Crawley, Sara L.

Academic and non-academic authors argue that middle-class lesbians present themselves as butch or fem less than working-class lesbians. Theorists also have argued that butch and fem were discoursed by 1970s feminist stigma but are reemerging in post-feminist decades. By analyzing "women seeking women (WSW)" personal ads, this study provides a longitudinal, quantitative analysis of the validity of these assumptions. The results suggest that middle-class lesbians were less likely to present themselves as butch or fem than working-class lesbians. Also, butch and fem were found to be much more prevalent in the 1990s than in the 1970s or 80s. Generational cohorts of WSW based on feminist political ideologies about butch and fem were not found. Prevailing cultural norms within lesbian communities appear to affect all WSW in an era. The impacts of bisexuality and race on lesbian communities are also discussed. The results are discussed using theories of gender, social class, and social movements.