Reclaiming Lesbian Pride

[Slater]

Originally Posted by Anya/Georgia

Woman does equal an adult female. Is this really in question now?

Honestly....

But it is also used as a gender identity. At one time, and still pervasively, sex and gender were used interchangeably as though they were one and the same. But if you allow for a non-binary gender system, then you have to allow for the possibility that there will be adult females who are not women, who are, for instance, butch.

The language of sex and gender has been so tightly interwoven, so tightly tied to a binary system, that trying to pull them apart can create these sorts of usage stumbling blocks.

[CherylNYC]

Originally Posted by Slater

But it is also used as a gender identity. At one time, and still pervasively, sex and gender were used interchangeably as though they were one and the same. But if you allow for a non-binary gender system, then you have to allow for the possibility that there will be adult females who are not women, who are, for instance, butch.

The language of sex and gender has been so tightly interwoven, so tightly tied to a binary system, that trying to pull them apart can create these sorts of usage stumbling blocks.

Got it. Yes, I understand that a person can ID as butch as a gender. But how does that equate to being a genderless lesbian?

[imperfect_cupcake]

um *hand up*.. I do know people who ID as female but of no particular gender except their own individual thang AND a lesbian. Because they see lesbian as primarily female-female, not woman-woman (but the bulk of which is inclusive of woman-woman).