The Aggressives

Jennifer:

Photo courtesy of chicagonow.com

The dictionary’s definition of the term “aggressive” is as follows: “characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; militantly forward or menacing.”

For some of us, it is hard to imagine why anyone would want to so closely identify with a word that society has deemed negative. In Daniel Peddle’s documentary, The Aggressives, he introduces us to a world unknown to most people, even those living in New York, exposed to many that identify in an infinite number of ways. Peddle explores the lifestyles of six lesbians that strongly identify with this powerful word. Over the course of five years, he was able to get as close of a real understanding as possible of their individual lifestyles and their lifestyles in “the scene”.

Though there must have been hours upon hours of footage to choose from, I felt Peddle did a remarkable job in choosing just the right footage. He was able to show the considerable difference between sex and gender in a way that would allow an audience, otherwise unfamiliar, to obtain a lucid insight into this discourse. He made this particularly clear when capturing these defining words of Flo, an Asian aggressive woman, “I’m an aggressive butch. I’m not trying to be a man. I don’t want to be a man.”

Photo courtesy of 7thart.com

As expressed by many of the women in the film and in particular by Kisha, the word “aggressive” made them excited. She states without hesitation, “Aggressive is your strength, your courage, your whole aura”. However, I found the visible and rather dominant characteristics that they exuded to be especially noteworthy. They appeared very similar to straight male characteristics that women recognize as wrong, yet can often be seen in active pursuit of. Several of the aggressives referred to being a player or when wanting to play nice with their sweethearts, simply “just crushing a lot”. This and other similar statements made me wonder: How influenced are lesbian relationships by heterosexual relationships? How great of a role does social class play in lesbian dynamics? And possibly the most intriguing question:  Is there a “machismo” culture within the lesbian world?