c o v e r s t o r y
Transgendered Butches and FTM's: a uniquely Femme Perspective
by Sonya Bolus

f e a t u r e s
Transgendered Lesbian
by Arlene Istar Lev
Passing as the Pope - the Story of Joan English
by Alison Phipps

c o l u m n s
Health
by Dr. Lipstick
Wealth
by Ms. Moneygrrl
Sex
by SexySuzi
Advice
by Victoria
Femme Perspective
by DeAnna
Butch Perspective
by E.T. Turner

Publisher's Note
Contribute to Femme

by E. T.

continued page 2

However, I am also somewhat disturbed that there seems to be a general trend that being a butch, a masculine-identified female, is simply not enough anymore, that being a male, or passing as a male is preferable. I see the butch community shrinking in some respects due to this trend. I also see it dichotomizing into soft butches and TG/FTM butches. I talk with very few young butches these days who say they are simply a butch. I find a couple of things about this disturbing. First, I wonder if we have incorporated into our community the prevailing societal attitudes that value malesness more than femaleness. Butches and their masculinity are certainly discussed more in the butch-femme community than femmes and their femininity. Second, are we losing sight of the goal to fight the binary gender system? The one that says there are only two genders, man and woman? My goal is to educate others, both within the gay community and the straight community that butch is its own unique gender, and that there are other unique genders as well. I know this is the goal of many other butches and femmes. That gender fluidity is important and gives credence to all, however we may identify. I love being an obvious butch, a gender-bender. I love being masculine-identifed in a female body. I appreciate that butches have the choice to be as masculine as they choose to be, as they need to be, as they want to be. Masculinity belongs to everyone, not just to males. I like being a visible part of the queer community, and a member of the butch-femme community. Many FTMs, once their transition is complete, no longer feel they belong in the butch-femme community. They find they have less in common with their butch brothers as they assume their identities as males.

Many butches have had the experience of wondering if they should have been born male, of feeling cheated when they were forced by adolescence to “tone it down”. Many talk of their discomfort with their female body. Many of us have made peace with our bodies, have come to be comfortable in being a butch. We have found and bonded with other butches and gained strenghth, acceptance and validation through our associations with other butches in real life and in the cyber community. We go through the butch struggles together, where in times past we went through them alone, with no mentors and no guides. I do see the butch community growing smaller through “butch flight” and it saddens me. It saddens me because the combination of masculine expression and our having been born and living as females, is something unique. Butch gender is something that should be nurtured, encouraged, valued and embraced.

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