A Book Review

By Morgan Dyer

The book Persistance: All Ways Butch and Femme, edited by Ivan E. Coyote and Zena Sharman, is an anthology by various Queer writers, all of who have found a home in the dichotomy of or terms Butch/Femme. This anthology comes at the terms from many angles and a diverse set of experiences and gender expressions. The book takes its name from the LGBTQ classic The Persistant Desire: a Butch Femme Reader (1992) and presents itself as the next generation’s imagining of all things Butch/Femme to them. It delves into the historic meaning and importance of roles, what it meant, and what it might mean going into the future. I enjoyed this book a lot. I particularly liked how the editors included people of all gender expressions and how they might interact with the terms Butch or Femme. The stories in this book illuminate the truth that there is no right way to be Butch or Femme. The people who inhabit these labels are as diverse as everybody else. From trans men who will always have a special place in their hearts for the word Butch, to lesbians in a Butch/Femme dichotomy, to lipstick and stone butch lesbians and voices that don’t conform to any static form of gender expression, this is a great collection of stories and I recommend you to read it.