Butch Points
Current mood: amused
Category: Automotive
My friend Joe and I have been going down to the Palos Forest Preserve since May to mountain bike the trails there. My first time out, a Saturday, I hit a gravel patch going down one of the first steep hills and bit it over my handlebars into the dirt. I got all scratched up and Joe introduced the idea of "BUTCH POINTS." A gay man earns butch points when he performs a "butch" act, like mountain biking, camping, or something else that the masses of prissy gay men don't do regularly. There are those who say all gay men are looking for someone "straight-acting," and butch points work to make you more attractive to these people. Now, in a way, I feel that this is all pretty silly. Who really cares how "butch" you are as long as you're living your life the way you want? If you're "living authentically," who really cares if you're wearing make-up or women's clothing, or spending your Saturdays getting facials instead of watching football? I fully support living however you want, not striving to live up to some heterosexual ideal of manly behavior. But I still get pretty proud when I do something that earns me butch points. I really do enjoy biking at Palos, even if I come home sore, dirty, and scratched up.
A couple weeks ago, my roommate came home frustrated that he couldn't get the windshield wipers changed on his car. I went out and did them both in 10 seconds flat (HS experience with a clunker of a Buick Century came in handy.)
And Halloween weekend, when the flat tire on Christi's Jag started to rumble, I knew I was prepared to earn some butch points. I pulled over, dug the spare and the jack out of the trunk (under the floor of the trunk, where one might not know to look) and quickly changed the tire. Ryan (as Donatella Versace) was by my side, and it was a painless procedure. Are my butch points reduced by the fact that I was wearing a silk shirt and big sunglasses, and had just set aside my velvet blazer and white feather boa?
My friend Joe and I have been going down to the Palos Forest Preserve since May to mountain bike the trails there. My first time out, a Saturday, I hit a gravel patch going down one of the first steep hills and bit it over my handlebars into the dirt. I got all scratched up and Joe introduced the idea of "BUTCH POINTS." A gay man earns butch points when he performs a "butch" act, like mountain biking, camping, or something else that the masses of prissy gay men don't do regularly. There are those who say all gay men are looking for someone "straight-acting," and butch points work to make you more attractive to these people. Now, in a way, I feel that this is all pretty silly. Who really cares how "butch" you are as long as you're living your life the way you want? If you're "living authentically," who really cares if you're wearing make-up or women's clothing, or spending your Saturdays getting facials instead of watching football? I fully support living however you want, not striving to live up to some heterosexual ideal of manly behavior. But I still get pretty proud when I do something that earns me butch points. I really do enjoy biking at Palos, even if I come home sore, dirty, and scratched up.
A couple weeks ago, my roommate came home frustrated that he couldn't get the windshield wipers changed on his car. I went out and did them both in 10 seconds flat (HS experience with a clunker of a Buick Century came in handy.)
And Halloween weekend, when the flat tire on Christi's Jag started to rumble, I knew I was prepared to earn some butch points. I pulled over, dug the spare and the jack out of the trunk (under the floor of the trunk, where one might not know to look) and quickly changed the tire. Ryan (as Donatella Versace) was by my side, and it was a painless procedure. Are my butch points reduced by the fact that I was wearing a silk shirt and big sunglasses, and had just set aside my velvet blazer and white feather boa?
Comments