FEMME: Lesbian History, Identity Politics & Invisibility

About This Video

This 90-minute documentary-style video essay is one of the most thorough explorations of femme identity available on YouTube. Creator Katja (Obviously Queer) traces the history and meaning of "femme" from 1930s working-class butch/fem bar culture through second-wave feminism's rejection of femininity, the 1990s femme renaissance, ballroom culture, and into today's TikTok identity debates.

The video draws on extensive academic sources — including Blair & Hoskin (2015) on experiences of femme identity and femmephobia, and Hoskin's (2022) *Feminizing Theory — as well as an original survey of 109 self-identified femmes* from over 20 countries.

Key topics covered

• The history of butch/fem dynamics and how fem identity was shaped by desire, community, and class
• How second-wave feminism treated femininity as "the clothes of the enemy" and pushed fems into invisibility
• Fem(me) as a consciously constructed, political femininity — not just an aesthetic
• Femmephobia as a thread connecting the devaluation of femininity across identities
• Femme invisibility: the "double invisibility" of being unseen as queer by straight people and by the queer community
• Identity gatekeeping: who is "allowed" to call themselves femme, and why the online discourse often gets it wrong
• Intersections of femme identity with race, class, and trans experience

Why This Resource Matters

This is an accessible, deeply researched entry point for anyone wanting to understand why femininity has been devalued even within LGBTQ+ communities — and why femme identity matters as a form of resistance. It directly cites femmephobia research and makes academic concepts tangible through personal stories and survey data.