mmm let's talk about looking at butches

there is a perception that butchness is ubiquitous, or that there is much visual representation of butches in fiction

there is: not there just isn't lol, but that is changing even if slowly, which means we should talk about what gazing at butches can and ought be like

so you're writing a butch love interest, or even a POV butch character (while not being a gnc dyke yourself): cool please do this

i am only one single butch but nonetheless here are some clarke thoughts

1) butches can have nuanced and complicated notions of gender, varied relationships to their own body, their own desire, etc.

if you aren't hiring a sensitivity reader (even if you are) tread Very lightly if you want to write about dysphoria, be compassionate

2) butchness isn't a combination of wardrobe choices. there is certainly an aesthetic component, but butchness is more easily spot in gesture, in stance, in tone of voice, in posture

have you seen a feminine straight girl with a button down and jeans? mhm

on the above, ancetodal: i am still butch if you put me in a sundress. i would really really prefer you not, but butch i would remain

3) there isn't a butch body type. BANANAS that i have to say this, but it is a persistent myth even among queers. butchness doesn't always mean muscled, tall, or broad -- that kind of bioessentialism troubles me

4) butches are SO hypersexualized, and often framed as being aggressive, even predatory. there is a lot of historical (+medical) baggage to this, a lot of contemporaneous baggage as well

4 cont., HERE WE GO so. women (and sometimes n-b afab people) have a habit of looking at butches and seeing a fantasy rather than a person. they see a butch as an object upon which they can project their own desire in a way that feels safe. its objectifying

(to other young butches: this happens all the time. all the time. it is variously annoying and excruciating. be aware of it, seriously)

5) butchness =/= dominance. also, butchness =/= topping. not going to get into it here, but: ask yourself why you think these things automatically go together

related: butches don't love and desire women in the same way that men do

there is. fuck i could go on forever but instead let's talk about some stuff i Would like to see

seems to me that YA is uniquely good at gazing in a way that doesn't dehumanize the person being gazed at -- YA love interests are described by not just their corporeal forms but the way they laugh, or the way they move, how it feels to be near them, etc etc

when we're writing about looking at butches, i want those things drawn into focus as much as how hot a given butch may be -- isn't that not a central part of why they're hot, after all?

anyway, the hotness of butches. butches are hot! please talk about things other than or alongside, say, muscle. just muscle feels both objectifying and dull.

here is a freebie, a gift from me to you: talk about their hands. trust me

another freebie: butch swagger is a thing. butches often construct and play a particular kind of confidence* -- would love to see it on the page more often**

*further reading: essay on dyke camp by @mikclements

** this confidence often hovers an inch above a seething fuck off trauma tangle, and i am equally interested in seeing moments where this pose is set down and a character expresses some point of earnest vulnerability