Speaking from my me place, I think of butch as traditionally a female or woman identity. For me it's about butch masculinity carried in a female body, about queering masculinity in a female body. Butch does not equal male for me. There is a difference between masculine and male/man to me. There are butches who identify as male but I don't see that as a prerequisite for identifying as butch. To me it is another identifier used in conjunction with but is not a requisite part of being butch. However identifying as male is certainly a part, a very important part, of any butch that identifies that way. But a male identified butch is no more or less butch than a butch who sees butch as a third gender or a butch who sees herself as female and/or a woman. We are all butches. And queered masculinity is a big part of being butch whatever flavor you are. At least to me. And since butch is about queer masculinity whether it's female masculinity or male identified or whatever it's really about something that is intangible and not based on what we wear or who we love or what we enjoy doing in our spare time. It's about who we are inside.
You can identify as male, see yourself as male and be the kind of guy who is into clothes, who likes to read, go to museums or whatever and you can identify as a female and/or see yourself as a woman and be the kind of butch who likes to fix cars, shoot skeet, play sports or whatever. There are as many ways to do butch as there are butches; female identified, male identified or third gender or any variation or combination you can think of that works for you. Find what feels right for you and be that. Just always stay open to yourself and allow for changes as they occur. You can't beat fluidity.
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