Butch and femme are terms used to describe individual
gender identities in the lesbian,
bisexual,
transgender, and
cross-dressing subcultures to ascribe or acknowledge a
masculine (butch) or
feminine (femme) identity with its associated traits, behaviors, styles, self-perception and so on. The terms were founded in
lesbian communities in the early twentieth century. This concept has been called a "way to organize sexual relationships and gender and sexual identity". Assuming butch-femme culture is a lesbian dyadic system denies the personal experiences of many women in butch–butch and femme–femme relationships.