Butch and Femme
Butch and femme are terms often used in the lesbian and gay subcultures to describe approximate equivalents of traditional masculine and feminine gender roles, respectively, of members of the same sex within a relationship, or to describe individuals.However, homosexual relationships do not easily fit into butch and femme stereotypes. For example, the term lipstick lesbian may refer to a feminine woman who is attracted to other feminine women. Among homosexuals the practices of 'femme on femme' and 'butch on butch' sex preferences are sometimes repressed by cultural mores. Many butch gay men will only date other masculine men, though others prefer femme men.
Some "butch" lesbians have exaggerated masculine traits: military dress or demeanor (short-cropped hair), deliberate machismo, chivalry, and rarely rudeness...
Among lesbians, the butch-femme pairing in relationships was more common among lesbians of older generations. In Debra A. Wilson's documentary The Butch Mystique an older woman named Matu says that this was because in the past a woman was in physical danger if she was obviously with another woman in a romantic capacity, and butch women felt that being tough was necessary to protect themselves and their female companions.
Many young people today eschew butch or femme classifications, believing that they are inadequate to describe an individual, or that labels are limiting in and of themselves. Some people within the queer community have tailored the common labels to be more descriptive, such as "soft stud," "hard butch," "gym queen," or "tomboy femme."
External link