LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

FROM THE EDITOR

What does it mean to be fierce, and to be femme? This is one that I could talk about all day. And much of the time, the idea of being “fierce” in one’s femininity becomes a cliche. One thinks of pussy hats, whitewashed feminism, and girl power.

But, when I look around at the community, and at myself, I see a lot more than that. The definitions of being a fierce-femme do not fit in any boxes. To live your best, fierce-femme life, you don’t have to be a woman, and you certainly don’t have to be cis, white, or “conventially attractive,” whatever that means.

Being femme can mean having breasts, big ones, or none at all. It can mean having a penis, not having a penis, shaving your head, or letting those luxurious locks grow. You can live your best, femme life in a button-down and jeans or a band t-shirt, like I do, or you can rock a dress every day and still be tough as hell. It’s all about your brand of femme and what you want to project to the world.

For a long time, queer media has not been very femme; it’s been super white, cis and male. One of the challenges myself and the magazine’s other copublisher, Maggie Phillips, are facing in our new roles is how to make even more space for femmes, but it comes pretty naturally to us, since femme folx come in all shapes and sizes. There’s no right way to do it, and no wrong way, as long as you’re feeling yourself.

So, this Women’s History Month, I challenge you to think beyond the binary when you think of what femininity is, and what it isn’t. Celebrating women is not just about patting the backs of successful women in pants suits, and telling the women who work raising children that they are valid, too. Those women are a part of the struggle, but only because of the rights won for them by women of color, trans women, and queer women through the years.

Happy femme month, y’all!

-Addison Herron-Wheeler