"Butch" and "Femme" - Truly Antiquated Terms or More Marginalization?

[hippieflowergirl]

Originally Posted by Victoria

What is a femme or butch?

A femme is a feminine lesbian. A butch is a masculine lesbian... am I not correct?

Of the entire LGBT community, I've come to believe that lesbians have the most categories. BTW, if anyone could enlighten me on categories associated with gay males, please do.

Of those "labels," categories, or names, I've heard of the butch, soft butch, stone butch, stud, power dyke, femme, lipstick lesbian, gothic femme, blue-jean femme, etc.

I'm not sure I am taking a stand on this topic. All I'm trying to prove is that we are all lesbians or homosexuals at the core, no matter what levels of masculinity or femininity are present within us. Eventually, we will once again realize that. In the olden days, or to be precise, in the time of Sappho or Shakespeare, there were none such categories.

I feel like we are like music. Like how metal is differentiated into various brands: Heavy metal, Death metal, Black metal, Hair metal, Thrash metal... well I suppose it's due to the developing masses of humankind.

forgive me...i would prefer not to be lumped into anyone's "proof" of anything. at "the "core" i am self-defined and not other-defined and at that core i am most certainly NOT a "lesbian". i am a femme. that is the gender that is stamped on the cells that make me. the adjunct to that innate identity, in my case, is queer.

we are all labeled, a necessity based on the limitations of humanity, language and cultural paradigm. we adopt some labels because they are often the easiest/only way to fit ourselves into various environments in a way which is understandable to the other inhabitants. i do it when absolutely necessary...in order to begin a dialogue for example. once that conversation is begun, the word lesbian is no longer one i use to describe myself. i have no issue with the term. it is simply not mine. it would be like calling myself Eva....when my name is Kathlene. Eva is a lovely name, i share some traits with many Eva's. but i am not Eva. i am Kathlene.

Sappho and Shakespeare may not have used our contemporary vernacular but it's only logical to presume they had their own ways of understanding the limitations and boxes of their respective cultural environments.

you're off the hook having to prove anything for my benefit. the music analogy was cool though.