Score

Whoever added all the explicitly genderqueer books (e.g. "First Spring Grass Fire"), could you please remove them? Genderqueer != female masculinity.

Hi Levi, there is certainly overlap between the trans and butch communinities, but I did try to focus the list more on those who are biologically female and who have not socially or medically transitioned. I think genderqueer can fall under this category, but of course it's a blurry line. If there is anything specifically FTM, it should not be on this list, but I believe all the books listed either deal with those who identify as female and/or do not identify as male.

Thanks for the quick reply, Rainbowheart! I don't think Rae Spoon belongs on the list because they explicitly do not identify as either masculine or female.

I don't love the idea that "medical transition" is the border line---where do people like Ivan Coyote, who's had chest surgery but actively identifies as butch/masculine/female, fall?

I'm also uncomfortable with the idea that a piece about a butch trans woman wouldn't qualify for this list. (There are a few essays in "Persistence," but I don't know of any full books.)

Thanks for commenting! I always wonder if people see my lists, lol. I haven't read that book personally, but if you think Rae Spoon falls too much outside the category, I can remove it.

It's definitely a blurry line. Leslie Feinberg was on the trans spectrum, but of course Stone Butch Blues is one of the most well-known books about butch identity. It's also really hard to know if certain historical figures identified as trans, or if they were more accurately categorized as butch women who lived as male for social acceptance.

I was thinking of medical and/or social transition as the marker, but it's fuzzy. I would include Ivan Coyote here, basically anyone who doesn't explicitly identify as male would probably be applicable to the list. Some people who have written about their experiences growing up female have later transitioned, ie: Daphne Scholinski is now Dylan. Although I think books written when they identified as female would qualify.

There's a good FTM list too....

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...

I try to keep that one updated, and there is a little overlap, but hopefully not too much.

Good question! I know that Me and My Boi has three butch on butch stories, but the rest are butch/femme.

I don't really feel like Graceling makes sense here? The main character is a woman who passes as a man but she's straight and I don't remember her like identifying as masculine

Well, I intended this list to be for all masculine of center women regardless of orientation, but Katsa in Graceling definitely fits the bill. She's the most masculine heroine (in terms of both looks and personality) that I can think of in YA.