Clothes do not Maketh the butch ....

[Merlin]

They have to me doc.

Originally Posted by Merlin

They have to me doc.

Really Merlin? I can't say I've ever heard that from any of the bf community I know here.

[EnderD_503]

Even if the whole world were suddenly forced to wear tinfoil jumpsuits every day for the rest of eternity, butches would still be butches. Same with everyone else continuing to be whatever they might identify as. Butch is an identity, not a pair of jeans or a hair cut.

[Legendryder]

My take on clothing is I refuse to look like a slob. Unless of course I am out working on the bike or car or mowing the lawn. I dress neatly. Period. I will not wear clothes with holes, no matter how trendy it might be. I prefer men's button shirts, not because they are men's, but because they just fit better. I have long arms and legs, women's clothes do not fit me. I also have no boobs to speak of, so those darts just look silly. Just sayin'.

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by Incubus

Really Merlin? I can't say I've ever heard that from any of the bf community I know here.

My partner, a butch, would say it. She'd say that butch could be *your* gender, but she doesn't count it as hers. Why is it necessary to speak for the entire "bf community"? The beauty of this site, for me, has been acceptance of each other, not defining one another. Conversely, I've been told by several in the broader b-f world (maybe on here or not?) that I am not a femme, I'm a lesbian, as if they can't both be part of my identity. People tell people what to be all the time, it seems, including when they declare that no one would say butch is not a gender. Why is that any less narrowing than saying it always is??

And, on topic, I don't think that clothing has to be limited by the person's gender identity, or other identities. But, doesn't it usually say something about how the person prefers to present themselves to the world? And, don't people usually want to be "gotten" and understood? I'm no less of a femme in jeans and a t-shirt, because who I am shows through the clothing. At the same time, unlike my partner, I buy all my clothing in the women's department. She enjoys her masculinity and likes to be identified with it. She'll be unlikely to ever wear a dress or high heels.