In
Atlanta,
there
are
the
Femme
Mafia,
the
100
Distinguished
Studs
of
Atlanta
and
the
100
Extraordinary
Femmes
—
all
groups
for
lesbian
and
queer
women
who
identify
with
their
masculine
and
feminine
sides.
So
there’s
no
denying
the
butch/stud/femme
dynamic
is
alive
and
thriving.
But
with
the
rise
of
many
lesbians
not
wanting
to
be
labeled,
there
is
also
not
much
casual
discussion
of
lesbian
sex
and
gender
roles,
said
self-identified
butch
Jane
Holden.
“There
is
such
a
diverse
crowd
here
in
Atlanta.
And
even
if
women
feel
they
are
butch,
they
don’t
necessarily
want
to
say
it,”
she
said.
“But
really,
you
can
look
at
two
people
and
tell.
It
just
tends
to
not
be
verbalized
that
much.”
Holden
is
also
known
as
Daddy
Jane,
a
local
comedian.
She
proudly
embraces
her
butchness,
but
understands
that
others
may
feel
the
term
is
somehow
belittling
who
they
are.
“There
is
a
fear,
I
think,
that
if
lesbians
hear
you
say
‘butch’
they
feel
the
word
is
oppressive,”
she
said.
“There
are
tons
of
fine
lines.
And
I’ve
found
lesbians
tend
to
be
very
sensitive
about
words
and
labels,
much
more
than
gay
men,”
she
added
with
a
laugh.
“They
say,
‘Don’t
put
me
in
a
box.’
But
I
like
roles.”
While
Holden,
35,
doesn’t
know
how
to
fix
a
car,
she
considers
herself
a
diesel
dyke
and
is
more
in
touch
with
her
masculine
side,
she
said.
“I
have
more
male
energy,”
she
said.
At
the
same
time,
her
full-time
job
is
being
a
Buckhead
nanny.
“I
feel
like
lesbians
say
this
is
2008
and
worry
a
lot
about
labels.
Is
‘butch’
an
outdated
word?
Maybe.
But
there
are
still
butch
women
—
of
course
it’s
there.”
With
the
rise
of
transgender
men,
however,
sometimes
there
is
a
blurring
of
the
old-school
butch/femme
roles
that
became
popular
in
the
1950s
among
working
class
lesbians.
“Now
we
have
tranny
boys
who
date
gay
men,
who
date
femmes,
who
date
other
transmen
—
the
rainbow
spectrum
has
really
changed
in
the
past
four
to
five
years,”
Holder
said.
FEMME
FATALES
In
her
groundbreaking
book
“Undoing
Gender,”
Judith
Butler
discusses
butch/femme
identities
and
questioned
the
roles
compared
to
heterosexuals.
“There
were
many
who
asked
whether
they
were
women
and
some
asked
it
in
order
to
become
included
in
the
category,
and
some
asked
it
in
order
to
find
out
where
there
were
alternatives
to
being
in
the
category,”
Butler
wrote.
“What
happens
when
terms
such
as
butch
and
femme
emerge
not
as
simple
copies
of
heterosexual
masculinity
and
heterosexual
femininity,
but
as
expropriations
that
expose
the
non-necessary
status
of
their
assumed
meanings?”
For
Holder,
who
is
dating
a
self-identified
femme
—
lesbians
who
present
themselves
as
very
feminine
—
the
butch/femme
theory
can
be
summed
up
simply,
if
not
a
bit
humorously.
“When
we
go
out,
she
wants
to
get
new
shoes,
a
new
dress,
how
does
she
look,
how
does
her
hair
look.
I
just
get
a
bowtie,”
she
said.
But
being
a
femme
is
not
just
about
appearance,
said
Avian
Watson,
27,
spokesperson
for
Traxx
Girls.
“A
femme
is
about
being
a
lady,
beauty.
I
like
to
dress
up,
smell
good,
look
good.
I
have
always
been
a
girly-girl,”
she
said.
“A
femme
is
the
essence
of
being
a
lady.
I
hold
myself
to
a
certain
standard.”
Watson
has
dated
both
femmes
and
studs.
She
explained
that
“butch”
is
the
word
that
tends
to
be
used
by
white
women
while
“stud”
tends
to
be
an
African-American
term.
“I’m
attracted
to
women
who
are
dominant.
Studs
and
butches
—
they
are
more
masculine,
but
studs
tend
to
keep
their
women’s
physique,”
she
said.
The
hardest
part
of
being
a
lovely
femme
is
going
to
clubs
and
other
women
telling
her
she’s
not
a
lesbian.
“They
think
I’m
straight
because
of
the
way
I
look.
I
always
ask,
‘Well,
what
does
a
lesbian
look
like?’
I’m
very
comfortable
with
who
I
am.”
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