Pregnant Butch
Nine Long Months Spent in Drag
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
First pregnancy can be a fraught, uncomfortable experience for any woman, but for resolutely butch lesbian Teek Thomasson, it is exceptionally challenging.
Teek identifies as a masculine woman in a world bent on associating pregnancy with a cult of uber-femininity. Teek wonders, “Can butches even get pregnant?”
Of course, as she and her pragmatic femme girlfriend Vee discover, they can. But what happens when they do? Written and illustrated by A.K. Summers, and based on her own pregnancy, Pregnant Butch strives to depict this increasingly common, but still underrepresented experience of queer pregnancy with humor and complexity—from the question of whether suspenders count as legitimate maternity wear to the strains created by different views of pregnancy within a couple and finally to a culturally critical and compassionate interrogation of gender in pregnancy.
Offering smart, ambitious art, this graphic memoir is a must-read for would-be pregnant butches and anyone interested in the intersection of birth and gender, as well as a perfect queer baby shower gift and conversation starter for those who always assumed they “got” being pregnant.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This debut by Summers, who maintained a Web comic on the portal Act-i-vate for many years, is a memoir of her experience as a pregnant butch lesbian. It's a well-written, fast-moving narrative with many insights into gender roles, expectations about motherhood and femininity, and subtle homophobia. Some of the ground feels familiar, such as the trials of pregnancy and difficulties with birthing classes and unfriendly medical practitioners, but Summers, with her butch experience, definitely has a unique take, and she tells the story with candor, humor, and healthy self-criticism. The basic line drawings are reminiscent of the Hernandez Brothers and give the story welcome clarity, with wonderful moments of visual humor. The relationship between Summers, who refers to herself here as "Teek," and her partner, Vee, could have been more complicated, and it could have been explored in greater depth, but both feel like fleshed-out characters, and the end of the comic is quite moving.
