Masculinity behind the Masquerade: The Problem of Reading Queer Femininity

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the notion that particular ways of understanding femininity have been historically ‘othered’ within critical gender theory.1 From Pamela Robertson’s discussions of female ‘camp, ' that positions women embracing feminine excess against a backdrop of male homosexuality, 2 to Angela McRobbie’s critique of pleasure-seeking women whom she dubs ‘phallic girls, '3 this chapter examines why masculinity readings are often privileged as a marker of resistance to hegemonic notions of femininity and why some aspects of the category of femininity are often not in and of themselves considered as centralising concepts for analyses of gender. Along these lines, this chapter focuses o..