Prioritizing Audiences

Abstract

SUMMARY In Leslie Feinberg's novel, Stone Butch Blues, the main character, Jess, can be read as either stone butch or transgendered, suggesting that stone butch and (female-born) transgender presentations are similar. Yet, with similar behaviors and expectations, it seems unclear what makes these two identifications distinct. In this paper, I suggest that one significant difference between these categories is the audience that is foregrounded in developing presentations of self. I suggest that stone butch identification prioritizes a lesbian, specifically butch and fem, audience in developing self, whereas transgender identification prioritizes a heterosexual audience, specifically people invested in the dominant paradigm of a rigid gender system (as a critique to that paradigm). Using Feinberg's character Jess as a prototype of both stone butch and transgender selves, I discuss the theoretical and political implications of foregrounding audiences.