Butch is a term used in lesbian and gay subculture to describe an LGBT+ person, typically a lesbian or otherwise sapphic woman who has a masculine gender presentation. The term butch tends to denote a degree of masculinity beyond what would be considered typical of a tomboy.
Butch women will often dress in masculine clothing, and typically present themselves in a more stereotypical masculine way, such as having short hair, not wearing makeup, and not shaving. Butches are also commonly thought of as having more "masculine" interests, such as sports, mechanics and other hands-on jobs. Some butches will take on masculine nicknames, and some may use masculine pronouns. Some butches bind their chest or take masculinizing hormones to appear more masculine. Despite this butch women are still women. They can be cisgender, transgender or any other gender modality. This label can also be used by non-binary people. It is not uncommon for butch women to face harassment or violence because of their appearance.
Traditionally, butch has been used by individuals who are attracted to femmes. For some butches, this attraction to femmes represents a strong part of their own identity. However, some butches are attracted to other butches. This phenomenon is commonly called "masc-for-masc" or "butch-for-butch."
Butch is sometimes used as a non-binary gender on its own, particular by people who have a complex relationship with gender or womanhood due to being butch or being sapphic.[1] In a 2015 survey of non-cis people in the USA, 5% of respondents (about 1,385 people) were butch.[2]
While the butch label is often used by/associated with lesbians, it is also used by other groups in the LGBTQ+ community, this includes m-spec sapphics and queer men .[3]
Other Terms
Some other terms that are typically synonymous with butch include: "diesel dyke," "bulldyke,"[4], "bulldagger,"[5] or simply just "dyke." There are also several sub-categories of butch that exist.
Stone Butch
A stone butch is a butch person who does not like their genitals sexually touched by their partners. They still, however, provide their partners with sexual gratification, and often experience pleasure in doing so. A stone butch may receive sexual pleasure from their partner in different ways as well. They may also identify as asexual or placiosexual.
Stud
A stud is a form of butchness that is specific to black women. They tend to be influenced by urban and hip-hop cultures and fashion.
Soft Butch
The term soft butch means a butch who does not act very tough, or just is all around a softer type of person. This does not mean they are more feminine or "less of a butch" than any other type of butch.
Flag and Symbols
The butch flag was designed by Tumblr user butchspace on June 27, 2017.[6] There is no known meaning.
The blue butch lesbian flag was designed by an unknown person on or before August 25, 2016.[7] There is no known meaning. An alternate orange butch lesbian flag appears to have been created by wiki user Wemrotung on March 28, 2021.
The butch symbol was designed on October 4, 2014 by a group of non-binary Brazilians.[8] It is based on the male symbol but with longer prongs.
Resources
- ↑ Butch is a Noun, S. Bear Bergman, Arsenal Pulp Press.
- ↑ The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, National Center for Transgender Equality.
- ↑ Tumblr post by official-cisphobe about the term butch.
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures, edited by Bonnie Zimmerman and George Haggerty, Garland Press.
- ↑ Article “Common Lesbian Slang and Terminology” by the editorial team at The Other Team website.
- ↑ Tumblr post “A new butch flag” by butchspace.
- ↑ DeviantArt post “Butch Lesbian” by Pride-Flags.
- ↑ DeviantArt post “Gender Symbols” by Cari-Rez-Lobo.