29
Oct 10

Reviewing 'Butch is a Noun'

category: Reviews, Sassafras Lowrey No Comments

I read S. Bear Bergman’s ‘Butch Is A Noun’ for the first time not long after it was released in 2006. I liked it. When I received the re-released version from Arsenal Pulp Press* I was excited to sit with it again, but what I didn’t expect was to fall in love. This is the point where other people would make comparisons to things like fine wine, or scotch improving with time. However, as I don’t drink I will compare the book to the finest cheddar cheese which only improves with age. This time reading ‘Butch Is A Noun’ I was blown away and immediately smitten as each story unraveled different complicated and at times paradoxical pieces of butch.

Bear manages to carve out a space for all sorts of butch experiences and presents glimpses into butch intimacy. Bear talks lovingly of taking a young butch to buy hir first tie, about helping friends move, about intergenerational community, and having the back of your people. “Faggot Butch” reminded me of everything that felt so right and safe and solid about being butch identified a few gendered lifetimes ago and partnering with other butches. It is also without a doubt filled with beautiful, powerful stories about the treasuring of femmes and the uniqueness of butch/femme dynamics. These stories made me feel seen, and I think any butch loving femme reading it couldn’t help but be smitten with the text (I started including the names of specific stories before realizing it started to look like the whole table of contents).

‘Butch is a Noun’ is a book I consider to be a community classic. It’s a book that I want to hand to every young butch just coming into self, and every young butch loving femme I come across to show hir just the sort of care and chivalry that ze deserves.

*Huge, huge thank you to the folks at Arsenal for sending me a review copy of the book.

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