What has been won; what has been lost?

March 3, 2022 11:46 AM

Stone Butch Blues, Leslie Feinberg’s 1993 first novel, is widely considered in and outside the U.S. to be a groundbreaking work about the complexities of gender. Feinberg was the first theorist to advance a Marxist concept of “transgender liberation.” The book is available in its entirety for free as a PDF on Feinberg's website. [Direct PDF link]

Leslie Feinberg worked up to a few days before hir death to ready the 20th anniversary Author’s Edition of Stone Butch Blues, to make it available to all, for free. This action was part of hir entire life work as a communist to “change the world” in the struggle for justice and liberation from oppression.

Memorial post for Feinberg on The Blue from hir death in 2014.

posted by youarenothere (7 comments total)

If you asked me for my top 10 most influential books I wouldn't have named Stone Butch Blues but on reflection, I must acknowledge that it was instrumental to my identify formation. It was given to me by a slightly older, much cooler activist when I was a high school queer. She also gave me Andrea Dworkin (with the appropriate caveats), who also blew my mind. Stone Butch Blues is a bit of myth making IMHO, a real story, but also one that concretized a conception of queer history which has in some ways overshadowed many other true histories. That concretizing impact has been extremely powerful for those of us who identify with butch/femme and was deeply influential on the explosion of understanding and theorizing around trans identities that followed. Feinberg's subsequent work on trans identity was expansive and transformative and I believe why I resonate with it in a way that I don't with a lot of other 'early' (for this era) work on queer/trans identity is because it was grounded in Marxist analysis and a class politics. Anyway, thanks for the link, and Nicole from Sacramento Queer Nation, if you're out there, I'd love to buy you a drink.
posted by latkes at 2:02 PM on March 3, 2022 [14 favorites]

I was going to tap out something pithy about how much Feinberg meant to me, but I see I covered it mostly in the previous thread. Rest in Power!
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:38 PM on March 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

What a gift.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 5:50 PM on March 3, 2022

In that previously thread, a quote shared by wemayfreeze that made my heart sing:

‘As Leslie said: “People of all sexes have the right to explore femininity, masculinity - and the infinite variations between - without criticism or ridicule. My right to be me is tied with a thousand threads to your right to be you.”

Liberation means freedom for all forms of self, visibility for and acceptance of each and every one of us: for who we are and how we are.’
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 5:55 PM on March 3, 2022 [12 favorites]

Holy what, wemayfreeze. You are the comment just above me. Thank you.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 5:56 PM on March 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

One of my favorite books, it had a big impact on how I think and I still have a copy next to my desk.
posted by Vociva at 6:16 PM on March 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Yeah, Feinberg's Stone Butch Blues is so important to me, and I'm not sure how much I can even explain here. A lover suggested it to me after I realized I was nonbinary, and it really helped me find myself more, because I was so deeply uncomfortable anxious, and unhappy. It's a quick read, it's really well written and I found it hard to put down, but not a light or easy one; I recommend having tissues nearby.

Stone Butch Blues is, in part, about solidarity between people, different people from different groups, coming together to help each other,. And I think sometimes it's easy to think, well there's so much wrong in the world, so many people suffering because they are different, or disadvantaged, that it feels hopeless. And now I think, well if we are all together, there are more of us then there are of those who oppress us, more of us to care about each other, to fight for each other, to support each other, to help each other, to love each other.

And it will never be adapted. There won't be a comic, a tv series, a movie, a video game. The only way you can know it is to read it. I wish more people would.
posted by Chrysopoeia at 10:55 PM on March 4, 2022 [4 favorites]