Inspiration

Welcome to the Inspiration List!

This is the 2010 update to the original 2009 Top Hot Butches list, and it is more of a database of inspiration, now, than it is a “hot list” like the 2009 version.

What is it? A database of people, accomplished in their field, who live their lives with a radical, intentional masculine identity. That identity could be genderqueer, androgynous, butch, stud, AG, macha, transmasculine, bear, or dozens of other masculine identity words. Many of these people are female, though quite a few identify as trans, and nearly all are queer.

In the new guidelines for this year’s list, cisgender men and non-queer women are invited to be included as well, as long as they self-identify as butch or as some sort of intentional masculinity.

Inclusion on this list does not presume any singular gender identity label, nor does it intend to impose any gender identity upon anyone els

One of my basic gender tenets is that no one can label you, that you label yourself. And by including someone on a list I don’t intend to state that they are butch and that we know better than they do what their identity Truly Is, but rather that they have been visibly not feminine in the world, and for a woman to go about their life in such a gender expression is both difficult and inspiring to those of us who relate to it.

So this is a list of inspiration. Of people who are currently alive, currently active in the world, who have inspired many young genderqueer and gender-non-conforming folks to broaden their own expression and to become who they really want to be.

Guidelines for nominations:

ALL nominees:

• Must be active in the public sphere of some sort, or a leader, and well known, in their field. Performers, writers, and activists are particularly easy to point to, but anyone notable in any field is applicable. Yes, this means your girlfriend/boifriend/boyfriend might not qualify. No, having a blog is not necessarily qualification enough.
• Must have been doing work at some point in the last decade. There are plenty of people we can dig up who are no longer alive, or who were notably butch or visibly masculine women from decades past, but this project is about what’s going on now. Perhaps at some point in the future we’ll tackle Top Hot Butches pre-Stonewall, but for now, let’s focus on who is around now.
• Can be of any age, though generally we’re talking about folks who are post-puberty, and even more frequently folks who are post-Saturn return, as it sometimes takes quite a bit of time to really know oneself enough to come to an alternative gender identity and expression like these. Age doesn’t matter.
• Can be of any race, religion, ethnic background, or sexual orientation. That probably goes without saying, but I’ll make it clear anyway.

Inclusions of women, cis or trans:

• It would be GREAT if they self-identify as some some of masculine of center identity: butch, macha, stud, ag, tomboi, genderqueer, etc.
• If they do not self-identify this way (or they have a level of fame where they wouldn’t reply to an email asking if they do or not), they will be considered for inclusion based on these things: 1. rejection of traditional femininity, including but not limited to dress, style, and hair; tendency to shop in the men’s department and display a masculine gender expression most of the time; 3. swagger, meaning some sort of masculine energy in their movements; and 4. are out as queer. Some exceptions will be made to the requirement that they are out as queer, such as in the case of Katherine Moennig, where she is very clearly queer but has not made official statements regarding such.
• If they are not out, that’s okay, though they must have some sort of articulation about their masculine identity. They do not necessarily have to identify as butch, but some sort of

Inclusions of men, cis or trans:

• Must self-identify as butch, stud, macha, AG, or some other masculine of center word of their choosing. Either you know that they identify as butch, because they’re your friend or you’re aware of their work, or they have made some sort of public statement that says they identify as butch.

Inclusions of genderqueer folks that identify as outside of the binary:

• Should self-identify as some of masculine of center identity: butch, macha, stud, ag, tomboi, etc., and be interested in being included in a database of butches.

How to nominate:

Email butchlabproject(at)gmail.com with the following:

• Name of the person you’re nominating
• What they do (writer, performer, activist, lawyer, whatever)
• Link to or attached recent photograph, at least 640×480 (landscape) and better yet, cropped to 700×400
• Link to their website, Myspace, Twitter, or other web presence for more information about their work

Or fill out this submission form.