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"Femme" redirects here. For Kamen Rider Ryuki character, see Kamen Rider Femme. is a Japanese Tokusatsu television series It was the twelfth installment in the Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu shows is a fictional character in the Tokusatsu production Kamen Rider Ryuki.
"Butch" redirects here. For other uses, see Butch (disambiguation).
Lesbian Butch/Femme Society march in New York City's Gay Pride Parade.
Lesbian Butch/Femme Society march in New York City's Gay Pride Parade. LGBT pride or gay pride refers to a world wide movement and philosophy asserting that LGBT ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and

Butch and femme (French word for woman) are terms often used in the lesbian and gay subcultures to describe, respectively, masculine and feminine traits. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people A lesbian is a Woman who is romantically or sexually attracted only to other women In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. Femme is also frequently used in the transgender community; see En femme. Transgender (trænzˈdʒɛndɚ from ( Latin) derivatives The term en femme is used in the Transgender community usually by male crossdressers, to describe wearing feminine clothing or expressing a feminine personality

Contents

Butch and femme attributes

The terms butch and femme are often used to describe lesbians, but also occasionally gay men.

Stereotypes and definitions of butch and femme vary greatly, even within tight-knit gay and lesbian communities. "Butch" tends to denote masculinity displayed by a female beyond that of what would be considered a "tomboy. Tomboy is a Girl who behaves according to the Gender role of a Boy. " It is not uncommon for butch-looking females to meet social disapproval. A butch woman could be compared to an effeminate man in the sense that both genders are historically linked to gay communities and stereotypes, whether or not the individuals in question are homosexual. Effeminacy is a trait in males that generally contradicts traditional male ( masculine) Gender roles It is a derogatory term frequently applied to Femininity

For western lesbians, butch-femme has had varying levels of acceptance throughout the 20th century. The practices of 'femme on femme' and 'butch on butch' sex preferences are sometimes repressed by cultural mores, notably in cultures where masculine tops who have sex with feminine bottoms or transwomen are considered straight and in the mid-twentieth century U. Mores (ˈmɔːreɪz are norms or customs Mores derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written Laws. The terms top, bottom and switch are used by many people including Heterosexual and LGBT people BDSM practitioners and others in The terms top, bottom and switch are used by many people including Heterosexual and LGBT people BDSM practitioners and others in A transwoman (also spelled trans woman or trans-woman) is a male-to-female transsexual and the term transwoman is preferred by many such S. working-class lesbian butch-femme scene.

Alternate conceptualizations of femme-butch persons suggest that butch and femme are, in fact, not hetero-mimicries or attempts to take up so-called 'traditional' gender roles. In the first instance, this argument situates 'traditional' gender roles as biological, ahistorical imperatives - a claim that has been contested by writers from Sigmund Freud to Judith Butler, Jay Prosser, Anne Fausto-Sterling, and many others. Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded Judith Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American Post-structuralist philosopher who has contributed to the fields of Feminism Anne Fausto-Sterling, Ph D (born 1944 is Professor of Biology and Gender Studies at Brown University. These authors take up gender as both socially and historically constructed, rather than as essential, 'natural', or strictly biological. Specifically with regard to butches and femmes, lesbian historian Joan Nestle argues that femme and butch may be seen as distinct genders in and of themselves (see The Persistent Desire, 1993). Joan Nestle (b May 12, 1940) is a Lambda Award winning writer and editor and the co-founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Elsewhere, it has been argued that butch and femme are 'read' as imperfect copies of heterosexual gender roles due to the uncritical assumption that masculinity and femininity are inseparable from genetic male-ness or female-ness. For example, to suggest that a butch woman is attempting to annex heterosexual male power or privilege - a claim leveled by some radical feminists (see Sheila Jeffreys and others) - fails to take note of the social censure leveled at individuals who reject social and cultural imperatives that link biological sex with what Judith Butler calls 'gender performance' (see Bodies that Matter, 1993). Radical feminism is a "current" within Feminism that focuses on the theory of Patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex Sheila Jeffreys (born 1948 is a radical lesbian feminist scholar and political activist known for her analysis of the history and politics of sexuality in Britain Judith Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American Post-structuralist philosopher who has contributed to the fields of Feminism

History

It is difficult to determine how long butch and femme roles have been practiced by lesbians as prior to the middle of the 20th century in Western culture, gay and lesbian societies were mostly underground or secret. Photographs exist of butch - femme couples (transvestites, as they would have been called then) in the decade of 1910-1920 in the United States. [1] Butch and femme roles date back at least to the beginning of the 20th century. They were particularly prominent in the working-class lesbian bar culture of the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, where butch-femme relationships were the norm, while butch-butch and femme-femme were taboo. [2] Those who switched roles were called "ki-ki," which was considered a pejorative term; they were often the butt of jokes. Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt [3]

In the 1940s in the U. S. , most butch women had to wear conventionally feminine dress in order to hold down jobs, donning their starched shirts and ties only on weekends to go to bars or parties. The 1950s saw the rise of a new generation of butches who refused to live double lives and wore butch attire full-time, or as close to full-time as possible. This usually limited them to a few jobs, such as factory work and cab driving, that had no dress codes for women. [4] Their increased visibility, combined with the anti-gay rhetoric of the McCarthy era, led to an increase in violent attacks on lesbians, while at the same time the increasingly strong and defiant bar culture became more willing to respond with force. McCarthyism is a term describing the intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States in a period that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s Although femmes also fought back, it became primarily the role of butches to defend against attacks and hold the bars as lesbian space. [5] While in the '40s the prevailing butch image was severe but gentle, it became increasingly tough and aggressive as violent confrontation became a fact of life. [6] In the 1950s, ONE, Inc. assigned Stella Rush to study "the butch/femme phenomenon" in gay bars. ONE Inc was an early gay rights organisation in the USA. The idea for a publication dedicated to homosexuals emerged from a Mattachine Society discussion meeting Rush reported that women held strong opinions, that "role distinctions needed to be sharply drawn," and that not being one or the other earned strong disapproval from both groups. [7]

Starting in the 1970s, some feminist theorists pronounced "butch-femme" roles politically incorrect, because they believed that all butch/femme dynamics by necessity imitate heterosexist gender roles, leading to butch-femme relationships being driven underground.

However, "inherent to butch-femme relationships was the presumption that the butch is the physically active partner and the leader in lovemaking. . . . Yet unlike the dynamics of many heterosexual relationships, the butch's foremost objective was to give sexual pleasure to a femme. The essence of this emotional/sexual dynamic is captured by the ideal of the "stone butch," or untouchable butch. . . . To be untouchable meant to gain pleasure from giving pleasure. Thus, although these women did draw on models in heterosexual society, they transformed those models into an authentically lesbian interaction. "[8]

Antipathy toward female butches and male femmes could be interpreted as transphobia, although it is important to note that female butches and male femmes are not always transgendered or identified with the trans movement. Antipathy is dislike for something or somebody the opposite of Sympathy.

Today

Many young people today (in the homosexual community) eschew butch or femme classifications, believing that they are inadequate to describe an individual, or that labels are limiting in and of themselves. Some people within the queer community have tailored the common labels to be more descriptive, such as "soft stud," "hard butch," "gym queen," or "tomboy femme. Queer has traditionally meant odd or unusual but is now also used to refer to anyone who is not heteronormative. " Comedian Elvira Kurt contributed the term "fellagirly" as a description for queer females who are not strictly either femme or butch, but a combination. Elvira Kurt (Kürt Elvíra is a Canadian Comedian and was the host of the entertainment satire/ Talk show PopCultured with Elvira Kurt

Lesbians and genderqueers who identify as butches or femmes have experienced a renaissance as the Internet has brought the butch-femme community together. Genderqueer and intergender are catchall terms for gender identities other than man and woman To be either butch or femme challenges traditional gender roles and expectations about appropriate gender presentation and desire, and expands the concept of what it means to be female. Some femme men, femme women, and butch women regard themselves thus as genderqueer for that reason, but many others do not. Moreover, some genderqueer people identify their gender primarily as butch or femme, rather than man or woman.

It is also important to note that those who identify as butch and femme today often use the words to define their presentation and gender identity rather than strictly the role they play in a relationship, and that not all butches are attracted exclusively to femmes and not all femmes are exclusively attracted to butches, although this was traditionally the norm.

Butch women in arts and popular culture

Other terms and identities

Among the subcultures composed of butch gay men is the "bear community. Bear is LGBT slang for those in the bear communities a subculture in the Gay / Bisexual male communities and an emerging subset of " Gay men who are more femme are sometimes described as "flamers. " Femmes are sometimes confused with "lipstick lesbians" which generally are understood to be feminine lesbians who are attracted to and partner with other feminine lesbians. A lipstick lesbian is a Slang term used to describe Lesbian and Bisexual women who exhibit feminine gender attributes such as wearing Conversely butch lesbians may be described as a "bulldyke" or simply just "dyke. Dyke is a Slang term for a Lesbian with certain qualities Originally it was a Derogatory label for a masculine or butch woman and this " The usage of "dyke" has widened in recent years to encompass gay women in general. At one point both were considered derogatory; "dyke" has become a more neutral term, but may still be taken as offensive if used in a derogatory manner or by those outside the LGBT community. LGBT (also GLBT) is an initialism referring collectively to Lesbian, Gay, bisexual, and Transgender / transsexual

Banjee or banjee boy is a term from the 1980s or earlier that describes a certain type of young Latino or Black man who has sex with men and who dresses in urban fashion for reasons which may include expressing masculinity, hiding his sexual orientation or attracting male partners. Banjee or banjee boy is a term from the 1980s or earlier that describes a certain type of young Latino, Black, or Multiracial man who has The term black people usually refers to a racial group of Humans with dark Skin color, but the term has also been used to categorise a number of diverse Men who have sex with men or males who have sex with males ( MSM) refers to men who engage in sexual activity with other men whether Hip-hop fashion is a distinctive style of dress originating with African-American youth in The Bronx ( New York City) and later influenced by Sexual orientation is believed to refer to "an enduring pattern of emotional romantic and/or sexual attractions to men women or both sexes The term is mostly associated with New York City and may be Nuyorican in origin. The City of New York Nuyorican is a blending of the terms "Nueva York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Rican Diaspora located

"Homomasculinity" is a term coined by gay activist editor in chief of Drummer magazine Jack Fritscher in 1977. Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian [9] The term describes a subculture of gay men who prefer masculine-identified men as legitimately as some men prefer effeminate men and drag queens. For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. Equating the three self-fashioning identity labels "gay," "homosexual," and "homomasculine," Fritscher also coined "homofemininity" for lesbians to whom he opened Drummer magazine in the late 1970s by publishing writing about the Society of Janus and writing from Samois, a group founded by gay activists Patrick Califia and Gayle Rubin. The Society of Janus is a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group and is the second oldest BDSM organization in the US For the French town with the same name see Samois-sur-Seine. Samois was a Lesbian - Feminist BDSM organization based Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian Patrick Califia (formerly known as Pat Califia) born 1954 near Corpus Christi Texas) is a Writer about sexuality and of Erotic Gayle S Rubin (born 1949 is a cultural anthropologist best known as an activist and influential theorist of sex and gender politics Humanist Fritscher intended "homomasculinity" as an identity concept and never as an exclusionary concept as promulgated by Jack Malebranche in his latter-day book Androphilia. Jack Malebranche is an American artist author and ordained priest in the Church of Satan. The term "homomasculinity" grew out of the gay-identity movement and the leather subculture of 1970's San Francisco. The leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities and Hedonistic Eroticism (" kink " Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city and is detailed in Fritscher's gay linguistics essay "Homomasculinity: Framing Keywords of Queer Popular Culture" presented at the Queer Keyword Conference, University College Dublin, Ireland, April 2005. [9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Lesbian-Interest Vintage Photos
  2. ^ Theophano, Teresa (2004). S Bear Bergman (b 22 September 1974 is a Transgendered Author, Poet, Playwright, and theater artist. A lipstick lesbian is a Slang term used to describe Lesbian and Bisexual women who exhibit feminine gender attributes such as wearing Tomboy is a Girl who behaves according to the Gender role of a Boy. Boi ( Plural: bois) is a term used within LGBT and Butch and femme communities to refer to a person's sexual and gender Bear is LGBT slang for those in the bear communities a subculture in the Gay / Bisexual male communities and an emerging subset of Sissy (sometimes just Sis) is a relationship Nickname formed from sister, given to Girls to indicate their role in the family especially the Girly girl is a Slang term for a Girl or Woman who chooses to dress and behave in a traditionally feminine style such as wearing A stone femme is a dyke identity used to describe a femme who is the receiver in Sexual interactions and is sexually untouchable Effeminacy is a trait in males that generally contradicts traditional male ( masculine) Gender roles It is a derogatory term frequently applied to Femininity Amazon feminism is dedicated to the image of the female hero in Fiction and in fact as expressed in the Physiques and feats of female athletes martial artists Judith Halberstam (born 15 December, 1961) is Professor of English and Director of The Center for Feminist Research at University of Southern California A lesbian-identified is a person who identifies in whole or in part as a Lesbian. A soft butch &mdash also known as a chapstick lesbian &mdash is a woman who exhibits some stereotypical butch lesbian traits without fitting the masculine stereotype associated A stone butch is a woman who is strongly masculine in character and dress who tops her partners sexually (and sometimes emotionally and who does not wish to be touched genitally The term en femme is used in the Transgender community usually by male crossdressers, to describe wearing feminine clothing or expressing a feminine personality Drag kings are mostly female Performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male Gender stereotypes as part of their performance Butch-Femme. glbtq.com. glbtqcom is an Online Encyclopedia that presents detailed biographies of notable Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Retrieved on 2007-01-25. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate
  3. ^ Kennedy, Elizabeth Lapovsky; Madeline D. Davis (1994). Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community. New York: Penguin, 212-213. ISBN 0-1402-3550-7.  
  4. ^ Kennedy and Davis, 82-86.
  5. ^ Kennedy and Davis, 90-93.
  6. ^ Kennedy and Davis, 153-157.
  7. ^ Bullough, Vern (2002). Before Stonewall: Activists in lesbian an gay rights in historical context. New York: Harrington Park Press, 139. ISBN 1560231920.  
  8. ^ Davis, Madeline and Kennedy, Elizabeth Lapovsky (1989). "Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community", Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past (1990), Duberman, etc, eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. ISBN-0452010675.
  9. ^ a b Jack Fritscher, Ph.D.

External links (alphabetical order)

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