Stone Butch Blues

A detailed Summary of Stone Butch Blues


Sexuality can, and is, understood as a social construction. This fact is extremely visible when dealing with the subject of gender. Gender is, by far, one of the most influenced and constructed aspects of social sexuality. Gender is not only the biological aspect of a vagina and a penis, it is a whole social standard of 'normal' female or male behaviors, actions, thought processes, sexual preferences and physical appearances. Just stating the fact that one is male or female leads to pre-constructed social images of what is acceptable and, of what defines and differentiates each gender from the other. A good way to illustrate this point is to read the novel by Leslie Feinberg, called Stone Butch Blues.

Stone Butch Blues is a story about the life and identity of a butch lesbian by the name of Jess Goldberg. Jess is biologically a woman who chooses to live her life as a man. Not only does she dress, act and think like a man, she fundamentally believes that she is a man. Unfortunately, in society's eyes there is only one penis/masculine-orientated view of


When someone begins to define him or herself as part of a socially constructed gender they place themselves under pre-developed pressures. For instance, when one is considered a man, he is supposed to have sexual relations with a female and be strong and muscular. Does that mean that a skinny boy, who gets sexual pleasure from sucking another man's penis, is not a man? And if he chooses to not be a man, does that make him a woman? It is questions like these that impose consequences for those who define and admit to certain popular definitions of sexuality and gender. The consequences of their labeling can lead to serious outcomes like hate crimes and discrimination or pleasurable outcomes like feeling completely content with oneself and finding a soulmate. The same is true for Jess, even though she suffers greatly from her sexuality decisions, she finds true love with Theresa and even says, "I never could have survived this long if I'd never known your love."

ic and beautiful spirit of the uniqueness of sexuality.

llows society to destroy the true natu

Some common words found in the essay are:
Goldberg Jess, , Butch Blues, Leslie Feinberg, Stone Butch, sexuality gender, stone butch blues, butch blues, jess biologically, stone butch, gender individual, social construction,

Approximate Word count = 720
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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