Fae spirits and gender trouble : resistance and compliance among the Radical Faeries

P. Hennen

Scholars working in a number of fields have proposed disruptive strategies for resisting the disciplinary power of gender. Theoretical work in this area seeks to transcend dichotomies and the hierarchical logic entailed in binary conceptions of gender. Utilizing Michael Burawoy_s extended case method and drawing on the theoretical work of R. W. Connell and Judith Butler, this research applies some of these ideas to an ethnographic study of the Radical Faeries, an intentional community devoted to undermining traditional masculinity through a celebratory deployment of drag. Founded by gay activist Harry Hay in the early 1980s, the group provides an excellent opportunity to investigate both resistant and compliant gender practices, as well as the prospects for making "gender trouble." I conclude that while my case study community does indeed produce resistant cultural forms that undermine hegemonic masculinity, they do not produce meaningful gender trouble in the Butlerian sense.