Book Club: Butch is a Noun

The book was read and handed onto me by Chris, a Butch friend of mine. In other words, I had not gone out to purchase it, had no interest in it. English being my second language, self taught, I had no idea what a noun was either, so out of politeness I accepted the book, placed it on my book shelf, and forgot about it.

I belief I was looking for some reading material for my bathroom jaunts when my fingertips came across it about a month later. I do not spend a lot of time on this 'Porcelain Goddess' of mine, but during grunting moments, a book sometimes helps to keep me busy. Off I saunter with this "Butch is a Noun" book, pull my pants down, adjust my delicious derriere, ready to show the underground of Prague why their food should be less gassy, and look at the bound pages in my hand.

We all bring with us a slew of perceptions and experiences when we pick up a book to read. Life has taken us into its valleys, hills, mountains and streams, where we frolic, explore, love, learn and form within, our life, our own self. I am no different. I pick up a book and I have already, no matter its title, formed an opinion based on my life. "Butch is a Noun" left me wondering a bit (not knowing what a noun is) but no matter, I had already formed a visual in my mind based on the title. S. Bear Bergman says hy knows what a Butch is ... well, based on my life as a High (Ultra?) Femme, so do I. I open this supposed literary and highly recommended masterpiece and start to read.

S. Bear Bergman, a self identified Butch, touches upon the Butchness of hymself. One of the first aspects the reader gets exposed to is word usage, or gender addressing. Hir, ze, etc. I do not write this way, so when I speak of Butch, I use the 'hy'. For this review, I will do the same ... i.e. S. Bear Bergman, a self identified Butch, touches upon the Butchness of "hymself".

The book starts off with what I belief is a tongue in cheek about what a Butch is. I could be wrong of course, but it was puzzling enough to make me believe I am right. S. Bear Bergman continues with hys personal opinion and self exposure, which I actually found a delight. Hy does not seem to haphazardly attempt to try and tell people what a Butch is, but rather, trying to capture a uniqueness that every person of chosen gender must, at some point, feel.

There is no obvious criticism that can be levied against the book itself; it is well written in first person, easy to comprehend, candid. Yet, even with all of its candor, somehow I get the sense that S. Bear Bergman did not touch on the loneliness; the loneliness wrapped in the cloak of Butch helpfulness, the 'Butch Knight in Shining Armor', albeit I will admit hy attempted to do so.

There is a profound sense of empty space within the words, a smoothness that allows no touch to feel its nooks, crannies and small imperfections. If S. Bear Bergman's intent was to show this lonely space, the space a Butch travels alone amidst the kaleidoscopic experiences of hys life, hy succeeded brilliantly. If hy, on the other hand, did not, I will have to resort to saying that "Butch is a Noun" is only good for some light bathroom reading, and then to be passed on right afterward, bookshelf space not reserved.

I do not know S. Bear Bergman's intent, nor the message the book was attempting to convey, nor do I need to know. At the moment, it was profound enough to slide it back into my bookshelf, to hold a reserved space, to be eventually given to some Baby Butch starting out. If you did not get what that means ... I liked the book and I recommend it.

Side Note: I visited YouTube, found a video of S. Bear Bergman reading some of hys book. You should watch it, its cute. After I saw it, my initial take on the intro to "Butch is a Noun", was confirmed ... tongue-in-cheek.