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Butch is a Noun

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A new edition of S. Bear Bergman’s first book, on what it means to be butch.
  • 31 August 2010
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"Butch is a Noun is a book that a) should be required reading in any gender studies curriculum; b) femmes should read whenever they're feeling unloved, lonely, or misunderstood; c) butches should read; d) all of the above. The answer, of course, is d. Thank you, dear Bear."—Kate Bornstein, author of Gender Outlaw

"Bear's poetry of butchness lets us see into facets of gender that usually aren't so transparent. And made me fall in love with butches all over again."?Carol Queen, author of Real Live Nude Girl

Butch is a Noun, the first book by activist, gender-jammer, and performer S. Bear Bergman, won wide acclaim when published by Suspect Thoughts in 2006: a funny, insightful, and purposely unsettling manifesto on what it means to be butch (and not). In thirty-four deeply personal essays, Bear makes butchness accessible to those who are new to the concept, and makes gender outlaws of all stripes feel as though they have come home. From girls' clothes to men's haircuts, from walking with girls to hanging with young men, Butch is a Noun chronicles the perplexities, dangers, and pleasures of living life outside the gender binary. This new edition includes a new introduction by the author.

S. Bear Bergman is also the author of The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2009). Ze is also a frequent university and college lecturer on issues relating to gender and sexuality.

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Price: $18.95
Pages: 192
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Imprint: Arsenal Pulp Press
Publication Date: 31 August 2010
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781551523699
Format: Paperback
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S. Bear Bergman: S. Bear Bergman is an activist, gender-jammer, and author of The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You (Arsenal, 2009). Formerly based in New England, she relocated to Canada in 2008.

CONTENTS
A Note to the Reader 9
I Know What Butch Is 12
Fire the Copyeditor, or Possibly the Author:
A Few Notes on Pronouns 16
Defending Identity 20
Tranny Bladder 24
Taxonomy 27
Walking with Girls 29
Wrestling 32
Being a Butch with Young Men 35
Breasts 39
Why I’m Not a Nice Young Man (Yet) 45
Cocks 48
Border Wars 52
Watching Our Fathers 58
Bridal Registry 60
White Button-Down Shirts 63
Virtual Butch Reality 66
The Honorable Butch Office of Moving 71
Passing It Along 74
Boxer Briefs 78
Where Butch Resides 81
That Moment 83
What My Daddy Taught Me 86
Foie d’Butch 89
When It’s Good 92
Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones,
but Words Will Kill Me 95
High-Heeled Shoes 97
My Butch Brothers 100
Crossing the Street 103
Hair 105
Being an Asshole 110
What a Butch May Use 113
Femme for Dummies 116
When I’m Far from Home 121
Faggot Butch 123
What the Stone Is Made Of 126
Butch in the Streets, Femme in the Shul? 128
An Apology to My Mother 130
Princess Pickle 133
When I Can’t Fix It 136
Being a Delight 140
Chat, or How I Learned to Flirt, Part 1: 143
Your Faithful Servant 145
The Drawbridge 147
Dancing 149
Getting Fucked 152
Making Her Feel… 154
Being a Shopping Switch 157
Laying Down with a Butch 162
Touch 167
This Gesture 169
You 172