This patch was made by Damien Luxe of the Heels on Wheels Roadshow. When they came through Atlanta, Maura and I had only been dating for about 6 months. Because of Maura’s hard work and hard ass I’d started interrogating my femmephobia and misogyny(both internalized and otherwise) and found that femme identify resonated deeply with me, but I didn’t identify as femme because I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t co-opting an experience that I admire. Anyway, I bought this “Femmes Fight Back” patch for Maura because she taught me that femme is tough, and that claiming radical femininity in a misogynist culture is just one way that femmes fight back.

Maura recently gave the patch to me for this vest. I joke that she’s my femme mentor, but I don’t know if she knows it’s true. I’m constantly in awe of her loud, slutty, sparkling, fuck you, fuck me, femme magic/rage. We fight cry fist mourn scream love struggle together, and I’m completely aware of how lucky I am.

Thank you, vicious grrl. I love you.