Rock Your Body: Queer Constructions in Stone Butch Blues

Oh the human body... The intersection of gender, beauty, and body image.

Jess Goldberg can’t seem to get a break. She’s been raped by the police, exiled to another sex, and had her heart broken. People avert their eyes in shame or look on with malicious leers… All because of the way she looks? This Stone Butch must face a serious case of the Blues. The antitype of female beauty, her selfhood is constantly torn apart. Having been betrayed by her body for not complying with societal standards, it’s queer that she even made it without “a sliver of cuteness to hide behind,” as she likes to put it. Jess’ case begs the question: what is the relationship between the impersonal construct of beauty and the genesis of personal bodily constructs (ie. gender and body image)? This paper explores the limits of social beauty on the queer body by examining the representation of gender, beauty, and body image in Leslie Feinberg’s novel. I argue that the body isn’t beautiful, instead only the normative connection between body and gender warrants the appraisal of beauty. In this sense, beauty is more than skin deep, but only for those who can properly align gender and body image.