c o v e r s t o r y
Pursuing the Femme Identity
by Andrea Spoehrer

f e a t u r e s
Revealing the "psuedo-invert"
Una, Lady Troubridge
by Alison Phipps
Ashes in the Paint
by Michelle Bancroft

c o l u m n s
Health
by Dr. Lipstick
Wealth
by Ms. Moneygrrl
Sex
by SexySuzi
Advice
by Victoria
Fashion
by Dara
Femme Perspective
by Kenya
Butch Perspective
by D

Publisher's Note
Letter from the Editor
Contribute to Femme

In the early part of the 20th century, queer females naturally followed their inherent characteristics and were supported in the lesbian world regardless of the depth of their masculinity or femininity. As the century progressed, political lesbian activists began to view butch and femme identities as too extreme. They declared femmes to be too straight looking and butches to look too much like men. A butch/femme couple was seen as mimicking a heterosexual couple, which undermined the lesbian political desire to be a third culture. Anyone claiming to be "butch" or "femme" was ostracized from the community and discouraged from participating in political or social events. No longer supported by lesbians, they found themselves caught between the gay and straight worlds, accepted by neither. As the year 2000 approaches, butches and femmes are beginning to reappear and ironically, some lesbian communities still view butch and femme identities as undesirable.

I was appalled to read Kay Dayus' attempt to answer the question of whether butch and femme identities still exist. In her article "The Butch/Femme Myth", published September, 1999 article in the Houston Voice, a well-read gay/lesbian Texas newspaper, she interviewed several androgynous lesbian couples about this question. When she does concur, citing an Advocate survey, that some butches and femmes do exist, she describes only a small section of gay culture that most certainly does not represent me, nor any of the other femmes I have encountered. Although there are sub-cultures that dress in current trends, her description of a current day butch is a "hip looking chick with rings in her nose and lips, the funky, punky haircut, baggy pants and cool attitude … without makeup." The femme was described as being the same, but with makeup. I bristled at the lack of respect for the struggle that butches and femmes experience in their journeys to accept themselves for who they are internally. I find it close minded to stereotype all butches and femmes by the standards of a group young enough to be my children. She ends her article by saying:

… when two lesbians get together their roles become defined to some extent, but not necessarily in male/female roles. Mostly, one just has a more dominant personality. Anyway, in the long run, does it really matter?

Yes Kay - it does matter! There is a reawakening of females proudly claiming butch or femme as an identity - a description of their inner being just as inherent as being a specific race or religion. For a femme or a butch, there is no issue of labels or roles - there is only identity.

Femmes come in all shapes, sizes, ages and socio-economical statuses, with different external appearances ranging from tomboyish to ultra feminine. As a femme who prefers to empower my natural femininity, I can only speak from the perspective of a womanly femme I wear makeup, hose and dresses, do my hair and nails and feel lost without lipstick. I am not a bar hopping short skirted "chick" with rings in my nose or lips, but a successful computer professional in a fast paced business world. Having once been straight, I still appear straight to those who do not know me. I find that, although not all femmes have experienced heterosexual relationships, many femmes encounter similar struggles in relating who they are to themselves and to others.

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