Kermit & Jim Henson
Expect a blog post soon. I promise. But in the meantime…appreciate the awesomeness of Jim Hanson and Kermit. Because…it’s not easy walking through the world as a masculine female. And…it aint easy being green.
There is more to you than this identity. It makes everything make more sense, and without it you might be lost, but with it you are only ever on one path. You contain more multitudes than that.
Dance. Cook. Read. Make peace with your body. Look at the stars.
Don’t make everything about you….
Well said.
Boxer Briefs
I have a lot of love for Sugarbutch Chronicles. Whenever it pops up in my inbox, I am eager to read them. I love the post so much that I often take the risk of a NSFW entry just to see what she has to say. Just recently, there was a post called Living Gender, her contribution to the Gender Celebration Blog Carnival. She writes about the realization that presenting as masculine came along with all the other assumption of the male gender. It is short and right to the point which works for me the best.
http://www.sugarbutch.net/2011/07/gender-celebration-blog-carnival-living-gender/
As I read Sinclair Sexsmith’s contribution, I came across a line that made me smile. Like genuinely smile with delight:
“I remember buying three-packs of undershirts and three-packs of briefs and trying to figure out from the packaging what size I would be.”
It has been so long since I have been remind of my experience of walking into the Men’s department alone for the first time that I almost forgot what it felt like. I had forgotten that it a was scary and fucking empowering all at the same time. There was moments where I avoided the stares or told myself that they just thought I was shopping for someone else. There were times where I stood tall (for 5’2) and casually walked around the store glancing at things as if this was normal behavior for me. Or those embarrassing moments when I would leave my ipod on to drown out the outside world, only to have a sale associate completely startle me when asking me if I needed help. I even forgot about the endless trying on of men’s jeans, pants, and shirt because I couldn’t remember which ones actually fit my curvy body. I have NOT forgotten about the one department store that would not let me use the men’s dressing room, even though the women’s dressing room for 3 floors up. I still refuse to shop there today.All these memories that I had put behind me since shopping for Men’s clothes is no longer a choice, it is simply how I roll.
Sugarbutch’s post really took me back to standing in the underwear section obsessively looking at every brand and style of Men’s underwear, having a conversation with myself about which ones would fit me. At that time, the whole process was really stressful and resulted in several failed attempts once I got home and realized the pack I choose was too small or too big. Now, to reminiscence and smile…almost chuckle… about picking out my boxer briefs is a small reminder of the present and the confidence I carry now that comes partly from my appearance.
One more thing….don’t shop at Daffy’s. :)
A few weeks ago, I rode with Dykes on bikes at Philly pride. It was an awesome experience and offered me and my beautiful partner our 15 mins of fame. I give complete credit to her hot cowboy boots.
When an article has the words butch and endangered in the title, I am immediately drawn to read it. Anyone who is close to me knows that I often feel that the butch lesbian is a dying breed or at least is beginning to evolve/dissolve into a new identity.
This article was great. It really made me feel proud of myself. Because nothing makes me weaker than a femme gushing over butchness.
What this article missed was the endangered part. Yes, some queer women find butch women damn near irresistible (and thank god for that)…but that is not new information to me. I was hoping to read the opinions of someone who agreed with my theory. Perhaps the title is a play on words or channeled from something I am not familiar with. Regardless, there was nothing written about endangered species. Not even the actual ones. But if you want to read something that will give you a little (femme or butch) grin …check it out.
I have not posted anything is awhile. As I approach graduation and the end of the last three years of struggling to get my masters while working full time, I had to put some things on hold. After May, I hope to be able to focus more of posting. For now, I came across this post on ButchLab Symposium and it really resonated with me. Particularly the part about how wearing men’s clothes makes me feel more female than ever before.
I agree.
Particularly as a person of color who battles with her gender presentation within a culture that sometimes equates misogyny with masculinity. My butch identity is strongly connected to my female identity. My female identity is closely connected to feminism, which is also intertwined with my butchness. And if nothing else…I know how to tie my own tie. A skill that a woman taught me how to do…not a man.
Symposium #2, March 2011: Butch Stereotypes, Cliches, and Misconceptions: What do people think “butch” means? What are the stereotypes around being butch? What do people assume is true about you [or the masculine of center folks in your life], but actually isn’t? What image or concept do…
