Sometimes She Lets Me: Best Butch Femme Erotica by Tristan Taormino

Sometimes She Lets Me: Best Butch Femme Erotica Reviews

• 
  Isa

  the good stories were REALLY good. the bad stories were so fucking bad that i physically cut one out of the book because i hated it so much. usually if i've got mixed feelings about anthologies i'll review em based on the best stories, but the ones i didn't like here were worth knocking it down a star, lmao.
  
  that said, a lot of good, sexy stuff worth reading. favorites were "sometimes she lets me," "sweet thing" (a classic), "fee fie foe femme," and "butches don't." excited to share em with my girl. the one i absolutely loathed with every part of my soul was "angie's daddy." don't bother with it
• 
  Leona

  when it was good it was very very good, but when it was bad it was horrid
• 
  Jean Roberta

  This anthology, edited by the former (and first) series editor of the annual "Best Lesbian Erotica" anthologies from Cleis Press, seems to have been largely picked from past editions. On the one hand, this repackaging (or repacking) of reprint stories looks like a ploy to milk even more profit out of the popular series. On the other hand, seeing the stories together in a themed collection changes their effect. The reader can see how many ways there are to be a "butch" or a "femme" woman, and how these complementary identities work together.
  
  In her introduction, the editor says:
  
  "As both separate, distinct identities and identities in dynamic with each other, butch/femme has endured throughout lesbian history in all sorts of manifestations. but it was not that long ago that writers like Cherrie Moraga, Joan Nestle, Patrick Califia, and Amber Hollibaugh were explaining and defending butch/femme to some feminists who criticized lesbians and bi women for 'mimicking heterosexual roles' and 'reproducing patriarchal constructions.' Thank god for all the queers who stood up to tell their stories, share their truths, and not be bullied into conforming to one certain model."
  
  Well, yes and no. As one who lived through the lesbian "sex wars" (which Taormino places in "the nineties," but which I remember from the 1980s), this reviewer has seen slick, silly, impressive and appalling behavior from "femmes" and "butches" -- all in the name of gender identity. In some cases, the charge of "mimicking [the worst] heterosexual roles" seems fair. It all depends on how "butch" and "femme" are understood, acted out and responded to.
  
  In this book, the roles or identities are often clarified by being contrasted with each other. A lesbian in nondescript clothes enters a queer bar, sees someone tempting (either a muscular woman posing in leather, denim and barely-hidden strap-on, or a babe in lipstick, fishnets and stilettos) and goes into action as the opposite type. In the most endearing stories, both central characters try to live up to each other's desires, and often succeed. In the elegantly simple "Look but Don't Touch" by Sparky, a butch observer ("you") admires the femme performers in a peep show:
  
  "Five women in red-gold light are surrounded by mirrors. Dancing naked with their own lush bodies, with the mirrors reflecting silver and red flashes, girls upon girls, like the room is packed. One comes over to see you, dances before you . . . She shows you her breasts; their skin looks impossibly smooth and clean, with golden-rimmed, small nipples. You see the hollow of her throat, her collarbone, her little belly.
  
  “She is the loveliest being on the planet."
  
  Despite the hypnotic appeal of the dancers' bodies for the observer, it is the mutual appreciation of the dancers for their admirer and vice versa that makes this story both sweet and sexy, despite the cold glass that prevents physical contact.
  
  Lynne Jamneck's "Voodoo and Tattoos" is another story about the eroticism of watching. In this story, a butch bartender identifies with the tattooed butch partner of a Power Femme who invited the observer to a hotel room after-hours to watch them fuck. "Does She Look Like a Boy?" by Tara-Michelle Ziniuk is a postmodern double-whammy of a story about two characters who both wear their gender roles as a disguise.
  
  Several of these stories are about sweet revenge for gender-based exploitation and exclusion. In "Night Crawler" by Kristen Porter, the narrator is a femme avenger whose mission is to teach uncouth butch womanizers a lesson in manners. In "Homecoming Queen" by Anna Watson, a femme reconnects with the outsider in her high school, a lonely butch who was ignored by all the popular girls, including the femme who now finds her hot. In a role-playing scene, both adult women pretend to be teenagers having secretive sex in the butch's family home as she gloats over the eager femme: "Who has you now?"
  
  In the deeply funny and moving "Anonymous" by Amie Evans, a femme decides to pick up a bar dyke for a night of hot, rough, anonymous sex, completely devoid of sucky feminine expectations that this hook-up will turn into a Relationship. Neither of the women is experienced at this kind of scene, but they both like it so much that they shyly exchange names once they have recovered from gasping, heart-pounding orgasms. They agree to meet again to act out another scene, which will probably lead to another. So much for anonymity.
  
  "Roulette" by Shannon Cummings is another comic but more disturbing story about a femme who uses and deceives a butch by pretending she can't possibly be aroused by anyone else. I was present at a reading from Best Lesbian Erotica 2005 in San Francisco at which the author read a passage from this story. She was a charismatic performer, but the general mood of the audience seemed uneasy. Many of those listening seemed unsure of whether the author was actually as sleazy as her narrator.
  
  A few of the stories here are about femme-on-femme action ("Fee Fie Foe Femme" by Elaine Miller) and some are about brotherly sex between butches ("Butches Don't" by D. Alexandria). In these cases, the characters enjoy the thrill of doing something outside the unspoken rules of a gender-based community - but without breaking out of role completely.
  
  Most of these stories will look familiar to fans of the "Best Lesbian Erotica" series. For those who haven’t read the volumes in which these stories first appeared, this book is a second chance to discover them.
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• 
  Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!}

  This was a HOT collection of pr0n. :)
• 
  Sassafras Lowrey

  super hot! super queer! if you are hot for butch/femme dynamics take a look at this!
• 
  Emily

  3.5 stars
• 
  Emily

  this was so fun to read. i did skip the stories where someone refers to their partner exclusionary as daddy LOL. not a fan
• 
  Alexandra&

  Some stuff in here is really really good! But other stuff...
  
  There's also one story in here that has a transphobic bit in the narration of one story. Expected more from an editor who is a trans ally.
• 
  Marissa

  I think that out of this entire collection, there were about three or four stories that I really enjoyed. It's great that there's so much diversity in Sometimes She Lets Me, but quite a few were just too implausible, and too far-fetched, and the writing just wasn't strong enough to carry my belief. Personally, I think it's thrilling to read something and think to yourself "Wow, that really *could* happen...", rather than something that you know is largely fantasy- and in my opinion, if you're going for fantastic, then go for fucking FANTASTIC, and make it good.
  
  Individual stories aside, when I picked up this book I was expecting butch/femme erotica: as in, a butch and a femme (or more) interacting erotically in some way, together. Some stories are solo, and those I didn't mind. However, a handful of stories are butch/butch and femme/femme, which is cool, but if I pick up a book with BUTCH FEMME in the title, I'm expecting some butch/femme action. These stories themselves were generally well-written (including S. Bear Bergman's), but I wonder if this is the appropriate collection for them.
  
  In a lot of ways, I think Tristan Taormino's job, as the editor, is akin to an art show curator: creating something which is unified and cohesive but that displays unique works, each with their individual voices that highlight one another but don't compete. In that respect, I think Taormino could have done better, but I look forward to the next one.
• 
  Teresa

  Thanks to Tristan Taormino for putting together a sweet collection of toe curling butch/femme tales. I've seen nothing but gorgeous edgy collections of work from her published through Cleis Press.
  
  Favorite stories in this one: Sweet Thing by Joy Parks..."Watching Petey Ginoa knead bread is like watching a thing of beauty. Watching her do it when she doesn't know anyone is watching her is even better." Does She Look Like a Boy? by Tara-Michelle Ziniuk (call girl goes as boy/BDSM/Master), Grand Jete' by Toni Amato..."I can smell you from across the room. It's the scent of metal and blood and deep, secret places. Salt of the ocean and tang of pine needles on an ancient forest floor. My teeth ache with it, my mouth waters, and something old behind my eyes drops down." Lyrical. Primal. Yum.
  
  
• 
  Rosalía

  Hot! This anthology of supremely well-written stories by very talented writers surprised me because I had no idea that I would find it so incredibly hot! Every story had me wanting to unbutton the blouse of any Femme available and I think even a heterosexual man would enjoy this book just for the subtle hints and tips provided throughout. SWEET THING by Joy Parks got me especially worked up with it's incredible innocence.
• 
  Dysmonia Kuiper

  I read some of this but ultimately abandoned it because of the prevalence of strap-ons.
  
  I admire the editor, Tristan Taormino, as a sex educator, but I did not enjoy this book edited by her. That has more to do with personal taste than anything else, though.
• 
  Sah Artise

  good book not what i expected, but overall good book:)