I wonder if butch is a dying category.
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Saturday, September 10, 2011
#3 Boi in the Shoe Store
Joe and her friend (girlfriend?) thought "butch" was not a term used by the under 30 set.When I asked if she was butch she responded by making a kind of hulk noise with arms out at the side (as if she had huge muscles) and said "probably not," and then told me how she did identify which was as more of a boi.
I wonder if butch is a dying category.
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I wonder if butch is a dying category.
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What a fun blog. Very happy to have found it and truly the BUTCH is a dying breed. Why identify as a masculine woman or a butch when you can identify as a man, boi or boy? It may be an issue of privilege or just a sign of the times, either way, I think there are 6 or 12 butches left on the planet.
ReplyDeleteMy observations/opinions: A lot of queers these days don't identify as butch because there's an implication of a type an external and internal masculinity associated with the word that can be limiting and also suggests certain kinds of behavior (whether that be a type of courteous courting or puffing feathers when challenged). In a lot of ways it used to be that if you looked, say like Joe above, that your only option was to be butch and to fit those standards. Now there's a big movement of claiming your identity, whatever that may be. Since that leaves room for so much gender fluidity, yes, a lot less people id as butch, but that doesn't mean none do, or that parts of that identity don't still exist in many individuals, just less feel like that's their only option to claim the entire identity. I find butch identities to still be alive and well among young folks or at least acted out in certain contexts such as in the BDSM world where they can be played with and still put down later when other identities get picked up.
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