Performing Queer Female Identity on Screen: A Critical Analysis of Five Recent Films
Film audiences have grown used to seeing female characters in "performance roles," singing or dancing on stages in nightclubs, musical arenas, or theaters-performing their "femaleness" for the fictional audience as well as the film viewing audience. But queer women in film perform on yet another level. In addition to performing their gender for the world, they also perform their sexuality for either a general or an "insider" audience, in ways that can be read to establish a queer visibility,...
Search in google:
Film audiences have grown used to seeing female characters in "performance roles," singing or dancing on stages in nightclubs, musical arenas, or theaters-performing their "femaleness" for the fictional audience as well as the film viewing audience. But queer women in film perform on yet another level. In addition to performing their gender for the world, they also perform their sexuality for either a general or an "insider" audience, in ways that can be read to establish a queer visibility, to establish a sense of community, or to show romantic lesbian interest. This work examines "performance spaces" for lesbian identities in films, evaluating how queer femaleness is signified in contemporary cinema. It studies five films in particular: When Night Is Falling, Better Than Chocolate, Tipping the Velvet, Slaves to the Underground, and Prey for Rock and Roll. Through close textual analysis, evaluations of the conditions under which each film was produced and received, and dozens of audience surveys, it reveals much about both the story worlds of the films and the ways that queer women react to and feel about them.
Introduction Business and Pleasure 51 A History of Lesbians in the United States and as Represented in Film 372 Click Here to Belong: Queer Community Through Magazines and Websites 613 Refining the Concept of Queer Female Perforrnativity 804 Getting the Couple Together: The Tropes of Glossy Films in When Night Is Falling 985 Sex and Violence in the Queer Female Space of Better Than Chocolate 1206 Queer Space and Queer Costume in Tipping the Velvet 1497 Formal Experimentation and Political Exploration in Slaves to the Underground 1658 Danger, Strength, and Prey for Rock and Roll 183Conclusion: Queer Cinema and the Pleasures of CommunityWorks Consulted 215Index 227
