Butch: Difference between revisions

'''Butch''' is a lesbian only masculine [[gender expression]] While many people who identify as butch use the term in reference to their gender expression. Butch is an identity that emerged in [[lesbian]] and bisexual culture in the 1940s, before there was a stark distinction in the community between types of women who were attracted to other women. Stereotypically, butches take the dominant role in relationships with [[Femme|femmes]]. Many lesbians have complicated relationships with gender, and may identify as simply butch. Butch is an identity that can be held by only lesbians and can belong to both cisgender and trans individuals.  

Depending on the community in question, butch lesbians may call themselves by different terms. In LGBT communities of people of color, there may be a preference for the words '''aggressive''' ('''ag''' for short) or '''stud''', with much the same meaning as butch.  

"Butch" can be used as an adjective or a noun<ref name="Bergman 2006">{{cite book|last=Bergman|first=S. Bear|title=Butch is a noun|year=2006|publisher=Suspect Thoughts Press|location=San Francisco|isbn=978-0-9771582-5-6|url=https://books.google.com/?id=jmyfdmsWjiEC&dq=butch+is+a+noun}}</ref> to describe an individual's [[gender]] or gender performance. <ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Christine A.|last2=Konik|first2=Julie A.|last3= Tuve|first3=Melanie V.|title=In Search of Looks, Status, or Something Else? Partner Preferences Among Butch and Femme Lesbians and Heterosexual Men and Women|date=2011|volume=64|issue=9–10|pages=658–668|journal=[[Sex Roles (journal)|Sex Roles]]|doi=10.1007/s11199-010-9861-8|issn=0360-0025|accessdate=May 1, 2016|url=http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=2bc637f5-dab5-4003-a000-13cf76217d23%40sessionmgr4003&vid=0&hid=4114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d&preview=false#AN=60686417&db=a9h}}{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The term butch tends to denote a degree of masculinity displayed by a female individual beyond what would be considered typical of a tomboy. It is not uncommon for women with a butch appearance to face harassment or violence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/our-work/nationalstudy/|title=2014 National Street Harassment Report - Stop Street Harassment|author=|date=|website=stopstreetharassment.org|accessdate=31 March 2018}}</ref> A 1990s survey of butches showed that 50% were primarily attracted to femmes, while 25% reported being usually attracted to other butches.<ref>{{cite book|last=Caramagno|first=Thomas C.|title=Irreconcilable Differences? Intellectual Stalemate in the Gay Rights Debate|year=2002|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0275977214|pages=138|url=https://books.google.com/?id=IIHQH001Bc8C&dq=faggot+butch}}</ref>