Talk:Butch

Oragine
How about something on the oragine on the name?

The origin of the word butch has absolutely nothing to do with lesbian gender roles. Neither does the primary usage among the overwhelming majority of the English speaking population of the United States. The word butch describes a very short haircut for men and boys. The name derives from the latter part of the 19th century when it became the practice for butchers to clip off all their hair very short with the manually powered hand clippers of the day. The reason was that if customers found any hair in the meat they purchased, it was very bad for business. And in the tight knit communities, even within an urban setting, word spread very quickly. Therefore the Butcher's very short haircut became a Butch haircut. Or a Butch. The haircut also became popular for young boys in the summer time, in urban areas for comfort as there was no air conditioning and lice infestations were a constant problem and in rural areas where barbers weren't commonly available and  where ticks could be  a problem. A butch was quickly given  in the home with hand clippers. Butch then became a nickname for little boys who wore butches, especially for those boys who wore a butch outside the summer months. Such boys usually exhibited very masculine traits. A little boy nicknamed Butch would be the polar opposite  of a sissy.

A hand clipper has no taper lever and is not adjustable and there are no attachement combs or guards to vary the length of the hair being cut; a hand clipper  cuts at only one length. Hand clippers were available at the following lengths: #000, #00, #0, #0A, #1, #1A, #1.5, #2 and #3. #000 and #1 were the most popular lengths. Blades were interchangeable but because of the time required to change blades, the common practice was to have a separate clipper for each desired cutting length. #000 leaves 0.5 mm of hair on the head. This is equivalent to one day's hair growth at the average rate of hair growth for an adult male. #1 leaves the hair at 2.4mm; 5 day's hair growth. #00 = 0.8mm, #0 = 1mm, #0A = 1.2mm, #1 = 2.4mm, #1A = 3mm, #1.5 = 4mm, #2 = 6mm, #3 = 7.5mm. Since clipper over comb and freehand cutting really aren't possible with a hand clipper; the original butches were very short haircuts. It is no coincidence that crew cuts and flat tops became  popular styles after the invention, manufacture  and widespread adoption of electrically powered  clippers.BB Sean M (talk) 17:42, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Primary usage of Butch
A grand example of the word butch is Gemma —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.111.194.202 (talk) 18:35, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

The primary usage of the word butch, for all but an extremely small minority of the English speaking population in the United States, is to describe a butch. A very short men's and  boy's haircut where the hair on the top of the head is typically cut to a uniform short length, usually from 1/4" to 3/4." In some instance there is a bit of graduated length left just before the front hairline, or there can be a slight graduation in length of the hair from the front hairline to the shorter hair at the back of the crown. Where the difference in graduated length with a crew cut usually is on the magnitude of a 300% change in length between the hair length at the back of the crown and the front hairline; with a butch, the difference in length, if it exists at all,   might be up to 50% longer at the front hairline. The hair on the back and sides of a butch is tapered short or semi short. A butch, as well as a crew cut and flat top, is groomed with butch wax. Butch wax is properly used in extreme moderation. The wax substitutes for the natural oils and causes the hair to behave after being stripped of natural oils after being shampooed during a shower. With many guys wearing a butch, the hair can look as if a finger were stuck in an electric socket after towel drying and before applying butch wax. A butch is also known as a short brush cut.BB Sean M (talk) 18:33, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Other usage
There is nothing pejorative in referring to a crew cut as a butch. A butch is a very common men's and boy's short barber shop haircut. A butch appears on all the popular standard barber shop haircut charts. Sometimes a very short crew cut can be difficult to differentiate from a butch, due to skull shape. The difference between a short crew cut and a butch is in the design of the top. A butch is usually of uniform length on the top of the head but can also be slightly graduated from front to back or have a slight bit of graduated length just before the front hairline. In contrast, all crew cuts are graduated in length on top, and to a much greater degree than those butches that are graduated. Butch, the haircut, should not be categorized as other usage since to the overwhelming majority of the english speaking population of the United States, the word butch primarily means the haircut. The overwhelming majority don't have the slightest idea of lesbian gender role play. And that usage derives from the use of the word to describe the masculine butch haircut. Describing the haircut is the primary usage of the word.BB Sean M (talk) 18:30, 15 September 2008 (UTC)