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However, the 1980s saw a resurgence of butch and femme gender roles. In this new configuration of butch and femme, it was acceptable, even desirable, to have femme–femme sexual and romantic pairings. Femmes gained value as their own lesbian gender, making it possible to exist separately from butches.
It was often understood in conjunction with femme identity, and butch-femme relations have been studied at great length. [6] As a result, butch identity on its own remains somewhat ill-defined. [6] Butch people are often described as sexually dominant lesbians who are interested in having sex with femmes. [6]
Scholars Heidi M. Levitt and Sara K. Bridges state that the terms butch and femme are derived from the 1940s–1950s American lesbian communities following World War II "when women joined the work force and began wearing pants, creating the possibility for the development of a butch aesthetic and gender expression within gay women's communities ...
The history of lesbian fashion, she added, has been characterized by binaries, where there is a “push and pull” between butch and femme styles of dressing.
This is an example of how a soft butch's sexuality and outward appearance are not completely masculine, but have some feminine traits. This desire to express both masculinity and femininity through one's gender and sexuality is clearly seen in soft butch women, but also across many people of a variety of sexual orientations. [2]
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soft butch – an androgynous lesbian, in between femme and butch [20] stem, stemme – someone whose gender expression falls somewhere between a stud and a femme [147] stone butch – a very masculine lesbian, or a butch lesbian who does not receive touch during intercourse, only giving (US) [20] stud – a black butch [148] [149]
Gender roles in non-heterosexual communities have been the subject of debate in Western society. Peter M. Nardi of Pitzer College says: The connection between sexual orientation and gender roles has been confused by many people. Too often, assumptions about homosexuality or heterosexuality have led to assumptions about masculinity or femininity ...