Looking for something to read this appreciation day?
BY CALYPSO LLOYD-DAVIES
This month brings us Butch Appreciation Day, so we’ve compiled a list of books you need in your collection on all things butch. From non-fiction to fiction, memoirs to illustrations, these are some must-reads for those looking to expand, or simply revel in, their knowledge on butch history, identity and culture, as well as touching on the butch-femme relationship and the gender discourse.
Stone Butch Blues – Leslie Feinberg (1993)
Starting off strong is one of, if not the most, groundbreaking pieces of butch literature, Stone Butch Blues. Feinberg’s book explores the difficulty of oppression and working-class themes as we follow stone butch lesbian Jess Goldberg through New York in the latter half of the 1900s. Stone Butch Blues also touches on gender confusion and has been said to have shifted how we view the term “transgender” today.
Boots Of Leather, Slippers Of Gold – Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy & Madeline D. Davis (1993)
Another from 1993, with 14 years of research behind it, Boots Of Leather, Slippers Of Gold, delves into the history of lesbians. The book includes real oral accounts from 45 women, recounting their time in Buffalo, New York, from the 1930s to the 1960s. This is a truly personal window into the past, exploring the dynamic of butch-femme relationships and how a community was formed in secret.
The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader – Joan Nestle (1992)
Expect letters, memoirs, poetry, short stories and much more, spanning 200 years of sapphic history. The Persistent Desire discusses how to understand butch-femme relationships in a heteronormative world, and how to reconstruct this narrative for the lesbian community.
Persistence: All Ways Butch And Femme – Ivan Coyote & Zena Sharman (2011)
Coyote and Sharman look into the terms butch and femme and how they fit in the modern world’s idea of all things gender. This is an updated take on Nestle’s 1992 book, one of a new generation, and one which Nestle herself supports in the forward.
Butch Heroes – Ria Brodell (2018)
For those interested in queer art history, this might be the one for you. Brodell presents 28 portraits of forgotten figures and their stories. These heroes were gender non-conforming individuals with a more masculine appearance. A book that can only be described as a brilliantly personal exploration of unwritten queer history.
Hijab Butch Blues – Lamya H (2023)
In reference to Stone Butch Blues, 30 years later, Lamya H brings us Hijab Butch Blues. This memoir explores the coming-of-age of a queer Muslim immigrant battling between her religion and sexuality. Lamya raises difficult themes of identity, family and belonging attached to the struggle of coming out. We encounter the protagonist attempting to find balance between a loyalty to one’s faith and a loyalty to oneself.
Female Masculinity – J. Jack Halberstam (1998)
Halberstam takes a look at masculine behaviour and masculinity without men in his 1998 novel Female Masculinity. This book was, for its time, a new take on gender and butch appreciation, considering the stone butch and butches in cinema. Delve into a rich history of female masculinities and the effect of it all on gender studies.
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