#joan nestle

“In the most basic terms, Butch-Femme means a way of looking, loving, and living that can be expressed by individuals, couples, or a community. In the past, the Butch has been labeled too simplistically the masculine partner and the Femme her feminine counterpart. This labeling forgets two women who have developed their styles for specific erotic, emotional, and social reasons. Butch-Femme relationships, as I experienced them, were complex erotic and social statements, not phony heterosexual replicas. They were filled with a deeply lesbian language of stance, dress, gesture, love, courage, and autonomy. In the 1950s particularly, Butch-Femme couples were the front line warriors against sexual bigotry.”

— Joan Nestle, “The Femme Question”