Lily Burana, A Random Sampling of Butches: Eight Questions Asked of Ten Butch Women, from Dagger: On Butch Women, edited by Lily Burana, Roxxie, and Linnea Due, Cleis Press, 1994
for @cara-oswald !
[image text:
image one: A Random Sampling of Butches: Eight Questions Asked of Ten Butch Women
by Lily Burana
If I’d had an eternity to edit this book, I would have done full-length interviews with every butch woman I’d ever met, replete with personal histories, philosophies and juicy details. Daunted, but not deflated, by the reality of an eventual deadline, I abridged my full-length interview fantasy and called around to my butch friends - a wildly diverse lot, spanning the range of age, race, sexual preference and geographic regions - to do this anonymous, quickie, “just the facts” survey. Brief, but nonetheless informative. Think of it as an essentially topical look into some essential topics.
My Butch Role Model…
“James Dean.”
“Jean-Claude Van Damme in Hard Target. OK, so he’s a big, greasy macho guy, but with that haircut (spiked on the top, long in the back), he looks just like a dyke. Handles a weapon like one, too!”
“My Dad. He’s the strong silent type, and so am I, for better or for worse.”
"My Dad. He’s a fag, and by being out, he has taught me to be honest about who I am.”
"Faggots.”
“Grace Jones. She’s the butch version of Arsenio Hall.”
image two: “My aunt Pat. She was the first dagger I ever knew. Too bad she
died before I came out as butch.“
"Marlon Brando in The Wild Ones.”
“The Fonz from Happy Days? He inspired my Neanderthal side.”
"The butches from the earlier part of this century. Their courage and style are impressive.”
Butch Fashion Musts…
“Levi’s 501 jeans.”
“White tee-shirt.”
“Tuxedo, if you’re a glamour butch.”
"Black leather boots.”
"A little red dress, just to keep people on their toes.”
"Black leather jacket.”
“A well-pressed dress shirt.”
“A dark suit.”
“Boxer shorts. Plaid cotton for casual, silk for makin’ whoopie.”
“Chaps.”
Butch Fashion Crimes…
“Leisure suits.”
“Anything pink”
“Ruffled dress shirts.”
"Plaid golf shorts.”
"Bell-bottoms.”
"Girls’ clothes.”
"Polyester.”
"Men’s - or women’s - thong bikini underwear.”
“Birkenstocks.”
“Spandex tights, except for sports.”
Cool Butch Names…
“Terry, Randy, Sid, Lou, Mel. Anything that could be for a man or woman or can be shortened to a man’s name.”
"Rex.”
"Javier.”
image three: (above the continuation of the “Cool Butch Names” list is a comic by Andrea Natalie of a butch in athletic clothes and a backwards cap turning to look angrily at their own leg/butt and saying “Ever notice how these maxi-pads never stay in place with bike shorts?!”)
“Just using initials is nice.. J.B, R.J., etc.”
“Jake.”
"Mike.”
“Spike.”
“Butch.”
"Ace.”
"Charlie.”
Bad Butch Names…
"Egbert. No explanation needed.”
“Roger.”
"Francis. Too soft.”
"Dick.”
"Butch. Too obvious.”
"Sir Clitoressa.”
"Sue.”
“Orville.”
"Dude.”
“Barney.”
image four: My Early Life As A Butch Was…
“Confusing. My mother wanted a daughter, and my father wanted a son, so I went from dresses to pants all the time. My father ended up happier with my outcome that’s for sure.”
“Uneventful, until my first love dumped me for the captain of our high school football team and told everyone I was gay.”
"Cool. I had three brothers and was a total tomboy and then a jock. My family was even OK when I came out at the age of sixteen.”
"I hated being a kid. I felt like a boy, but was forced to wear dresses until was ten and had the misfortune of being named Jennifer. I made people call me Jay and still do.”
"Hard. My dad kicked me out of the house when I refused to quit being a tomboy and look like a real woman. Luckily, I came to the city and made friends with a bunch of queers who took my in and introduced me to the queer way of life.”
"Strange. I was popular, but considered weird. People nicknamed me ‘butch’, but I didn’t like it.”
"I got harassed a lot when I was younger, especially by white, presumably straight men who were threatened by a young, masculine-looking woman of color.”
“As a really young child, I had crushes on girls in my school and my female teacher. As a teenager, I wanted to go to the prom in a tux with a girl on my arm, but I felt that would be unwise for either myself or my girlfriend.”
"I felt really alienated most of the time, except when I was involved in athletic things. I got a lot of respect for being a good athlete in school, until I dropped out.”
"I can’t remember much of my early childhood, but I can’t say my teen years were so great. Beer and pot were staples of my diet, because I didn’t have any other way to cope with who I was - I later learned it was called being butch - in a small midwestern town.”
A Low Point Of Being Butch…
"Being out with my femme girlfriend and watching straight men hit on her, even though it’s clear she’s with me.”
"Having someone look at me and say, ‘What the hell is THAT?!’”
image five: “Figuring out which public restroom was safer for me to use - the men’s or the women’s.”
“Trying to make use of a cheap, floppy dildo.”
"Feeling like a freak in the feminine hygiene aisle. All those pastels piss me off. When will they invent a butch maxi pad?”
“Trying to find a bra. My tits are too big to go without one, and I look like an absolute idiot in those frilly, lacy numbers.”
“Not knowing whether or not I should be flattered when a stranger says, ‘Excuse me, Sir.’”
“Telling a woman I’m not interested in being penetrated sexually. Most women look at me like I’m helplessly old-fashioned. I’m not, I’m just not into it.”
“Wearing pantyhose and a women’s suit to work. I feel like I’m in bad drag.”
"Encountering people who equate being butch with being a pig.”
A High Point In My Butch Life…
"Marrying my lover at the March on Washington. It made it all real!“
“Winning my first marathon in middle school. It was the first time I was validated for being strong.”
“When I found another butch who was into butches. I thought was the only one.”
"Riding down the street on my bike one day. It wasnt any special occasion. I just suddenly realized how right and powerful I felt!”
“Walking down the street with a pretty girl on my arm and watching everyone turn around to look at her and seeing she’s with me.”
"Finally realizing that there were women who were attracted to me because of, not despite, my being butch.”
"My first love. I was thirteen, she was eleven. She lived in the next building, and one night I convinced Mama to let her sleep over and I seduced her right on my bedroom floor!”
“Having a gay man hit on me, not realizing that I was a woman! You know you can pass when…!”
“Seeing butch and femme once again celebrated as a valid, vital choices for dykes. There were so many years when we were considered unconscious dinosaurs.”
Lily Burana, A Random Sampling of Butches: Eight Questions Asked of Ten Butch Women, from Dagger: On Butch Women, edited by Lily Burana, Roxxie, and Linnea Due, Cleis Press, 1994
for @cara-oswald !
[image text:
image one: A Random Sampling of Butches: Eight Questions Asked of Ten Butch Women
by Lily Burana
If I’d had an eternity to edit this book, I would have done full-length interviews with every butch woman I’d ever met, replete with personal histories, philosophies and juicy details. Daunted, but not deflated, by the reality of an eventual deadline, I abridged my full-length interview fantasy and called around to my butch friends - a wildly diverse lot, spanning the range of age, race, sexual preference and geographic regions - to do this anonymous, quickie, “just the facts” survey. Brief, but nonetheless informative. Think of it as an essentially topical look into some essential topics.
My Butch Role Model…
“James Dean.”
“Jean-Claude Van Damme in Hard Target. OK, so he’s a big, greasy macho guy, but with that haircut (spiked on the top, long in the back), he looks just like a dyke. Handles a weapon like one, too!”
“My Dad. He’s the strong silent type, and so am I, for better or for worse.”
"My Dad. He’s a fag, and by being out, he has taught me to be honest about who I am.”
"Faggots.”
“Grace Jones. She’s the butch version of Arsenio Hall.”
image two: “My aunt Pat. She was the first dagger I ever knew. Too bad she
died before I came out as butch.“
"Marlon Brando in The Wild Ones.”
“The Fonz from Happy Days? He inspired my Neanderthal side.”
"The butches from the earlier part of this century. Their courage and style are impressive.”
Butch Fashion Musts…
“Levi’s 501 jeans.”
“White tee-shirt.”
“Tuxedo, if you’re a glamour butch.”
"Black leather boots.”
"A little red dress, just to keep people on their toes.”
"Black leather jacket.”
“A well-pressed dress shirt.”
“A dark suit.”
“Boxer shorts. Plaid cotton for casual, silk for makin’ whoopie.”
“Chaps.”
Butch Fashion Crimes…
“Leisure suits.”
“Anything pink”
“Ruffled dress shirts.”
"Plaid golf shorts.”
"Bell-bottoms.”
"Girls’ clothes.”
"Polyester.”
"Men’s - or women’s - thong bikini underwear.”
“Birkenstocks.”
“Spandex tights, except for sports.”
Cool Butch Names…
“Terry, Randy, Sid, Lou, Mel. Anything that could be for a man or woman or can be shortened to a man’s name.”
"Rex.”
"Javier.”
image three: (above the continuation of the “Cool Butch Names” list is a comic by Andrea Natalie of a butch in athletic clothes and a backwards cap turning to look angrily at their own leg/butt and saying “Ever notice how these maxi-pads never stay in place with bike shorts?!”)
“Just using initials is nice.. J.B, R.J., etc.”
“Jake.”
"Mike.”
“Spike.”
“Butch.”
"Ace.”
"Charlie.”
Bad Butch Names…
"Egbert. No explanation needed.”
“Roger.”
"Francis. Too soft.”
"Dick.”
"Butch. Too obvious.”
"Sir Clitoressa.”
"Sue.”
“Orville.”
"Dude.”
“Barney.”
image four: My Early Life As A Butch Was…
“Confusing. My mother wanted a daughter, and my father wanted a son, so I went from dresses to pants all the time. My father ended up happier with my outcome that’s for sure.”
“Uneventful, until my first love dumped me for the captain of our high school football team and told everyone I was gay.”
"Cool. I had three brothers and was a total tomboy and then a jock. My family was even OK when I came out at the age of sixteen.”
"I hated being a kid. I felt like a boy, but was forced to wear dresses until was ten and had the misfortune of being named Jennifer. I made people call me Jay and still do.”
"Hard. My dad kicked me out of the house when I refused to quit being a tomboy and look like a real woman. Luckily, I came to the city and made friends with a bunch of queers who took my in and introduced me to the queer way of life.”
"Strange. I was popular, but considered weird. People nicknamed me ‘butch’, but I didn’t like it.”
"I got harassed a lot when I was younger, especially by white, presumably straight men who were threatened by a young, masculine-looking woman of color.”
“As a really young child, I had crushes on girls in my school and my female teacher. As a teenager, I wanted to go to the prom in a tux with a girl on my arm, but I felt that would be unwise for either myself or my girlfriend.”
"I felt really alienated most of the time, except when I was involved in athletic things. I got a lot of respect for being a good athlete in school, until I dropped out.”
"I can’t remember much of my early childhood, but I can’t say my teen years were so great. Beer and pot were staples of my diet, because I didn’t have any other way to cope with who I was - I later learned it was called being butch - in a small midwestern town.”
A Low Point Of Being Butch…
"Being out with my femme girlfriend and watching straight men hit on her, even though it’s clear she’s with me.”
"Having someone look at me and say, ‘What the hell is THAT?!’”
image five: “Figuring out which public restroom was safer for me to use - the men’s or the women’s.”
“Trying to make use of a cheap, floppy dildo.”
"Feeling like a freak in the feminine hygiene aisle. All those pastels piss me off. When will they invent a butch maxi pad?”
“Trying to find a bra. My tits are too big to go without one, and I look like an absolute idiot in those frilly, lacy numbers.”
“Not knowing whether or not I should be flattered when a stranger says, ‘Excuse me, Sir.’”
“Telling a woman I’m not interested in being penetrated sexually. Most women look at me like I’m helplessly old-fashioned. I’m not, I’m just not into it.”
“Wearing pantyhose and a women’s suit to work. I feel like I’m in bad drag.”
"Encountering people who equate being butch with being a pig.”
A High Point In My Butch Life…
"Marrying my lover at the March on Washington. It made it all real!“
“Winning my first marathon in middle school. It was the first time I was validated for being strong.”
“When I found another butch who was into butches. I thought was the only one.”
"Riding down the street on my bike one day. It wasnt any special occasion. I just suddenly realized how right and powerful I felt!”
“Walking down the street with a pretty girl on my arm and watching everyone turn around to look at her and seeing she’s with me.”
"Finally realizing that there were women who were attracted to me because of, not despite, my being butch.”
"My first love. I was thirteen, she was eleven. She lived in the next building, and one night I convinced Mama to let her sleep over and I seduced her right on my bedroom floor!”
“Having a gay man hit on me, not realizing that I was a woman! You know you can pass when…!”
“Seeing butch and femme once again celebrated as a valid, vital choices for dykes. There were so many years when we were considered unconscious dinosaurs.”
