JulesWright.com

Just remember butch women- and allies of butch women- we don’t have to settle for crumbs. We don’t have to sit at the back of the bus. We don’t have to settle for being marginalized or to be rendered invisible in the name of “diversity.”

We don’t have to settle for being told we are afraid. We don’t have to settle for being told just come join us so you can get your mind changed. We don’t have to put up with lip service feminism- most of us live it every day and we can tell the difference.

We don’t have to listen to people saying that butch woman is a narrow, limited definition of butch. Say what? Since when did being a woman become limited? Should we tell our femme sisters, sorry your meaning of femme is limited. Sorry if being a woman is not gender cutting edge enough for you.

We are the heart and soul of butch. Most butches in this world are women. Not only are we women, we live our lives as women in a patriarchal world and feel the impacts of this. We feel the impacts of this while holding our heads high as visibly masculine women- and we take the pride, the joy, the love that comes our way along with the risks and hate.

This has nothing to do with not accepting others for who they are. They are free to be themselves as much as we are free to be ourselves. I am happy to join you at the table, but we don’t need to spend all of our time figuring out how to acomodate you. Listen to us for a change if you really are our allies. Give us our space AND join us AND listen to us. One session doesn’t cut it.

We WILL stand up. We WILL be heard. We WILL be visible. WE ARE BUTCH