[Darth Denkay]

Thanks to all who have been a part of this discussion. In hind-sight, I probably could have come up with a better name for this thread. I wasn't actually trying to get at what specifically makes any of us butch, but more a general discussion around identities and stereotypes. Bit did a good job explaining it in a clearer way.

I've been thinking a lot about stereotypes lately, hence the thread. When I think about stereotypes, at least some do provide a description accurate for most folks. Using butch as an example, a stereotype of being butch is that butches have shorter haircuts. I imagine that is true for many butches out there. In other words it is common for butches to have short haircuts. At some point some stereotypes cross a line into requirement territory - if you are butch you have short hair. Now a butch who has long hair suddenly is no longer butch, because the stereotype is understood as an absolute. Seems to me that stereotypes that are descriptive without being absolutes or carrying value judgments aren't a bad thing.

We create stereotypes to help us understand the world. They provide us with a basis of information from which to start, so that every time we bring in a piece of information (and remember, we are bringing in hundreds of pieces of information every minute) we're not starting from square one each time. If stereotypes/schemas didn't exist the world would be overwhelming. I think stereotypes in and of themselves aren't problematic, but the way they are used is. When used simply as a starting point, not viewed as an absolute, and carrying no negative judgment, they are useful. When they are used to exclude or judge, that's where I see the problem. Does this make sense?