The Femme Mystique [Paperback]

Lesla Newman (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books; 1st edition (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555832555
• ISBN-13: 978-1555832551
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,424,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lesléa Newman is the author of 64 books for readers of all ages including the middle grade novel, HACHIKO WAITS, the poetry collection, STILL LIFE WITH BUDDY, the short story collection, A LETTER TO HARVEY MILK, and the children's books A SWEET PASSOVER, THE BOY WHO CRIED FABULOUS, THE BEST CAT IN THE WORLD, DONOVAN'S BIG DAY, and HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES. Her literary awards include poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award finalists. A past poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts, she is a faculty member of Spalding University's brief-residency MFA in Writing program.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A feminsist/womanist critique of The Femme Mystique, April 11, 2000

By 

Nicole T Buchanan - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Femme Mystique (Paperback)

This book is a poignant analysis of the often dichotomized butch-femme roles within the lesbian community. Via a collection of independent writings, the work highlights an often stigmatized and misunderstood group--the femme lesbian. Through touching, and often sensual stories of love and the search for an identity as "a femme," this book allows a rarely viewed glimpse into the hearts, minds, and bodies of these women. Despite the quality of this book, I would have liked to see more explicit discussion of the lives of femme women of color. Sadly, their absence risks recapitulating the same "othering" that many women in this book discuss. The familiar arguments of feminist/womanist women of color--that we are largely absent from important discourse on women-- can be asserted with this text as well. Nevertheless, it is a powerful book and hopefully future editions will more directly address such issues.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A wee bit repetitive, April 9, 2002

By 

"twilighttrauma" (Cotati, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Femme Mystique (Paperback)

The book was good and I don't regret buying it but I tried to sit down and read it all the way through and soon was bored and frustrated. There are some great essays in there about the butch/femme dynamic and what it means to be a femme in the lesbian community but theres a great deal of repetition and I started feeling like I was reading the same essay over and over.. and over again. It's a nice book, but I won't be re-reading it anytime soon. If I could recommend a book it would be 'Out of the Closet and Nothing to Wear' instead.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading, But Don't Blow Your Rent Money On It, March 21, 2000

By 

Laura Hubbard - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Femme Mystique (Paperback)

I liked this book. OTOH, I've *loved* all the Leslea Newman books I've read. This work was not written by LN, but edited by her. It has some excellent moments, but if you want a great treatise about what it means to be femme, choose 'Out of the Closet and Nothing to Wear'.