Femme: a neo-noir thriller about a gay man getting revenge
It’s early morning and everyone’s a bit bleary-eyed when I sit with Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay, stars of the new revenge thriller Femme. Stewart-Jarrett quickly grabs a second coffee in preparation for our chat as we delve into what drew them to the film, how to inform queer stories and whether or not revenge is a good idea.
In Femme, Jules, played by Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits), pops to a corner shop for cigarettes following a stunning production as his drag persona Aphrodite. There, he tenses as a rowdy organization of guys walks in. The inevitable queerphobia begins, but Jules, though clearly shaken, bites back. It doesn’t go down skillfully. The gang follow him and launch a brutal attack led by a heavily tattooed Preston, played by George MacKay ().
The attack leaves Jules traumatised, barely leaving the residence for months. Eventually, one night he drags himself to a gay sauna and there he sees Preston once again. Not recognising him, Preston invites Jules back to his flat, where it rapidly becomes evident
Last updated on July 22nd, at pm
There are as many ways to construct and live a femme identity as there are femmes. Some femmes wear long hair, others shave their heads, and still others do both. Some wear heels every time they abandon the house and others wear sneakers. Some are CEOs and some are welders and some work in pink-collar fields. Some are &#;girly&#; and many are not. Some associate their femme-ness with their appearance, while others associate it with spirituality or energy or emotion or politics or care or strength.
Femme isn&#;t any one presentation or behavior or way of moving through the planet, and it&#;s definitely not simply &#;being feminine.&#; It&#;s an intentional, self-aware, and queer twist on feminine energy and presentation that transcends the sum of its parts. Or as Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha writes in &#;FEMME SHARK MANIFESTO!, &#;WE’RE YOUR Optimal GIRLFRIEND AND YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE.&#;
If you are femme, go out femmes, both, or neither, here&#;s a quick primer on the myths and truths around existence femme.
Myth: Only Lesbian Women Can Be Femme
Out On The Couch
By Briana Shewan, MFT
In order to prioritize femme voices, all quotes in this article are from femmes.
Positionality makes a big difference in femme identity: Please note I am a cisgender, white, thin, millenial femme from an upper-middle class background formally trained as a psychotherapist.
Have you ever wondered if you’re femme? Have you been circling around femme identity for a while without knowing if it fits? Are you unsure if you get to contact yourself femme? Maybe you’ve heard “femme” more and more and you’re curious about it?
Femme is a beautiful, complex identity. What it looks like, means, and encompasses is different for each of us. I’m sure for many femmes there’s a meaning of resistance at my aim to categorize the identity here. I don’t mean to mean that being femme fits into one specific box! In truth, quite the opposite is genuine. Femme is all about stepping outside of traditional femininity. Spoiler! I’m getting ahead of myself.
Rather, this article is intended to broadly clarify femme identity by exploring its common themes. As the term
There are many ways to be a femme, so it&#;s foremost not to confine oneself to a specific definitionbut below is an abstarct of how it was defined in the literature I read. Femme is a term used in LGBT culture to illustrate someone who expresses themselves in a typically feminine way. With that said, femme differs from feminine, and the differences are key in understanding why the terminology femme is necessary. The common threads amongst all femmes are their expression of femininity and their place on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Many individuals use it to embrace and redefine the stereotypes and expectations that are often placed on women.
Femme & Femininity
Many people outside the homosexual community may not fully understand what femme means and how it differs from feminine, but the differences are why the terminology femme is necessary.
Femme describes a lgbtq+ person who presents and behaves in a traditionally feminine way with the inclusion of cisgender individuals who enjoy a more passive role in intimate relationships, asexual transgender women, or n