i've hung out a lot with radical fairies in Boston. They have, in my experience, been mostly about queer-ness and not gender; i've met bi men, campy lesbians and heterosexuals and trans-men at fairy events. i haven't met any trans women, but i believe there are some who attend the mixed-gender camps i haven't made it to yet. Depending, of course, on the woman, it might be slightly uncomfortable in that gender is not always particularly respected (group including women get called "boys", men are referred to with female pronouns, everyone adopts fairy names most of which would be coded female by broader society), but i am sure that they would be welcome. Anyone who wants to be a fairy pretty much is. (The only events i've heard of that have been single-gender are sex parties, but there is always a focus on gay male sexuality and emotional connections. i happen to enjoy that focus and fit in there, and have met ciswomen who do too.) The group around here, at least, is mostly about being explicitly queer and resisting assimilation.
i think it started more exclusionary, but the strong feminist influence that came in later changed it a bit. Plus, just being men who have sex with men isn't really the transgressive part of the culture anymore. People are expected to fit in with some culture norms, which can exclude some, but mostly if they don't they won't be particularly comfortable and those expectations are pretty... undemanding. As far as i have seen, the norms mostly have to do with celebrating other fairies' choices and accepting casual lay paganism. The most exclusionary part i've run into is the norms of physical contact, which are optional, but definitely there.
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regna
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Date: 2010-10-10 06:50 pm (UTC)i think it started more exclusionary, but the strong feminist influence that came in later changed it a bit. Plus, just being men who have sex with men isn't really the transgressive part of the culture anymore. People are expected to fit in with some culture norms, which can exclude some, but mostly if they don't they won't be particularly comfortable and those expectations are pretty... undemanding. As far as i have seen, the norms mostly have to do with celebrating other fairies' choices and accepting casual lay paganism. The most exclusionary part i've run into is the norms of physical contact, which are optional, but definitely there.