for ‘dividing’ society’s opinion on homosexuality and for being the reason why homosexuals are not easily accepted because they stand out (Ramen Setoodeh, Newsweek. 2009, Nov 11).

One can only guess the stress effeminate men go through facing double discrimination - rejected by society at large (for being a homosexual and hence, transgressing gendered norms) as well as getting rejected by their own community for not conforming to societal’s masculine norms. They may be more at risk of engaging in self-harm or committing suicide.

Femmephobia in Lesbian subculture

For lesbians however, femmephobia is present in another form. Masculinity is once again upheld - this time as something radical as opposed to something that reasserts their identity. Amasculine lesbian - butch is the ‘face’ of lesbianism so to speak. A femme (feminine woman)is seen as someone who ‘conforms’ to most of society’s norms. She faces invisibility as there is no visible, stereotypical way of recognizing fellow femmes. Further, they are seen as a threat to the lesbian movement because they can pass off as a heteronormative female and not get subjected to the same form of homophobia that butch (masculine performing lesbian) face. Hence, femmephobia denies femme their identity as a queer woman because of their femme invisibility.

Conclusion

We need to challenge femmephobia because it is a potentially dividing concept, one that strictly delineates the world into two (male-female and good-bad) when the world is far, far more complex with its shades of grey. We thus need to critically examine, critique and call for change in terms of the gendered marketting. We should teach our children that they are free to explore their sense of identities as well as equip them with the necessary coping skills needed to navigate a potentially hazardous world.

dissimilar:

so I jokingly commented on someone’s post in the virginia hall facebook page about how if someone’s taking a shower and there’s a fire drill they should “just hide in [their] closet[s] idk”

and I end up with an email from reslife asking to “touch base” about virginia hall’s policy with fire…

#virginia hall ass #lame ass #panties in a  bunch ass