Butch/Femme

In the 1930s and 1940s in the United States, a visible lesbian culture emerged, especially in working‐class communities. Many working‐class lesbian communities had strict rules in which a woman must assume either a butch or femme role and presentation. To be butch meant that a woman presented a masculine appearance and mannerisms. The term butch also signified the active or dominant partner in sexual relationships. Femmes adhered to more traditionally feminine forms of dress, hairstyles, and interests. Butch and femme fell out of favor in the 1970s as feminists began to critique gender relations. In the 1980s, lesbian communities, especially urban, middle, and upper‐middle class, began reclaiming these identities, but with greater performative aspects and with less class division. Academically, theorists and writers continue to examine butch and femme as historical constructs as well as current expressions of the lesbian experience.