By Ulrika Dahl & Del LaGrace Volcano
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.
Reviews
'Femmes of Power weaves interviews, analysis and testimony around a selection of stunning LaGrace portraits. This book glows, sparkles and leaves the reader seduced, tempted and in awe' Jack Halberstam
‘Intimate, audacious, and exploding with interpretative trajectories, these images reach beyond their edges to re-envision projects of queer visual testimony’ Juana Maria Rodriguez
‘An innovative and much-needed literary and visual re-articulation of queer testimonies and an exciting book to anyone thinking creatively about femme-inist community-based activism internationally’ Tiina Rosenberg
