[Medusa]

Met,

You bring up a PERFECT point that I was thinking about earlier.

Jack and I were having our own version of a "heated discussion" the other night in our home when this thread first started to take off. :P
Now, before anyone says "Oh God! The webmasters are fighting - RUN FOR THE HILLS BEFORE THEY SHUT THE WEBSITE DOWN OR SUE EACH OTHER!!!"
It wasnt like that - We tend to get passionate and loud but it's always because we desperately want to understand each other (and in turn, our community at large)

I had a lightbulb moment the other night. It isnt about who did what or said what, it's that the WORLD constructs this thing where there can be no "Female" without "Male". No (supposed) way to define "woman" without defining "man" first and always first. The causation of "Male can exist without Female but not the other way around."
I GET that!

Now, here is the other thought that Met just made me think of (forgive me for bouncing off of your points here, Met), but I do think that there is a very real congruency with how Butches and Femmes process their experiences in the world.

The congruency can be found in the invisibility that Femmes experience, "Oh, you are a straight woman because feminine women aren't lesbians and certainly wouldn't partner with a Butch or Transperson!!" and the forced invisibility of Butches, "Man with boobs" or "Wanna be a man" or "Chick with glued-on dick".

There is a dichotomy there too. I think my experience as a Femme in this world is layered with my experience as an "acceptable form of woman". I still receive sexism and misogyny from the world at large but I do wonder how the layer looks to a Butch.
Jack said that since she is not an "acceptable form of woman" to most of the world that she might receive more hostile forms of sexism.
That makes sense to me.