Butch/Femme- A New Binary?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfQ_ptzFv7M&feature=related

Certainly this video is made with a touch of irony in that it acknowledges the stereotype it plays into. However, this is purely superficial: to see this video only as an example of a common misconception about lesbian culture is to try to confine it to a binary system of gender.

While at first this video appears to demonstrate the natural need for male and female personas in a romantic relationship, it actually defies that belief. The concept of a "butch" girl is often misconstrued as the result one member of a lesbian relationship needing to be "the man" to promote balance. This "butches," however, are not men. but are they entirely women? While they are by no means what we describe as feminine, like their "femme" counterparts, they are still biologically women. In identifying as lesbian women rather than transgender individuals, the "butches" in this music video are at once embracing their womanhood and rejecting its traditional definition. The singers elaborate on the typically masculine qualities that their beloved "butches" possess, but continue to describe them as girls, demonstrating the wide potential in gender expression. Because their many typically masculine qualities, these "butch" women challenge what it means to be a given gender. They have carved out a new niche for themselves outside of a binary understanding of gender: to be "butch" is to be a woman but embrace the freedom to present oneself in a more "masculine" light.

Furthermore, in this video, the more masculine individual is the object, rather than the subject, of desire. This removes the underlying power dynamic from gender and equalize "butch" and "femme." Because there is more fluidity within this gender and sexuality schema, the power struggle is replaced with a freedom to reverse and modify roles.