Depicting Desire: Butch/Femme Representation in the Late 20th Century

A Senior Archives Capstone Collection by Sophie Jones '23

Works Cited

Personal Note: I arrived at Smith College confused. I knew it was the gay center of Massachusetts (after Provincetown, of course). I was excited to kiss a girl for the first time. But at night, I would stay up, swiping and swiping and swiping on men, seeking their validation even though there was little I found desirable about them romantically. Intro to Women and Gender Studies lead me to a Radicalesbians manifesto, the "Woman-Identified Woman," which taught me two things. The first was that I wanted to study archives. The second was how to end my quest for male approval - but the problem of attraction still remained.

I loved being friends with femmes. I loved doing their makeup, gossiping with them, and admiring their dresses and shoes from afar. But I didn't desire them. Senior year, after coming to a series of realizations, I was pointed to The Persistent Desire. After reading and learning about those before me, I realized that the joy of expressing femininity has never been for any man, that is has always been my own, and will always be just for me and the butches I present myself to.

I love masculine lesbians. I love how strong they are, how tender, how they take masculinity - a complicated and grand thing - and make it their own. I adore being friends with them and loving them. I want to defend them for the rest of my life, as a thank you for what they have done for me, all that they have shown me about love, about desire. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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