ryuutchi: waitingforthecat:elierlick:M2B (Male-to-Butch) by Kylie Paintain, 1997. Found in Unap

ryuutchi:

waitingforthecat:

elierlick:

M2B (Male-to-Butch) by Kylie Paintain, 1997. Found in Unapologetic: The Journal of Irresponsible Gender #1. Read the full issue here.

Image description: An article titled “M2B” by Kylie Paintain
with a photo showing Kylie, a woman with short hair and tattoos.
The text reads:
“MtB? What´s that?”
Most people have heard of male to female (MtF) transexuals and even lesbian transsexuals but male to butch (MtB) is something new entirely for many. Those who have a problem with MtF transsexuals identiying as lesbians…
“Why go through all the mtf stuff and then id as lesbian?”
…are usually stuck at the misconception that transitioning is all about who you want to have sex with. So an mtf who chooses to identify as a butch will be particularly strange for them.
“Don´t women who identify as butch really want to be men?”
I think “identifying as a butch woman” really says it all. Secially the woman bit. For me and others like me, butch is very seperated from male. I id very strongly as female and see female/woman as my gender identity and my butch identity is an extension of this. I think you can display masculine traits/characteristics without being/iding as male or without losing any sense of being female/woman.
When I transitioned 8-9 years ago there was an aweful lot of pressure for me to confcorm to a very sterotypical female image and role ie Het Barbie. I tried to do this - I didn´t really see any other option at this stage - but it just didn´t feel right so I set out to find out what was right for me. This took me about 6 years during which time I was totall celibate. It was a difficult time as I had to come to terms with a lot of stuff about myself that I didn´t like but I think I am a better person for it.
I came out as a dyke about 4 years ago but all the dykes I knew were andro-dykes so while I had taken a major step in the right direction I still wasn´t feeling right about me and who I was. It wasn´t until someone suggested I read some books on butch/fem that I realized how I fitted in. It was amazing to read about women who felt a lot like I do - who id strongly as women but acknowledge their masculine side in a positive way.
It hasn´t exactly been easy - being out as a transsexual and iding as butch has caused a few problems but I figure if people have a problem with the concept and don´t have the courage to talk to me in person about it then it remains their problem and not mine. While I try to be as available as possible for people to talk to - I believe that it is only through talking about these issues that we will start to resolve some of them - I don´t believe in forcing my opinion on anyone. I try to respect other peoples choices in their lives and only ask the same of others.
After all why should our indivdual expression of gender be forced into conforming to waht makes others feel safe or comfortable? Why can´t we express our selves our inner feelings without being made to feel like freaks and misfits? Why does there have to be such strict regulation of gender in a society that seems to be willing to let other things grow?
Until recently transexuals where supposed to disappear once they had “successfully” transitioned but now there are a growing number of us who will not disappear, who will not shut up about gender and who will not bend backward to make Joe and Jill Citizen feel comfortable.
I strongl believe that the best way for me to be happy and reach my full potential is to be the best me that I can be. If that means ditorting other peoples safe views on what is gender then so be it.
-Kylie lives in Melbourne Australia with her gorgeous fem partner and her kind of gorgeous m/bike (still waiting on some money to fix it up a bit more). The queers think Kylie´s “really” het and the hets think she´s REALLY queer.
end Image description

“How can there be amab transmascs?” /waves frantically at this post

This is why I never liked the term “transfemme” and “transmasc.” Femme and masc are generally references to appearance. Someone’s gender has little to do with how they appear.