Acronyms that contain the term femmes  Page #3

femmes

Femme (; French: [fam], literally meaning "woman") is a term traditionally used to describe a lesbian who exhibits a feminine identity or gender presentation. Alternate meanings of the word also exist with some non-lesbian individuals using the word, notably some gay men, bisexuals, nonbinary and transgender individuals.Heavily associated with lesbian history and culture, femme has been used among lesbians to distinguish traditionally feminine lesbians from their butch (i.e. masculine) lesbian counterparts and partners. Derived from American lesbian communities following World War II when women joined the work force, the identity became a characteristic of the working class lesbian bar culture of the 1940s–1950s. By the 1990s, the term femme had additionally been adopted by bisexual women. It has however also been argued by bi+ and other queer activists that since the term bisexual is relatively newer than lesbian, bisexual women historically formed part of the lesbian community and thus used the term femme as a sub-group of lesbians. Hence, the adoption of femme by the 1990s may be considered a re-adoption by the same community following the distinction between lesbians and bisexual women and the lesbian separatist movement of the 1970s.

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