September 2023

Volume 06 Issue 09 September 2023
The Butch/Femme Couple: Reproducing Patriarchal Marriage in Loving Her (1974) by Ann Allen Shockley
1DONGO Emma Brigitte, 2SAYNI Kouamé
1Etudes américaines Université Alassane Ouattara
2Maître de Conférences Université Alassane Ouattara
DOI : https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v6-i9-44

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ABSTRACT

The historical objective of feminist movements, whatever their trends, has been the end of gender and patriarchal inequality in the society. In spite of the progress that these feminist battles have achieved, the traditional model persists in contemporary America, at least this is what is pictured in Ann A. Shockley’s Loving Her (1974), the fiction which focuses attention in this work. In this novel, as a lesbian couple represented by Terry and Renay stubbornly challenges traditional gender and patriarchal forces in order to enjoy their sexual life, the reader discovers many signs of these forces on this relationship. In this study, which is conducted under the angle of feminism and queer theory, our aim is to show that this lesbian couple in which Terry plays the role of the Butch while Renay represents the Femme is nothing but the reproduction of the patriarchal system of couple.

KEYWORDS:

butch/femme, gender equality, patriarchy, queer theory, feminism.

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Volume 06 Issue 09 September 2023

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