why it’s totally reasonable to headcanon beidou as a butch lesbian — a short thread 🧵

why it’s totally reasonable to headcanon beidou as a butch lesbian — a short thread 🧵

this thread is made by a butch lesbian who also happens to be a beidou enthusiast, so i’d like to say i know what i’m on about. 😭😭

majority of things listed in this thread are directly stated to the player, and >everything< here has numerous supporting sources that i can provide if necessary.

what is butch? butch is a sociopolitical identity created by working class masculine lesbians, which became more apparent in the lesbian community in the 1940s-50s.

while appearance can certainly be a factor of being butch, the term is in no way limited by such. butches typically embrace their masculinity through character-defining traits like their work, personality, and actions.

this is a very broad and basic definition of the term. i recommend listening to other butches in the community and finding out what butch means to them — it’s different for everyone 🙂‍↕️

so how about beidou?

job being captain of a strong fleet blends white & blue-collar work. she commands authority, but contributes manually alongside her fleet. maritime work is also heavily male-dominated. historically, butches worked blue-collar, male dominated jobs. today it tends to be the same.

hold on twitter decided to get rid of half of it bear with me i have to rewrite

role beidou already takes on a leading role, and does a great job of protecting those around her. she uplifts voices that previously couldn’t have been heard, making her well-respected. it’s worth noting that she likes to stand alongside the people of liyue, not above them.

titles while commonly referred to as “captain”, her other titles are word-for-word “uncrowned >lord< of the ocean”, or “dragon >king<”. it’s the same in CN. the terms highlighted are directly masculine. do i need to say more???

traits & actions like butches today, a lot of beidou’s character-defining traits are deemed more masculine than feminine. for example: she’s a heavy drinker, a strong fighter, chivalrous, and loud/bold. she’s described as “unbound and forthright”. we see this the most.

belief * butch is tied up in its subversion of heteronormative gender roles and class. engaging in butch culture involves at least a little understanding into the political and class struggles that have shaped it.

beidou, having personally experienced being poor and now being the face of her fleet, actively fights for the people of liyue and believes in equality, second chances. she uses her authority to stand for what’s right and isn’t afraid to skirt the law to uphold those morals.

coding & dynamic beidou is a textbook definition of a T(butch) lesbian (due to reasons above), following the typical chinese T image. * note that this is culturally different from arlecchino’s coding, however both characters suit the butch label regardless.

this point is further amplified through her “complicated” dynamic with ningguang, an example of the P(feminine) lesbian. the ship is very traditionally a T/P couple. a few threads and tweets have already been made on this topic specifically, happy to link them if asked.

it felt so upsetting and ignorant to see people use such a significant day as a chance to undermine a simple butch headcanon when it has plenty of backing. people in this fandom hc male characters as butches everyday, and nobody bats an eye!

it’s easy to spot that a lot of these people see butch as an aesthetic first, before as a meaningful identity. to those people, i implore you to read up and listen to real-life butch experiences, since you care so much about policing the identity of a fictional character. 🥲

nonetheless, thank you to everyone who read, and a no-thank you to twitter which deleted half of what i’d written after posting… i love being butch 🧡🤍💛 happy late butch appreciation day!