#bi identities

[randomnessvoid]

Bi identifiers

Doe - feminine bi girl

Tomcat - androgynous bi girl

Stag - masculine bi girl

Dove - feminine bi enby

Pigeon - androgynous bi enby

Crow - masculine bi enby

Mage - feminine bi guy

Druid - androgynous bi guy

Knight - masculine bi guy

Repost to support your local bisexual

[doetomcatstag]

The color pink: *exists*

Doe bi’s:

[doetomcatstag]

Summer Stag Moodboard

[doetomcatstag]

A History Lesson

Hey Pals! I’m Mod Liyah and I love history, queer and black history specifically. As such I feel I need to put somethings to rest. Recently on tumblr.com there has been some discourse around the terms butch and femme. There has also been discourse around the terms doe, tomcat and stag. 

We have received some asks telling us to look into the history of wlw and that’s what I’m here to do. So let’s get into it. 

Firstly, from a historical standpoint the terms butch and femme have been used by ALL LGBTQ+ people. Especially the term femme. 

I got some sources from a few queer news sources here, here and here that are specifically about the use of the word femme and how different queer people feel about the term. 

Here and here are some sources about the history of the word butch and how different queer people feel about the term. 

I encourage you to read the articles and watch the videos (because they are really good and very thorough) they are also very good explanations of how, yes these terms have deep roots in the lesbian community (specifically working class lesbian communities) but how other LGBTQ+ people have popularly used them to describe their relationships with gender and sexuality.  

Also there has always been controversy around the use of them. 

At one time, during the rise of feminism, these terms were considered to play into the gender binary and were thought of as being counter productive to both the advancement of women’s rights and also the advancement of LGBTQ+people. 

As we all know these terms DO NOT do this and have since then come back into popularity and queer people continually use them. 

With all this in mind it is important to remember that the discourse we are seeing now isn’t new or unique to tumblr or even  the LGBTQ+ community as a whole.

Now that we have the history laid out. Let’s get into what this means for bi people and specifically bi women. 

In the crafting of this post I aimed to look up the history of the terms doe, tomcat, stag and the other bi terms that we are currently using. 

And here’s the thing. There is no history. because history implies the past and we are not the past, we are the present. 

Bi people are making history right now by making these terms for ourselves and we deserve to. Not because we need to divorce ourselves for a history that clearly involves us but because we want to find solidarity in our own community. 

I think a lot of people are angry about these terms because they find them to be divisive but they aren’t. 

Honestly, my point here is that although all queer people have a history with the terms butch and femme i think we have to also understand that lesbians very specifically have a connection with the word and that’s okay. 

I think, (and I mean me specifically mod liyah’s opinion) we have to honor our collective history by not gatekeeping words that we all have a history with and maybe letting people identify and find solace in the words that they feel comfortable using. 

Whether those terms are doe, tomcat, stag, femme or butch, we all have a on-going, ever evolving history with them and maybe we should just be mindful and respectful of that. 

Sharing is Caring and at the end of the day we’re all queer here. 

All things in love, 

Mod Liyah 

[doetomcatstag]

PLEASE look into bi and lesbian history. Bi women older than Tumblr are using butch and femme and no one irl is going to say shit

Okay my friend, I totally get where you’re coming from and your correct that there is some overlap in history. However, i think you should try to be supportive of bi people (especially bi women) trying our hardest to make things for us specifically. 

There is nothing wrong with us trying to have new terms. Language evolves and new things come up all the time. 

I’m assuming your coming from a place of love and respect and I wanna meet you halfway. So, yes we understand the history but we like these terms for bi women because they are ours and we made them. 

-Mod Liyah 

[doetomcatstag]

I identify as female and swap between being very feminine and very masculine a lot. I’m not sure which by term to describe myself as. My first thought was tomcat but both switches are very distinctly feminine or masculine. Not really androgynous. What would you recommend?

I think you should use whatever feels right to you hun. Also it’s totally okay if you don’t identify with any of these terms! There just super helpful ways to describe how bi women feel about gender. And like these terms mean whatever it is you want them to mean so it’s really up to you!

-Mod Liyah

[doetomcatstag]

How do u figure out whether im a doe or stag? I know what they are just don’t know which I am

I think its best to figure out what makes you most comfortable and go from there. Whatever you choose it should just feel right. And keep in mind that its totally okay if you don’t fit either. 

-Mod Liyah 

[doetomcatstag]

What is a tomcat?

Here is a post that talks about all the bi identities. I hope this helps! 

-Mod Liyah