We Too Were Born From Foam
Allison Armstrong
Don ’ t call me lipstick lesbian . I ’ m femme .
I ’ m femme because of the femmes before me The skirted femmes in secretarial jobs
Faith Wempen (“ Don ' t Call Me Lipstick Lesbian ”)
In the interests of full disclosure Don ' t call me lipstick lesbian . I ' m bisexual . As if these terms weren ' t mutual wrapped up in bed together with queer sapphic and all the other words loving and loathing and painted on us
lipstick bright over the centuries I ' m femme . Gaudy as a leopard print lampshade crystal hung as earrings and altars Subtle as any fish slipping through cool water visible only in the brown-green gleam of scale and sun meeting at the surface rippleflash
and I ' m gone again I ’ m femme because of the femmes before me the ones I searched out in library books asking over and over Is she or isn ' t she a self-identified femme card-carryingher membership