Gal Pals: What makes a butch, our favorite teen lesbian couples from film and Mischa Barton (Episode 10)

Oh thank god, I was getting worried! A most amusing vlog, as always. I laughed a lot at the comments about the Bronx girls moving in together after graduation and getting cats:)

I enjoyed StuntDouble's article about teen lesbians and went to look the examples up on the interweb (only the OC showed in South Africa of those shows) and I though the Paige/Alex story was really cute. Though I do love Olivia Wilde, maybe not as much as Megan Fox though, so I did enjoy the OC gimmick/ratings-hike storyline for pure eye-candy purposes.

As for the butch issue, I adore both Rachel and Ellen. I don't consider Ellen butch though... she doesn't have that attitude or swagger I associate with it. Also, I'm not so much with the labels and boxes, I think most women can be both butch and femme and everything in between.

PS: Emily, I know you have Rachel and are more than 10 000 miles away, but if you ever come to Cape Town, call me (*makes hand-phone motion).

Thanks for your discussion of the butch thing!
Here is my take on it. You can see I've thought about it for a while but didn't have the occasion to post. ;) Shorter for the below rant: 'Just dressing for the job' sums it up nicely.

I was initially very excited about the tophotbutches list, because I was kind of disappointed with the overflowing girlishness of the afterellen Hot 100 list. And even though I tried I couldn't come up with that many genderqueer women who should have been on the Hot 100. So just for the consciousness raising of who is butch out there, the list was great.
[I found the tone in the introduction post and the ragging on the flaws of the afterellen Hot 100 a bit irritating, but that's another issue.]

So, on to what is butch. I personally don't have much use for the label. And the experience of the tophotbutches list, where they tried to make the "butch" label as inclusive as possible and it backfired on them because transmen felt marginalized by being lumped into that category, shows why. These labeled lists always deteriorate into fights over identity and the pleasure of discovering who else is (hot) out there is diminished. Much like in real life where all the labels and boxes create fights over who belongs where and who has a right to what identity, which I find absurd to say the least. 

In regards to the "butch is back" thing: I think it's largely bs. I mean, ok, this article was better written and "nicer" than the Merkin-article a while ago, but the argument doesn't convince me at all. That they cite Rachel Maddow as the new sexy butch who is fashion conscious and doesn't dress like a young boy, when RM expressly states in her bio that she dresses like a first grader, makes the premise really wobbly from the start. Yes, we love the short haired, power suited TV anchor, but the Maddow appeal isn't limited to that. I think a great part of it is her accessabilty. She is the jeans, sneakers and t-shirt celebrity. She always seems funny and smart and genuinly interested in her off-TV appearences where she isn't dressed up. And people love her for that.

Also, I have massive problems with the argument that butch is now ok because they have "discovered fashion". That is essentially the argument "you can be any kind of woman (or lesbian) you want to be and expect to be well-liked - if only you get manicures, pedicures, have make up on and dress up in 'nice' clothes". Oh, well then, thank you very much.
It also essentially implies that the butch before the recent makeover was unkempt and somehow not worthy of acceptance, that the look was not ok.
Maybe I'm being to sensitive here, but to me, this article was just a more nicely worded insult. And I don't even identify as butch or like the label much.

Also one new TV personality that everyone loves despite her ZOMG! gayness and looks (which is what all these wide-eyed articles about how even the straights and rabbis love RM say to me) and one TV personality that has dressed like that for years, do not make up a new trend. Would that it were..

On a positive note: I love that the TopHotButches.com brought Chantal Hébert to my attention. A bilingual canadian political pundit with a french accent on national television. So cool. Sadly/luckily, there isn't that much material from her on the intertubes, but even as it is, I'm learning all kinds of new things about Canada. :D

What are you talking about? Butch has always been cool! (H) But true, it has been supported by the media a bit more lately, two thumbs up. I just can't imagine Ellen on a runaway without her striking a hilarious pose to give it that "fierce" look!

I wonder what they'll talk about in this new movie about a faux lesbian couple.. Is all they're going to say is that they're not really lesbians? Stating the obvious?? And domehow I don't see a lot of potential in Mischa Barton; to me her acting seems a bit fake :/ Sorry.

Personally I consider myself butch but to my own extent, like I know I don't wear skirts and dresses, but I don't push it way overboard. I guess this whole butch situationis confusing in some way.. I dunno

I don't know what AE would do without you two..you're just amazing! Trish you crack me up every single time. I was actually thinking about Gal Pals yesterday when I was in my sleeping bag out in the woods: "Yaay Gal Pals tomorrow!!" Thanks again for another great episode :)

....the whole 'butch' thing, I think is quite often in the eye of the beholder, for instance, my straight friends and work collegues would call me butch; I have short hair, and although its grown recently (just above my shoulders) its always pulled back, even when I go out, I never wear womens clothes esp not skirts, dresses or fitted shirts, I play football (soccer) and rugby and I sit and and quite often act like a sterotypical striahgt guy, but my gay friends call me futch, as I have a very girly face and have my fem moments....I just see myself as me, as my looks arn't an important part of me, so I haven't thought about them enough for me to put a definate label on them, but if I had to identify with one label, I would be more comfortable with butch than anything else! But one of my best friends came up with a good label for me, a 1940s gentlewomen (always opening doors, doing all the heavy lifting ect ect) which I love! I agree with thinkpunk, using labels is always going to offend someone, or a group of someones, although I still think the hotbutches was a good idea.

As to the 'butch is back' I think it has something to do with an increase in societies acceptance of lesbians in the public eye, and the expectations and roles of women changing too, for although we havn't progressed as far as we want and as some think, we still have strong women in business and media, and more out LGBTQ people in some form of public media, esp with the ever increasing popularity of the internet. This must mean that there are even more avanues for people to become noticed, increasing, at lest in theory, the diversity and range of the 'types' of people (ie differeing sexuality, race, gender, political backround etc etc) that are avaliable. I also agree with Emily when she says that Rachel maddow and Ellen may be classed as 'fashionable' butch but only because they have to look good, be it in a business suit for an interview or for a premiere......the increase in the 'fashionable' butch may also be becuase fashion is more affordable and accessable what with high street shops having similar ranges as a boutique and also the internet has meant that many specialised clothing ranges, such as vintage, or mens clothes for women, or gay tshirts ect ect, are accessable to anyone with a phone line!

All in all, a good ep, one that I'm sure everyone will have a different opinion on! I also hope this all made sence, its past midnight here!!

What's with all the hateing on The Misch? She seems to not be everyones cup of tea. I don't care what people will think of me but I love me some Misch. I can recite the Marissa/Alex scenes and the Katie/Jessie scene. Is that weird?

As for the butch list, I only knew of atleast half of the people on that list. Some I found hot and some well not. What's with all the porno people?

Yay! You guys mentioned Deak. She was great as Meat, she looks a lot different now. But she's still fine and such a badass.

I for some reason never would have guessed that you girls were with butch girls.

p.s. I totally fell in love with Clea when I saw her in The Faculty, Stokely was so hot. Damn I was eight. I guess Clea is a root. Well mine was actually Amy Jo Johnson aka Kimberly the Pink Ranger. 

I loved the top hot butch list, mainly because I came across an awesome new comedian. Way down at number 88 but I suspect in the coming years she'll be moving up!

 She's gay and her dad is a retired southern baptist preacher, I think. HILARIOUS! Check out her youtube:

www.youtube.com/liannacarrera

 I hope she starts doing more work. She falls into the title of "not really butch" but she's not tradtionally feminine either. I don't think it really matters, she's fuckin funny!

my girlfriends old highschool voted a lesbian couple for cutest couple also. lol and bill o'reilly was piiisssed : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g8VNUkIem  

it shows that america's progressing (yay) and that o'reillys a doouche

emily has a girlfriend?! i'm crushed

"it's a space thing"