Genderqueer, or, butch != male
May. 5th, 2006 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trixtahThe timing of the wee gender/sexuality meme was apposite, due to this rant I've had brewing. It's the old identity politics chestnut, which I thought was over and done with. However, it's been bugging me for the last several months, where it was an issue that hadn't bothered me for a decade. The trigger was the last series of The L Word, which featured a character who was initially billed as a "butch lesbian"; I was bloody irritated when it turned out otherwise. Then, last week, I read a discussion of the handling of the whole issue on AfterEllen.com, which made some good points, but I felt missed some of the main ones. Add to that some comments I've been reading from people who should know better, and it's all a bit annoying.
Ok, so we had the character Max on The L Word, who was initially introduced as Moira. She identified as a butch lesbian, so I thought, great, about bloody time, with all these lipstick lesbos abounding on the show (not that I have a problem with lipstick lesbians, but yunno, variety is good). Now, on getting to LA, she was treated like shit by all the other characters, who thought being butch was incredibly dorky and retro. Fair enough, I looked forward to seeing that issue treated. Then it turns out that "she" was actually transgendered; being butch was a transitional identity. I'm actually fine with that; it's quite common and understandable. What I wasn't so fine about was the real-life billing of the character as butch; the fact that when he started to officially transition, he was perceived as cool and sexy, where being butch was evidently not; and the whole bloody conflation of butch with male gender identity.
Well, bah, who can expect a soap-opera to get that kind of shit right, yeah? (although I thought the handling of the whole trans thing was pretty good, actually). But the discussion of Max (Gender Trouble on The L Word)on AfterEllen.com opened up that whole can of worms for me again: "...Moira's transition into Max was written in a way that not only dismissed the possibility of butch identity, it ridiculed it. ... By only allowing men—or women who are in the process of becoming men—to display or engage in masculine behaviors or attitudes, The L Word continues to deny a major part of what has made lesbian cultures so fascinating and so queer for hundreds of years."
Yes, indeed. I've also been reading some stuff lately which basically implies that all butch women are transgendered and they should just deal with it. Which is kind of where The L Word situated itself. I've been reading posts on some of the lesbian communities here on LiveJournal, where women of all ages appear to be making the same assumption. And it's driving me insane. Especially coming from women you would assume would know better.
Let's make it clear. Some FTMs adopt a butch (lesbian) identity while they're sorting their heads out, and in fact identify as butch men once they have undergone their process. However, the majority of women who identify as butch are just that: women who identify as butch. I had real problems trying to explain it at various points of my life, but I've found the genderqueer model (as I understand it) is the closest.
We know that there isn't just a binary setup for biological sex, although the majority of people fall into one sex or another. But there are plenty of intersex people, no matter how much they get swept under the carpet. Gender, of course, is something else - people need to start separating that from biological sex AND stop assuming it has a binary model as well.
Ok, so the most common gender expressions are masculine and feminine, which tend to conflate to the male and female sexes. Androgeny is well-known too. But what about butch/fem - isn't that just a mode of sexual behaviour? Not exactly - it is unfortunately a set of overlapping labels, kind of like butch being taken to mean lesbian (if you ever met my mother, you'd know how untrue that is). Yes, butch/fem can encompass a variety of sexual expression, in the same way that male/female does. But as being male doesn't mean you're always on top (or indeed, doing the fucking), butch/fem doesn't necessarily encode one's sexual behaviour, although, for many, it does. But again, using these labels tends to imply that there are neat boxes one can slot one's gender expression into, where, of course, it's a sliding scale.
If we think of butch and fem and androgenous as being variations of gender, we get into the interesting place of being right back in the late 19th Century conceptions of the "invert" being a "Third Sex". Well if we replace sex with gender, they were on the right track - although there aren't just three genders, unless we want to lump it all in as masculine/feminine/queer. Which we don't, frankly. Also, one's gender doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sexual preference, as my mother makes quite clear, although it does have an interesting consequence I'll discuss later.
So, to speak from my personal perspective, what is butch all about? It's difficult to define something that you just feel that you are. I used to come at it from a bunch of interlocking behaviours that I thought epitomised it: practical; tough; taking charge; preferring to give rather than receive in bed; into sterotypical male stuff like sports, cars and so on; chivalrous; wearing masculine-styled clothing; refusal to engage in stereotypical feminine behaviours; protective; yadda yadda. And really, the last four are the only ones which have remained consistent for me - the others I've either never been into (sports, blech), don't consider to be reserved for butches (I think fems are tougher than butches, 9 times out of 10), or have revised in some way (for example, "chivalry" can easily tip over into condescension, as can "protectiveness". And frankly, I like being fucked too.).
So much for defining oneself by one's behaviours. Is it all just about what clothes you can bear to wear? Heh.
Well, lucky for me, I found a study that was published last year which does a pretty good discussion of butch identity without relying on behaviours to define them, but rather experiences. They started off from the Cass model of homosexual identity development, which has six stages:
Confusion - recognition one isn't straight
Comparison - comparing oneself to homosexuals and heterosexuals
Tolerance - finding other homosexuals to be around, and overcoming homophobia
Acceptance - applying the label to themselves
Pride - valuing homosexual culture over heterosexual
Synthesis - where it is just part of one's total identity
I quite like this model, although I think the first two stages could be squashed together, as could the third and fourth.
In the study, Butch Identity Development: The Formation of an Authentic Gender, Hiestand and Levitt use the Cass model to develop their own for butch women:
Gender conflict - where you realised as a kid you weren't like other little girls, but nor were you a boy (or even want to be one, quite frequently. I envied them, but didn't want to be one. Ick.)
Collision of gender conformity and sexual orientation pressures - the "dilemma of the aging tomboy". Oh dear and oh yes. I had the most bitter fights in my teens with my mother about (not) wearing dresses. Or makeup. Or foofy shit.
Gender awareness and the distinguishing of differences - seeking out other lesbians, while not necessarily being aware of a "butch" identity. The interesting thing here is that butch women generally seem to realise they're dykes much earlier than other lesbian woman (they cite an average age of 15 years, compared to self-identified fem women, who don't realise until an average age of 21 - certainly in line with my knowlege). Also, identifying other butch women and perhaps finding role models (I didn't do the butch mentoring thing - I was too feminist for the retro shit that abounded when I was coming out).
Acceptance of lesbian identity leading to gender exploration - what it says. You've got the dyke thing out the way, now you have to deal with not being like all the other dykes. Deciding whether you're "too butch" or "not butch enough" compared to your reference point. For me, it was both, depending on what my reference point was at the time. *sigh*
Gender internalisation and pride in sexual orientation - similar to the Cass "Pride" stage. They say here that they didn't note the elevation of butch identity over other lesbian gender identities - I say their sample isn't big enough (or possibly not enough younger women in it), because I knew plenty of butches who were firmly convinced that butch was best.
Gender affirmation and pride - being butch in all contexts, enjoying the subversiveness of a butch/fem presentation. "Embracing the feminist motive of creating visibility for lesbian and butch women (and fems - I mean, juxtaposition - hello?), a sense of purpose emerged as their gender performance was considered a political act, stretching the gender envelope."
Integration of sexual orientation and gender difference - they say here that while it is similar to the Cass "Synthesis" stage, it's different. "...butch identity appeared to retain a primary position within the participants’ identities". Once again, I think that particular view is due to their small sample, since I personally think my butch part is identically integrated as any other part of my identity. I do agree with the rest of their definition here: "At this point the women appear to have developed the lived-experience, self-knowledge, social support, and politicized perspective to more comfortably negotiate their continued gender development. They could engage in an internal quest for authenticity and then decide how to self-present, given their own needs and the interpersonal factors within a given context." Yeah, I can now wear glittery glow-in-the-dark nail polish, and not feel like I'm compromising any part of my self. :-D
Now, to make that explicit, that set of experiences is not the same as FTMs revealing their male identities. Obviously, there will be some similar stages - like the similarities between homosexual identity and genderqueer identity - but there is quite a different motivating factor going on here. Butch women do not want to get rid of their female parts, they embrace them - once they come to terms with their whole selves.
As the study says:
Personally, I'd rather that people spent their efforts on supporting all the variations of gender presentation and sexual morphology rather than pathologising things unnecessarily. Intervene medically when necessary, yes. But not because of some stupid preconceived binary view of what sex and gender are all about. I'm grateful that studies like this are finally being done which help overcome those old prejudices, wherever they originate from. Also, I can stop trying to cudgel my brain for facile definitions that fit my experience (as well as encompassing a few others'). :-)
Things have certainly moved on since the early 90s, which is when I last read up on this stuff. I'm going to have to fork out $US40 for The Misunderstood Gender: A Model of Modern Femme Identity, which isn't available in full online, alas.
Ok, so we had the character Max on The L Word, who was initially introduced as Moira. She identified as a butch lesbian, so I thought, great, about bloody time, with all these lipstick lesbos abounding on the show (not that I have a problem with lipstick lesbians, but yunno, variety is good). Now, on getting to LA, she was treated like shit by all the other characters, who thought being butch was incredibly dorky and retro. Fair enough, I looked forward to seeing that issue treated. Then it turns out that "she" was actually transgendered; being butch was a transitional identity. I'm actually fine with that; it's quite common and understandable. What I wasn't so fine about was the real-life billing of the character as butch; the fact that when he started to officially transition, he was perceived as cool and sexy, where being butch was evidently not; and the whole bloody conflation of butch with male gender identity.
Well, bah, who can expect a soap-opera to get that kind of shit right, yeah? (although I thought the handling of the whole trans thing was pretty good, actually). But the discussion of Max (Gender Trouble on The L Word)on AfterEllen.com opened up that whole can of worms for me again: "...Moira's transition into Max was written in a way that not only dismissed the possibility of butch identity, it ridiculed it. ... By only allowing men—or women who are in the process of becoming men—to display or engage in masculine behaviors or attitudes, The L Word continues to deny a major part of what has made lesbian cultures so fascinating and so queer for hundreds of years."
Yes, indeed. I've also been reading some stuff lately which basically implies that all butch women are transgendered and they should just deal with it. Which is kind of where The L Word situated itself. I've been reading posts on some of the lesbian communities here on LiveJournal, where women of all ages appear to be making the same assumption. And it's driving me insane. Especially coming from women you would assume would know better.
Let's make it clear. Some FTMs adopt a butch (lesbian) identity while they're sorting their heads out, and in fact identify as butch men once they have undergone their process. However, the majority of women who identify as butch are just that: women who identify as butch. I had real problems trying to explain it at various points of my life, but I've found the genderqueer model (as I understand it) is the closest.
We know that there isn't just a binary setup for biological sex, although the majority of people fall into one sex or another. But there are plenty of intersex people, no matter how much they get swept under the carpet. Gender, of course, is something else - people need to start separating that from biological sex AND stop assuming it has a binary model as well.
Ok, so the most common gender expressions are masculine and feminine, which tend to conflate to the male and female sexes. Androgeny is well-known too. But what about butch/fem - isn't that just a mode of sexual behaviour? Not exactly - it is unfortunately a set of overlapping labels, kind of like butch being taken to mean lesbian (if you ever met my mother, you'd know how untrue that is). Yes, butch/fem can encompass a variety of sexual expression, in the same way that male/female does. But as being male doesn't mean you're always on top (or indeed, doing the fucking), butch/fem doesn't necessarily encode one's sexual behaviour, although, for many, it does. But again, using these labels tends to imply that there are neat boxes one can slot one's gender expression into, where, of course, it's a sliding scale.
If we think of butch and fem and androgenous as being variations of gender, we get into the interesting place of being right back in the late 19th Century conceptions of the "invert" being a "Third Sex". Well if we replace sex with gender, they were on the right track - although there aren't just three genders, unless we want to lump it all in as masculine/feminine/queer. Which we don't, frankly. Also, one's gender doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sexual preference, as my mother makes quite clear, although it does have an interesting consequence I'll discuss later.
So, to speak from my personal perspective, what is butch all about? It's difficult to define something that you just feel that you are. I used to come at it from a bunch of interlocking behaviours that I thought epitomised it: practical; tough; taking charge; preferring to give rather than receive in bed; into sterotypical male stuff like sports, cars and so on; chivalrous; wearing masculine-styled clothing; refusal to engage in stereotypical feminine behaviours; protective; yadda yadda. And really, the last four are the only ones which have remained consistent for me - the others I've either never been into (sports, blech), don't consider to be reserved for butches (I think fems are tougher than butches, 9 times out of 10), or have revised in some way (for example, "chivalry" can easily tip over into condescension, as can "protectiveness". And frankly, I like being fucked too.).
So much for defining oneself by one's behaviours. Is it all just about what clothes you can bear to wear? Heh.
Well, lucky for me, I found a study that was published last year which does a pretty good discussion of butch identity without relying on behaviours to define them, but rather experiences. They started off from the Cass model of homosexual identity development, which has six stages:
Confusion - recognition one isn't straight
Comparison - comparing oneself to homosexuals and heterosexuals
Tolerance - finding other homosexuals to be around, and overcoming homophobia
Acceptance - applying the label to themselves
Pride - valuing homosexual culture over heterosexual
Synthesis - where it is just part of one's total identity
I quite like this model, although I think the first two stages could be squashed together, as could the third and fourth.
In the study, Butch Identity Development: The Formation of an Authentic Gender, Hiestand and Levitt use the Cass model to develop their own for butch women:
Gender conflict - where you realised as a kid you weren't like other little girls, but nor were you a boy (or even want to be one, quite frequently. I envied them, but didn't want to be one. Ick.)
Collision of gender conformity and sexual orientation pressures - the "dilemma of the aging tomboy". Oh dear and oh yes. I had the most bitter fights in my teens with my mother about (not) wearing dresses. Or makeup. Or foofy shit.
Gender awareness and the distinguishing of differences - seeking out other lesbians, while not necessarily being aware of a "butch" identity. The interesting thing here is that butch women generally seem to realise they're dykes much earlier than other lesbian woman (they cite an average age of 15 years, compared to self-identified fem women, who don't realise until an average age of 21 - certainly in line with my knowlege). Also, identifying other butch women and perhaps finding role models (I didn't do the butch mentoring thing - I was too feminist for the retro shit that abounded when I was coming out).
Acceptance of lesbian identity leading to gender exploration - what it says. You've got the dyke thing out the way, now you have to deal with not being like all the other dykes. Deciding whether you're "too butch" or "not butch enough" compared to your reference point. For me, it was both, depending on what my reference point was at the time. *sigh*
Gender internalisation and pride in sexual orientation - similar to the Cass "Pride" stage. They say here that they didn't note the elevation of butch identity over other lesbian gender identities - I say their sample isn't big enough (or possibly not enough younger women in it), because I knew plenty of butches who were firmly convinced that butch was best.
Gender affirmation and pride - being butch in all contexts, enjoying the subversiveness of a butch/fem presentation. "Embracing the feminist motive of creating visibility for lesbian and butch women (and fems - I mean, juxtaposition - hello?), a sense of purpose emerged as their gender performance was considered a political act, stretching the gender envelope."
Integration of sexual orientation and gender difference - they say here that while it is similar to the Cass "Synthesis" stage, it's different. "...butch identity appeared to retain a primary position within the participants’ identities". Once again, I think that particular view is due to their small sample, since I personally think my butch part is identically integrated as any other part of my identity. I do agree with the rest of their definition here: "At this point the women appear to have developed the lived-experience, self-knowledge, social support, and politicized perspective to more comfortably negotiate their continued gender development. They could engage in an internal quest for authenticity and then decide how to self-present, given their own needs and the interpersonal factors within a given context." Yeah, I can now wear glittery glow-in-the-dark nail polish, and not feel like I'm compromising any part of my self. :-D
Now, to make that explicit, that set of experiences is not the same as FTMs revealing their male identities. Obviously, there will be some similar stages - like the similarities between homosexual identity and genderqueer identity - but there is quite a different motivating factor going on here. Butch women do not want to get rid of their female parts, they embrace them - once they come to terms with their whole selves.
As the study says:
The participants’ descriptions of their childhoods appear to fit the criteria for gender identity disorder (GID), a diagnostic label predicated upon a binary model of gender and the subject of much controversy. Ehrbar (2001) observed that the DSM-IV criteria for GID, utilizing gender stereotypes to code play, activity, and dress, can result in simple gender non-conformity [my itals] in children being classified as a mental illness. He argued that the need to classify gender itself is problematic as it encourages parents to alter their children to coincide with socially constructed expectations. [...] Critics (e.g. Zevy, 1999) have considered this diagnosis to be a form of homophobia that ‘labels as pathological what might be “normal” behavior for lesbian tomboys who are in the process of forming an identity which will fit their future self-identification and object choice’ (Zevy, 1999: 189).
Personally, I'd rather that people spent their efforts on supporting all the variations of gender presentation and sexual morphology rather than pathologising things unnecessarily. Intervene medically when necessary, yes. But not because of some stupid preconceived binary view of what sex and gender are all about. I'm grateful that studies like this are finally being done which help overcome those old prejudices, wherever they originate from. Also, I can stop trying to cudgel my brain for facile definitions that fit my experience (as well as encompassing a few others'). :-)
Things have certainly moved on since the early 90s, which is when I last read up on this stuff. I'm going to have to fork out $US40 for The Misunderstood Gender: A Model of Modern Femme Identity, which isn't available in full online, alas.
