Rating: 
Summary: Praise in the media for Female Masculinity
Review: "Judith Halberstam's new book, Female Masculinity, is an extraordinary and studied work that carefully presents an analysis of gender, and more specifically, masculinity, without over-simplification or narrow definition. . . . This is the most thorough and broad-visioned work on female masculinity that I have yet seen. Halberstam's work is an essential contribution to our increasing understanding of gender expression and its relationship to biology and sexual orientation, as well as to everything else."-Lambda Book Report "[A] unique offering in queer studies: a study of the masculine lesbian woman. Halberstam makes a compelling argument for a more flexible taxonomy of masculinity, including not only men, who have historically held the power in society, but also women who embody qualities that are usually associated with maleness, such as strength, authority, and independence."-Library Journal"Halberstam's book can be added to the list of important studies of masculinity and femininity. . . . [H]er intriguing and intelligent study covers a wide range of subjects and time periods. . . . Along with Judith Butler, Terry Castle, Sue-Ellen Case, and Eve K. Sedgwick, Halberstam-especially in her previous work on masculinity and lesbianism-is already established as one of the most thought-provoking voices in queer studies. This book will only enhance that reputation. Female Masculinity should find a wide readership. . . ."-Choice "'Campy, trashy, tough, and violent, *Chopper Chicks in Zombietown* is all you could ever want in a "women's movie,"' contributing movie editor Judith Halberstam writes in her recent book Female Masculinity, the first full-length study on the subject. That one quote about an obscure female zombie biker movie reminds me why we'd rather have Judith doing movie reviews than anyone else: she has her finger firmly on the pulse of queer representations in film."-Girlfriends "Judith Halberstam's Female Masculinity is truly a pioneering document which disrupts eras of silence surrounding this topic. . . . [S]he crafts her language in a very inviting and accessible manner. She is clearly trying to be understood, which is a refreshing change from too many academic works. In addition, she infuses humor and little personal preferences or irritations (mostly through colorful adjective choices) into the middle of serious analysis, which makes the whole academic process more interesting and less elusive. . . . Whether you agree or disagree with her choices, the ideas are definitely stimulating. It is a book you'll want to sit down with your friends and talk about. You find yourself overjoyed at one moment that someone has finally written down exactly what you've felt but haven't been able to articulate, and in the next moment irritated because you think she's mistaken. It is essentially an opening to the major taboo of masculinity in women . . . . [T]he genuine enthusiasm she brings to her research is catchy and this book could very well be the catalyst for expanding a whole field of thought. And, on a personal level, it simply affirms our lives and ideas."-Gay and Lesbian Times (San Diego) "A masculine woman herself, Halberstam states her case clearly and argues it passionately in this book, the first full-length study of its kind. . . . [She] presents fresh counterproposals to stale arguments. Halberstam's film theory is excellent and . . . her more theoretical discussions are fluid and easy to understand. She's written a fascinating book, and she's opened the door for much more to come."-Windy City Times "Female Masculinity is a full-on attack on the idea that masculinity is exclusively-or even primarily-the property of men. . . . [It] aims to help restore a sense of butch pride, and to validate the entitlement of women to their own masculinity. . . . There's an interesting defense of the stone butch, more often cast as a damaged and dysfunctional figure, and a walk along the debated borders between butch lesbians and female to male transsexuals. An accessible chapter on butch representation in film observes the emasculation of butches in mainstream productions-Fried Green Tomatoes, Desert Hearts-and there's a useful analysis of what's at stake in the drag king club acts in America and the UK. . . . [This is] the first full-length study in a crucial area and it's a great starting point."-Diva "There is a need for this book; Halberstam's analysis offers the reader a fresh and positive spin on the much maligned stone butch figure, for example, and the book contains an interesting selection of photos of drag kings, transgender, and butch women. There are long sections detailing butch characters in film and modern drag performers, an area on which little has been written."-Siren
Rating: 
Summary: a stunning history of female masculinity
Review: A highly readable and stunning history of female masculinity in Britain and the USA, considering court cases, literature, film, pop culture and drag king performances. I learned that the most interesting masculinities are not male, and that the history of the occlusion of butchness is a crucial foundation for understanding gender construction of all kinds.
Rating:
Summary: In case you're unsure . . .
Review: Halberstam is brilliant, and so is this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Tired, jargon-ladden, and tries too hard
Review: Halberstam's book broaches an interesting, if not crucial, subject. Yet the book does not read smoothly. I agree with other reviewers that it is too jargon-ladden. Don't get me wrong. This isn't an anti-intellectual position. But it seems like she is extremely too invested in debates with other scholars (particularly those she does not agree with). In short, self-centered scholarship does not make for pointed political commentary which is what the subject of the book demands.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful analysis of female masculinity
Review: Halberstam's ideas around being a masculine female have helped me gain acceptance of my own masculinty. For this reason, the book was groundbreaking for me. However, it's a difficult book to find pleasure in reading because of the hyper academic language and its emotional distance from anything personal or of human interest. The books that are close to my heart about gender and that have been pleasureable to read are Persistent Desire and Stone Butch Blues because they tell a story about the human side of being a masculine female. I'm glad someone's picking apart gender in 1950's film, but it doesn't do to much for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Great ideas, but something is lacking.
Review: Halberstam's ideas around being a masculine female have helped me gain acceptance of my own masculinty. For this reason, the book was groundbreaking for me. However, it's a difficult book to find pleasure in reading because of the hyper academic language and its emotional distance from anything personal or of human interest. The books that are close to my heart about gender and that have been pleasureable to read are Persistent Desire and Stone Butch Blues because they tell a story about the human side of being a masculine female. I'm glad someone's picking apart gender in 1950's film, but it doesn't do to much for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new here
Review: Halberstam's latest book is a rather lackluster rehashing of the latest trend in queer theory. Instead of endless pages of highly problematic ethnographic research, Halberstam would have been much better served if she had included a fem perspective in her unabashed celebration of butch subjectivity. A rather ho-hum effort from an otherwise promising young scholar. One only hopes that she can live up to the promise of her earlier book, Skin Shows.
Rating:
Summary: In case you're unsure . . .
Review: I know this book takes a lot of flak, but I adore it. Halberstam rips through transhistorical definitions of lesbianism to reveal a multitude of queer 'masculinities,' from female husbands, FTMs, butches...She's been accused of fetishizing masculinity and not critiquing it at all, but I find this to be untrue. I think that, in separating so-called masculinity from maleness, she reclaims what can be striking and powerful about the genders we've labelled "masculine" and in doing so critiques the ways domination has been embedded in traditional male masculinity. This book is truly breakthrough, and I urge you to buy it, and read it, and mull it over. Amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: radical---and dashing!
Review: I know this book takes a lot of flak, but I adore it. Halberstam rips through transhistorical definitions of lesbianism to reveal a multitude of queer 'masculinities,' from female husbands, FTMs, butches...She's been accused of fetishizing masculinity and not critiquing it at all, but I find this to be untrue. I think that, in separating so-called masculinity from maleness, she reclaims what can be striking and powerful about the genders we've labelled "masculine" and in doing so critiques the ways domination has been embedded in traditional male masculinity. This book is truly breakthrough, and I urge you to buy it, and read it, and mull it over. Amazing.
Rating:
Summary: pretty good
Review: i think judith makes some good points, but she tends to lean toward male bashing instead of raising up female masculinity sometime. Overall, I enjoyed it, and learned something from myself.
|
