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Stone
Butch Blues can be downloaded for free by anyone with
internet connection. This is not made
possible by an illegal website, but rather by the author herself. The book’s accessibility seems to be an
extension of its political purpose, for, in Leslie Feinenberg’s words, “I wrote
it, not as an expression of individual ‘high’ art, but as a working-class
organizer mimeographs a leaflet – a call to action.” I’m in awe of hir commitment to hir political
convictions.
However,
I have to disagree with hir assertion that Stone
Butch Blues is not a work of art. It
absolutely is. Every word of it burns
with pride, shame, rage, and purpose.
The novel tells the life story of a self-identified stone butch from
Buffalo named Jess, stretching from the 1940s to the 1980s. The label stone butch, as it applies to Jess,
means that she is a very masculine-presenting woman who is attracted to
feminine lovers and doesn’t like to be touched sexually, preferring to give
rather than receive pleasure. (She finds
that this and many other labels have different meanings to other people.) All her life, the same question – “Is that a
boy or a girl?” – follows her, issuing from strangers on the street, members of
the queer community, and her own uncertain mind. And all her life, she experiences isolation
and brutal violence for how ‘different’ she appears.
This
book is written in simple language.
Although its plot lurches from one tragedy to another, its writing style
makes sentimentality impossible and scorching emotion tangible. This style also evokes happy moments, such as
when Jess eats a salad composed of nasturtiums, greens, and balsamic
vinaigrette prepared for her by a friend, with bittersweet precision.
Each of Jess’s friends is
characterized with similar simple, precise details. Every character, from her butch brothers at
the local gay bar, to her strong femme lovers, to her fellow union factory
workers, has a full life with passions, fears, and flaws that loom beneath the
surface of Feinenberg’s spare writing.
Stone
Butch Blues is as much a work of art as it is a call
to action. It can be read as both a
masterful (albeit long) political pamphlet and a coming-of-age story about
identity and alienation. Reading it changed
the way that I understand gender, sexuality, and story-telling as well.
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Thank you for talking to me!! I wish you lots of good books and brownies!