Starting in the 1940s and 1950s, butch became a central identity in the lesbian community. It was often understood in conjunction with femme identity, and butch–femme relations have been studied at great length. As a result, butch identity on its own remains somewhat ill-defined. In
Of Catamites and Kings,
Gayle Rubin describes a butch as those lesbians who use masculine mannerisms, and/or who wear traditionally male clothing, and/or who experience
gender dysphoria. The defining characteristic that most scholars agree on is that butch people are lesbians who are to some degree aligned with masculine traits. During the mid-20th century, butch people in the U.S. were usually limited to a few jobs, such as factory work and cab driving, that had no dress codes for women. During the 1950s, with the anti-gay politics of the
McCarthy era and the
Lavender Scare, homophobic violence was common, especially through raids on
gay and lesbian bars. Although
femmes also fought back, it became primarily the role of butches to defend against attacks and hold the bars as gay women's space. The prevailing butch image was severe but gentle, while it became increasingly tough and aggressive as violent confrontation became a fact of life.
Black lesbians, especially vulnerable to
police brutality and
racial segregation, often socialised in private parties instead of bars, and often dressed formally, compared to the typical
working-class attire of
T-shirts and
jeans that white butches adopted. == Transgender butch identity ==