Are butches really a dying breed?

[Chancie]

Sweet Jane, I think I understand what you mean. I often think of the difference between the melting pot and the tossed salad metaphors for places that are racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse. I mean, we are talking about femmes and butches and other queer identified people, I know, but is it better to fit in or to maintain a separateness to protect one's own culture?

This digression is brought to you by the letter q and the number 17.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Chancie

Sweet Jane, I think I understand what you mean. I often think of the difference between the melting pot and the tossed salad metaphors for places that are racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse. I mean, we are talking about femmes and butches and other queer identified people, I know, but is it better to fit in or to maintain a separateness to protect one's own culture?

This digression is brought to you by the letter q and the number 17.

I would suggest both have benefits. Separately for cultural reasons and assimilated for political (and other) reasons.

I believe that in our desire to earn our "equal rights" that we have forgotten the importance of the former. Perhaps this is a function of the younger homosexual/queer population being accepted into mainstream society, so they don't need to make their own spaces. However, being in a gay/queer space feeds my soul in a way that I would never want to be without.

The younger generation say they are lucky to have been born in a time when "we" are more accepted. In some ways, yes. But, I wouldn't forego my experiences of discrimination that forced the creation of separate spaces for a more "comfortable" public life, ever.

[SweetJane]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

I would suggest both have benefits. Separately for cultural reasons and assimilated for political (and other) reasons.

I believe that in our desire to earn our "equal rights" that we have forgotten the importance of the former. Perhaps this is a function of the younger homosexual/queer population being accepted into mainstream society, so they don't need to make their own spaces. However, being in a gay/queer space feeds my soul in a way that I would never want to be without.

The younger generation say they are lucky to have been born in a time when "we" are more accepted. In some ways, yes. But, I wouldn't forego my experiences of discrimination that forced the creation of separate spaces for a more "comfortable" public life, ever.

Dapper and Chancie, you both make strong points. I think this has been what the black community is dealing with today, meaning younger people looking for a black cultural identity. However for them, it's easier to find their community members. With us, we blend in very well or are accepted....though there are regions in the country where very strongly male ID'd butches are still marginalized.

For me, though, finding community is hard because I don't fit in with the wider lesbian group, though they may think I belong there just because I'm gay. I need to be with my own kind for validation--at the least--and companionship--if that's even possible.