Butch Bodies and Belonging: Feminist Community Ethics and Narratives of Inclusion

The relationship between butch-identified individuals and feminism has a troubled history.  At various moments in our (not-so-distant) feminist past; butch bodies have been marked as protectors, as part of a highly stylized sub-set of lesbian sexuality, as reproductions of patriarchal gender norms, and as fascinating commodities worthy of ivory tower attention through the lens of female masculinity.  These understandings of butch identity are intrinsically linked to academic trends within feminist theory, feminist activist conventions, and more general conflicts between lesbian and feminist communities.  In this paper, I consider the relationship between butch bodies and feminism as a means of troubling the “wave” model prevalent in narratives of feminist history.  Challenging this model can shed further light on the relationship between corporeal experiences and community belonging, and deepen our understanding of the relationship between identity and space.  While the wave model can certainly be productive for addressing feminist struggles with intersectionality, it paints a false utopia that marks feminist thinking as a steady march forward.  This paper considers questions such as: Who is included within or excluded from feminist spaces, and why?  What is the relationship between butch identity, perceptions of safety, and anxieties about masculinity within feminism?  Is there a connection between urbanity and increased anxiety around butch identity?  How might these struggles shed light on current conflicts surrounding masculinities within feminist thinking?