Femme

Scholarship

The majority of my scholarship is situated in the emerging field of critical femininity studies, first defined by Dr. Ulrika Dahl in her 2012 article “Turning Like a Femme: Figuring Critical Femininity Studies.” My approach is informed by Dahl’s prolific scholarship on femme and critical femininities, as well as the teachings of my PhD supervisor Dr. Chloë Brushwood Rose, particularly that a tremendous amount of femme theorizing can be located in memoir, poetry, and prose.

I work with the capacious definition of femme as a “queer identity marked by a critical engagement with femininity that manifests in one’s style and values” and understand femme theory as a mode of knowledge production that challenges the masculinist standard of inquiry by “1) questioning the hierarchy of “high” and “low” theory; 2) challenging femmephobia; and, 3) utilizing collaborative methods” (Schwartz, 2018a).

My major contributions to the field so far have been this insistence on low theory, first taught to me by Brushwood Rose (Schwartz, 2018a, 2020a), and the development of the concept “softness” and the soft femme, which I have been writing about since 2015 (Schwartz 2018b, 2020b). I have also developed the concept “femmeship” in collaboration with femme librarian and zine-maker Karina Hagelin.

Collaboration and citational practice are extremely important to my femme scholarship and praxis. I’m invested in developing and nurturing supportive relationships with femme scholars, and would love to connect with you!

  • Current

    On Our Own Terms: An Oral History and Archive of Femme Cultural Production, 1990-2000

    Coming soon…

    Completed

    Low Femme, Low Theory: An Ethno-Archive of Femme Internet Culture

    My PhD research was an online ethnography of femme internet culture that took Instagram as the primary site of inquiry. Examining femme-created digital media like selfies and memes, I argued that femme theory can be located in low cultural artefacts. Further, I argued that the discourse of softness is one of femme internet culture’s key contributions to the broader field of femme theory.

    This research has been published in Social Media + Society, Feminist Media Studies, and Psychology and Sexuality.

    Femmes in Cyberspace: New Iterations of Femme Identity

    My MA research analyzed femme blogs, focusing on the construction of femme identities and femme politics in online spaces to answer the primary research question: what does being “femme” mean in a contemporary context?

  • Current

    Excess: The Intersection of Critical Femininities, Mad Studies, and Critical Disability Studies

    This special issue of Feral Feminisms is being co-edited with Dr. Shayda Kafai. Anticipated publication Fall 2023. See the CfP here.

    Liminal: The Second Annual Critical Femininities Conference Proceedings

    The theme of the 2022 Critical Femininities conference was “Liminal.” This collection of 15 conference presentations is being edited with Hannah Maitland and Ruth O’Sullivan. Anticipated publication spring 2023.

  • I started the Critical Femininities Research Cluster at the Centre for Feminist Research at York University in 2021.

    I was the 2020-2021 Visiting Scholar in Sexuality Studies at York University, and I worked closely with the CFR to program the Femme Scholars Series and the first annual Critical Femininities conference. I became the Centre Coordinator in 2021 and have continued these initiatives in collaboration with York University graduate students.

    In addition to the lecture series and conference, the Critical Femininities Research cluster has a listserv and runs a summer writing group. Check out our site here or get in touch to join the listserv or get involved in the cluster.

The Critical Femininities conference is an annual virtual conference organized by York University graduate students and supported by York’s Centre for Feminist Research. The theme for 2023 is “Irreverence.”

Join the Critical Femininities listserv to receive all the updates.

The Critical Femininities Conference

The Femme Scholars Series

The Femme Scholar Series has featured Dr. Rhea Ashley Hoskin, Dr. Allison Taylor, Dr. Raechel Anne Jolie, Laura Brightwell, and Elianne Renaud.

The 2022-2023 Femme Scholar Series will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the foundational book Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity, edited by Chloë Brushwood Rose and Anna Camilleri.

Reach out to join the listserv or get involved in the series.

Publications

I’ve published my femme scholarship in several academic journals and books, but you can also find my work in my zines and in Xtra, Herizons, Shameless, Flare, and more.

  • (2023). “‘Any cosmo girl would’ve known’: Collaboration, feminine https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13634607231160060knowledge, and Femme theory in Legally Blonde.” Sexualities, 1-15. doi: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13634607231160060

    (2021). With Morgan Bimm. “Opening up the pit: Negotiating a punk ethos with PUP.” Punk & Post-Punk, 11(2), 213-227. doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/punk_00112_1

    (2020). “Soft femme theory: Femme internet culture and the politics of ‘Softness.’” Social Media + Society. 1-10. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120978366

    (2020). “Low Femme, low theory: Memes and the new bedroom culture.” Feminist Media Studies. 1-17. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020.1861050

    (2020). “Radical Vulnerability: Selfies as a Femme-inine Mode of Resistance.” Psychology & Sexuality, 1-14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2020.1810745

    (2018). “Locating femme theory online.” First Monday, 23(7). doi: https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v23i7.9266

    (2018). “Low Femme.” Feral Feminisms: An Open Access Feminist Online Journal, 7. http://www.feralfeminisms.com/low-femme/

    (2016). “Critical Blogging: Constructing Femmescapes Online.” Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, 9. http://adanewmedia.org/2016/05/issue9-schwartz/

  • (2019). With Morgan Bimm.“Canadian Crybabies: Radical Softness, Feminized Fan Publics, and the Politics of Carly Rae Jepsen.” In. V. Kannen & N. Shyminsky (Eds.), The Spaces and Places of Canadian Popular Culture (pp. 288-296). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars Press.

    (2018). “‘Put On All Your Make-Up And Cry It Off In Public”: The Function of Femme Grieving Practices.” In S. Rodrigues & E. Przybylo (Eds.), On The Politics of Ugliness (pp. 69-89). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave-MacMillan.

  • (2022). With Morgan Bimm. “Review of Secret Feminist Agenda, Season 4.” Engaged Scholar Journal, 8(2), 199-214. doi: https://esj.usask.ca/index.php/esj/article/view/70813/54271