warning: here be undescribed images

In many documents, examples provided of Sapphic intimacy are almost always offered from the perspective of white cis women, leaving huge gaps where women of color, whether trans or cis, and nonbinary people were concerned. This is the case despite the fact that some of the themes we still celebrate as integral to queer culture were developed by Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ folk during the Harlem Renaissance, which spanned approximately from 1920 to 1935. A question I can’t help but ask is: Where do queer Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color fit into the primarily white butch/femme narrative? Does it mean anything that the crackdown on Black queer folk seemed to coincide with the time period when mainstream lesbianism adopted butch and femme as identifiers?

Photos taken from The Aggressives (2005)

[...] Black women often identify as WLW (Women-Loving-Women), and use terms like “stud” and “aggressive femme.” Some Asian queer women use “tomboy” instead of butch.  [...] Paris is Burning, a documentary filmed about New York City ball culture in the 1980s, describes butch queens among the colourful range of identities prevalent in that haven of QTPOC queerness. Despite having a traditionally masculine physique, the gay male butch queen did not stick to gender expectations from straight society or gay culture. Instead, he expertly twisted up his manly features with women’s clothing and accessories, creating a persona that was neither explicitly masculine nor feminine. Butch Queens Up in Pumps, a book by Marlon M. Bailey, expounds upon their presence within inner city Detroit’s Ballroom scene, its cover featuring a muscular gay man in a business casual shirt paired with high heels. Despite this nuance, butch remains statically defined as a masculine queer woman, leaving men of color out of the conversation. For many QTPOC, especially those who transcend binary gender roles, embracing the spirit of butch and femme is inextricable with their racial identity. Many dark-skinned people are negatively portrayed as aggressive and hypermasculine, which makes it critical to celebrate the radical softness that can accompany femme expressions. Similarly, the intrinsic queerness of butch allows some nonbinary people to embrace the values and aesthetics that make them feel empowered without identifying themselves as men.

@stemmehistorian also had some posts which guided me into being more curious about the Black sapphic terminology history, and mentioned 'bull dyke':

Respondents used stud, boi, soft/feminine stud, soft butch, butch, AG/aggressive, and bull dyke to refer to women who adopted more masculine behaviors and mannerisms that are traditionally assumed to be ‘unnatural’ for a woman. In other words, these lesbians were described in a way that seemed as though they embodied “masculinity.” These labels were used to describe 'abnormal' or inappropriate ways of behaving for women, and there were many more labels for these deviant ways of behaving than for those that conform to the heteronormative ideals of femininity. The large difference in the number of masculine labels than feminine labels suggests that labels are informed by heteronormative assumptions of gender. If something is normal, then it need only limited description because it is assumed to be ‘natural’ in its existence. However, if something is abnormal, numerous and in-depth descriptions are necessary to explain what and why the abnormality has occurred. -- [blog] [Labelling, Butch, Femme Dyke Or Lipstick, Aren't All Lesbians The Same?: An Exploration Of Labels And "Looks" Among Lesbians In The U.S. South, Danielle Kerr, (2013)]

Samantha: I feel like butch is more classified to the White people, malelooking females. Jessica: No, that’s Black. Black older people use that term, too, or bull dagger. Samantha: Yes, bull dagger and all that, but I still feel like stud is more African American related. Jessica: Yes, stud is more of an African American term. [blog] [Race, Age, and Location Influences Perception, Labelling, Butch, Femme Dyke Or Lipstick, Aren't All Lesbians The Same?: An Exploration Of Labels And "Looks" Among Lesbians In The U.S. South, Danielle Kerr, (2013)]

This led me to look into [Etymonline, dyke] and [Etymonline, bull-dyke].

If dyke was presumed to have originated from bull-dyke, then (out of spite against Rawson's frankly obnoxious description) I wanted to look deeper into the accuracy of the timeline in which both terms were popularised.

‘Bulldyker/diker/dyke/dike/dagger’ and ‘B.D Women’ are Black cultural terms. Black queer people, creators and writers today, have stated it is still used by some young Black masculine lesbians and was popular amongst their queer elders.

Some say 'Bulldyker' was first used by a Black lesbian from Harlem prison, while others claim it stems from the history of enslaved Black men, who were referred to by white slave owners, as Bucks, Bulls, Stallions and Studs.

@bodiesbodiesbodiesx3 , a Black-Asian Tumblr user, explained the history behind Bulldyking and Bulldyke as AAVE recorded in the early-20th century, with the earliest usage dating in the 1890s. As well as how it became popularised here [source]. They also answer an ask [here] regarding the 1921 use of “Bulldiking around” as referring to lesbian sex in Harlem prison, used by a Black inmate.

This is corroborated also by this [Greatist article] by Gabrielle Kassel (2024), referencing Lichenstein p.373.

[Bulldyke Blues: Proud Black Lesbianism] (2021) by Gabriella Pomales ;

The term "dyke", a reclaimed slur and frequent self identifier for many lesbians, that we know today originated from the word "bulldyke", short for "bulldagger", which came about during the Harlem Renaissance - a period known for imaginative experimentation and "freedom". This identifier was an intersectional response to homophobia, racism, and sexism. Bulldyke artists used this word to "steal" white privilege and take back masculinity all while "accumulating power and cultural capital". It's important to highlight the lesser known history behind common terminology to not only preserve history but rewrite all that is incorrect.

This [Medium Article] (2022) by Meagon Nolasco ; “Dyke hit the ground running in the 1920s. The term bulldike or bulldiking was coined by African American queer women to identify themselves in the community. The term was commonly used to refer to more masculine-presenting queer women.”

1892 Oldest Recorded Written Usage of 'Bulldyke'

The OLDEST recorded written usage of 'Bulldyke' was in 1892, published in a news article “A N*gress Runs Amuck.” in the Chicago’s Daily Inter Ocean about a shooting in Decatur in Illinois. Before it became a communally racialised term, it was firstly the alias used by a Black person named Harvey Neal, who was known to Hattie Washington, a “coloured woman”. [Source, Green’s Dictionary of Slang.]

“With the idea of killing off a portion of the women in the levee district Hattie Washington [sic], a colored woman, started out at 6:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon with a big revolver in her hand. She went to Blanche Alexander’s place on Custom House place in search of Belle Watkins, who, she said, had won the affections of Harvey Neal, alias “Bulldyke.” Belle got wind of her coming, and made her escape, but as soon as the woman got inside of the house she began firing right and left.”

The same paper on 12 November 1892 ran a short note about Hattie Washington, out on bail, stabbing Harvey Neal with a small knife. On 24 September 1893, in the article “Stole Valuable Papers” the same paper reports Washington being arrested again for pickpocketing. [ Source, WordOrigins Blog ]

Now even if you didn’t research more sources, while race was unspecified, “coloured” was often associated with being Black or else a general term for anyone non-white. There was also state-sanctioned segregation in the 1890s. Interracial relations in the Anglosphere (US, UK, Aus, Canada) has historically and notoriously faced legal consequences and violent reactions by white society, especially in the South of USA. Even up till the present, albeit to lesser frequency. It is therefore an educated guess that both Harvey Neal and Hattie Washington, were of Black ethnicity.

But if you HAD researched more, you’d find the following, from an exchange between linguists in the American Dialect Society of the University of Georgia, Fred Shapiro and Dave Wilton, the latter being the author of the Word Origins blog. It states Neal to be a Black man, and adds the caveat that Neal could also be a lesbian passing as a man.

““Neal is confirmed to be male here (or if a lesbian passing as male, they were incredibly successful at it): “Celestial and N*gro Quarrel." Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago), 26 May 1896, 8/6. Readex: America's Historical Newspapers. “Harvey Neal, colored, and Chin Wy, of Celestial extraction, were the participants in a brawl at Polk and Clark streets Sunday night. The trouble arose from a statement made by the Chinaman, who branded Neal as a backslider. Some time ago the two men were engaged in the hop joint business.”” As I mentioned in the Wordorigins.org article, it's plausible that "bulldyke" started out as an epithet for a powerful man and later transferred to lesbians who had traditionally masculine characteristics and gender roles.” [ Source, American Dialect Society ]

This means the term ‘Bulldyke’ still originates by and from a Black person, has been and always shall be rooted in Black self-autonomy and identity.

In colonial psychopathological history, most authors did not distinguish between gender non-conformity and sexual non-conformity. All were grouped under “sexual inversion”. Until 1910 when Magnus Hirschfeld, a German scientist, separated homosexuality from cross dressing, and “transvestic fetishism” from transgender experiences.

1906 Second Oldest Recorded Usage of 'Bulldyker', in Philadelphia

The second oldest recorded written usage of ‘Bulldyke’ was in 1906 by J. Parke ‘Human Sexuality’, which was more in line with queer subjects.

“In American homosexual argot, female inverts, or lesbian lovers, are known euphemistically as “bulldykers,” whatever that may mean: at least that is the sobriquet in the “Red Light” district of Philadelphia.”

The above quotation is from a note to the following in the main text:

“In all large cities there are coteries of these inverts. In Vienna, according to Krafft-Ebing, they call themselves “sisters,” in other places “aunts,” the same writer stating that two very masculine prostitutes, in the city named, who lived in perverse sexual relations with each other, had informed a correspondent that the name “uncle” was applied to women of a similar character.” [ Source, Human Sexuality p.309, 1906 ]

Searching up the terms ‘Black’ or ‘N*gro’ in this paper, it pulls some finds. Given that this is a psychoanalytic paper of its time, bewarned is filled to the brim with homophobia, racism, classism, and the psychopathologising of race and sexuality. So do read with caution. You can read more about the Philadelphia Red Light district from p.310 in this white author’s POV, onwards.

While some people quote this and assume this means ‘Bulldyke’ was not racialised, I would advise crosschecking historical sources about Philadelphia and the red light district there to ensure you’re not erasing BIPOC American history.

Where ‘Bulldyker’ circulated as a sapphic term in Philly, emerged primarily in Black cultural movements and was attested as Black American vernacular, it is likely that the term made its way through the Black American communities of the red light districts due to white supremacist oppression, segregated ethnic enclaves and anti-miscegenation dynamics in the sex trade.

1900s The History of Philadelphia

Philadelphia has historically been known as home to the Black community, and has an extremely racialised history as it was the nearest free city to the South where many formerly enslaved Black persons had moved from. While some Black Philadelphians went on to find economic success and professions as teachers, ministers and entrepreneurs, history shows that white workers found employment in the city’s industrial sector whereas free Black people were largely excluded from such employ. Thus their options were often to work as physical labourers and in the low-status service economy. [ Source, Free Black Communities ]

Photos taken from [Philadelphia Black History—Reconstruction Era, 1861-1900]

Philadelphia has a significant Black History regarding the Reconstruction Era, (1861-1900) and in Black Power political organizations including the founding of the Black People's Unity Movement (BPUM) in 1965, and Philadelphia being home to a very active chapter of the Black Panther Party, especially in fighting for Black women's rights.

In the 21st century, Philadelphia has been recorded to be a Black-dominant city as the largest ethnic group presence, at 40% for the last 10 years. Here are more census data, including how Black Philadelphians view the city [Source, Pew.org] To note, its downtown has been known as Philadelphia’s Gayborhood since it took shape in the post-WWII mid-20th century. [Source].

Images taken from [Source] and [Source]

Philly’s downtown was once historically infamous for its vice trade in the 19th century onwards, as evidenced in the 1849 pamphlet [“A Guide to the stranger, or Pocket companion for the fancy, : containing a list of the gay houses and ladies of pleasure in the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.”] It had a prominent vice trade with several vice districts and an expansive network of brothels and streetworkers in the 1800—1920s. [Source, Will History Forget Philadelphia’s Sex Workers?]

“Prostitution remained an important source of employment for women whose wages as seamstresses, waitresses, domestics, and even department store clerks were rarely enough to support them. While some women had “friends” who helped support them, others relied exclusively on prostitution. Vice districts were a lucrative and well-advertised component of the city’s mainstream economy and employed many hundreds of women. By the 1890s, two sizable vice districts had emerged to bracket Philadelphia’s downtown, one along South Street, the other north of Market Street, between Ninth and Eleventh Streets.” [Source, Philadelphia Encyclopedia]

[Kahan’s paper “There are Plenty of Women on the Street”: The Landscape of Commercial Sex in Progressive-Era Philadelphia, 1910 - 1918”] states;

“The “Tenderloin” neighborhood was indeed a very important site for commercial sex, especially for native-born whites. Repression of prostitution in that neighborhood, particularly as part of U.S. military policy during World War I, caused a portion of the prostitution business to migrate to Market Street, Philadelphia’s primary department store district, where another heterosexual practice, “treating,” provided cover that made prostitution increasingly difficult to distinguish. Finally, a third area of commercial sex activity in the African American neighborhood of the Seventh Ward continued to operate throughout this period, attracting relatively little notice.”

Images taken from [source]

‘The Tenderloin’ hosted Chinatown which was primarily occupied by Chinese Philadelphians then consisting of mostly Chinese men of migrant status. It was filled with pool rooms, saloons, gambling dens, opium dens and brothels, which added to its Orientalised vice associations. [Source, Philadelphia Encyclopaedia Org] . The 300 Tenderloin brothels contained primarily white women who served upper-class clientele. 

Important in this context is that miscegenation was verboten and had unspoken legal, social and commercially-devaluing repercussions for especially non-white clients and white SW. Thus disincentivising interracial sex trade. Source and Source, Penn State University. Furthermore, while the 19th century nationwide sex work industry was multi-racial, many were of African American descent. Source, Capitalism by Gaslight .

The second vice district was the area in the Seventh Ward, which coincided with a large African American settlement. South Street and Blackberry Alley were located here too. 

A Humanities paper published in 2015-16 titled [“Ill-Fame on Blackberry Alley: Prostitution and Sport in 19th-Century Philadelphia”], states that the 19th century Philadelphia Blackberry Alley were known for its streetwalkers and brothels. These were not specified to employ African American workers, despite the high density of African American residents in this particular neighborhood, and its’ sex trade in the pre-reform 19th century was “racially heterogenous and supported the mingling of classes”. 

However Kahan’s paper proposes that:

“The representation of African Americans among those arrested for prostitution in the area, however, was a remarkable 97 percent. Police selectivity and racism cannot be dismissed as a possible cause for this statistic. Still, the near complete absence of white women from arrests in this district, when police did not seem to hesitate in arresting white women for prostitution in other parts of town, makes it likely that the prostitutes in this neighborhood were almost exclusively African American.”

In terms of the criminalisation of sex work, Kahan states that there was an overestimation of streetwalking versus brothel activity, and an overrepresentation of African Americans and other ethnic and racial minorities in the arrest statistics. While the 19th century nationwide sex work industry was multi-racial involving Asian migrants, white and Indigenous persons, many were of African American descent. [Source, Capitalism by Gaslight] .

By the mid-20th century, there was an exodus of the white population.

“White flight, already apparent in the 1950s in response to African American migration and the lure of the suburbs, accelerated in the 1960s.” 

Additionally, urbanism in the late 19th and early 20th century destroyed racial heterogeneity with zoning specializations and moral reforms on vice trades. This is supported also by the [Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia] which states that WWI (1914-1918) forced sustained enforcement efforts to curb prostitution in the Tenderloin due to the proximity to an established training military camp. This was accompanied by the outlawing of prostitution across the nation, and policing pressure to close down vice districts.

1920s 'Bulldiking Around' in Harlem, NYC

Perry Lichtenstein was a physician in the city prison nicknamed “The Tombs”, located in Lower Manhattan, NYC. Its other names include (1838–1902) “New York City Halls of Justice and House of Detention”, and (1902–1941) “City Prison”. This is in the source I will link below.

What else is in NYC Manhattan during this time? The Harlem Renaissance from the 1920s to 1930s.

Above photos taken from [Mabel Hampton, Lillian Foster, and Mid-Century Black Butch/Femme]

Therefore The Tombs was also known as “Harlem Prison”. This is stated in Source, Virtual Tour of Harlem Prison at Harlem Court House.

“By the turn of the 20th century, the Great Migration was underway as hundreds of thousands of African Americans relocated to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York. The Harlem section of Manhattan, which covers just three square miles, drew nearly 175,000 African Americans, giving the neighborhood the largest concentration of black people in the world. Harlem became a destination for African Americans of all backgrounds. From unskilled laborers to an educated middle-class, they shared common experiences of slavery, emancipation, and racial oppression, as well as a determination to forge a new identity as free people.” [ Source, A New African American Identity: The Harlem Renaissance ]

“A period of African American literary, artistic, and intellectual activity centered in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem, spanning from the 1920s to the mid-1930s. Considered one of the most significant periods of cultural production in US history, the Harlem Renaissance fostered a new African American cultural identity.” [ Source, MoMA Harlem Renaissance ]

This, and the history of USA’s injustice in criminalising and incarcerating especially people of colour, allows one to reasonably presume that Black communities especially in Harlem had a big influence and presence in Harlem Prison enough to influence the terms used there, with its presence also in Harlem’s music and art scene.

This is why @bodiesbodiesbodiesx3 , who very clearly knows their own people's history, said here,

“I suggest anything from the Harlem Renaissance era regarding lesbianism especially with the first usage being in a harlem prison in 1921 where it was used to mean lesbian sex (dyking around).”

Perry Lichtenstein (1921) The ‘Fairy’ and the Lady Lover :

“The ‘Fairy’ and the Lady Lover Perry M. LICHTENSTEIN, M.D., LL.B., Physician to City Prison, Tombs, Physician to House of Detention, etc. NEW YORK— We now come to that class of female who abhors the company of man and gains sexual satisfaction from association with other females. This is a common occurrence among prisoners where women are 'doing time'. Both white and colored women indulge in the practice. It is also quite common among actresses, more particularly of the chorus girl type. Some such individuals show distinct male characteristics. They wear strictly tailor-made clothing, low shoes and they seldom wear corsets. The hair is usually bobbed. This is not, however, the rule; for many retain their feminine character-istics. A physical examination of such people will in practically every instance disclose an abnormally prominent clitoris. This is particularly so in colored women. It is not at all uncommon for such individuals to become lovers and to call one another husband and wife. One often reads in the paper that a person who was to all appearances a man had died; but post-mortem examination had disclosed that the man was in reality a woman. Then the startling announcement is made that the woman had been married and that she has left a 'widow.' It is nothing very strange-just another case of 'lady lovers.' How do these people gain sexual satisfaction? By friction of the clitoris. The following case will illustrate: I had occasion to make a mental and physical examination of a young woman in whose case the Court of General Sessions had appointed a lunacy commission. She was found sane. She stated that she had indulged in the practice of 'bull diking,' as she termed it. She was a prisoner in one of the reformatories, and there a certain young woman fell in love with her. This second young woman was a waitress. One morning while the young woman to whom I was talking was in bed the other young woman entered and sat down on the bed. She put her arms around the defendant and squeezed and kissed her. She then jumped into the bed and lifting the other's clothes had intercourse with her by friction of the clitoris. After that morning the practice was continued with regularity. 'Lady lovers' are by no means rare. I might add that a good many cases of such practice are to be found among nurses as well as among actresses. Such women seldom marry. Because of their dislike for men they are, as a rule, looked upon by the community as virtuous.”

Lichtenstein’s paper was released 4 years before the next recorded use of ‘Bulldiker’ (adj.) and ‘Bulldycking’ in two Harlem Renaissance writings surrounding Black characters, dated 1926 and 1928 respectively.

Carl Van Vechten (1926) N***** Heaven [Please be warned that Van Vechten is a non-Black person using the n-slur intentionally for an incendiary title. Although some Black audiences liked the book, it has also been regarded by some Black creatives as cheap melodrama and a mixture of commercialism and patronizing sympathy.]

Claude McKay’s (1928) Home to Harlem.

1930-50s The Blues Scene and B.D Women

Photo taken from [Source, Gabriella Pomales "Bulldyke Blues: Proud Black Lesbianism"]

With the terms ‘B.D women’ and ‘Bulldagger/dike/dyke/dyking’, they were popularised during the Harlem Renaissance and used specifically by the Black community.

It should be noted that “Dyke” was a term in the pre-70s era when “Lesbian” referred to an act you engaged in. The 70s white-dominated, lesbian separatist, monosexist, exorsexist, transphobic and anti-masculinity movements, unfortunately saw a spread in bigotry within the lesbian community, something that is still pervasive and adamantly perpetuated by especially white lesbian elders. "Dyke" and "Lesbian" then, was NOT a static monosexual "WLW ONLY" term as it is now regurgitated by the mainstream to exhaustion.

By 1930, Smith, Rainey, and blues singer Lucille Bogan (pictured below) were known as “the big three” of the blues scene. All three sang about sapphic love and desire. In 1935, Bogan recorded “B.D. Woman’s Blues,” singing, “comin’ a time, B.D. women they ain’t going to need no men.” “B.D.” was short for “bulldagger” or “bulldyke,” a Black slang term for a butch lesbian. The vocabulary used to speak about queerness in twentieth-century America was highly racialized. Jeanne Flash Gray, a Black woman who lived in Harlem during the 1930s, described that at the time, “we were still Bulldaggers and Faggots… only whites were lesbians and homosexuals.” “Bulldagger” was not pejorative, but rather “associated with physical strength, sexual prowess, emotional reserve, and butch chivalry.” [Source, Sapphic Blues]

B.D. Woman Blues (1935) Comin' a time, B.D.women they ain't going to need no men, Comin' a time, B.D. women they ain't going to need no men, 'Cause the way they treat us is a lowdown and dirty sin.B.D. women, you sure can't understand, B.D. women, you sure can't understand, They got a head like a sweet angel and they walk just like a natural man.B.D. women, they all done learned their plan, B.D. women, they all done learned their plan, They can lay their jive just like a natural man.B.D. women, B.D. women, you know they sure is rough, B.D. women, B.D. women, you know they sure is rough, They all drink up plenty whiskey and they sure will strut their stuff. B.D. women, you know they work and make their dough, B.D. women, you know they work and make their dough, And when they get ready to spend it, they know they have to go. [Source, The Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project Tumblr]

Amongst Black lesbian artists in the Blues era, there were several prominent names:

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was "most successful Black vocalist of her time." She introduced blues to mainstream popular music and rumored to have relationships with several women including Ma Rainey and Lillian Simpson, "a chorus girl in Smith’s touring show, Harlem Frolics." Smith's songs included explicit content about being with women and often called lesbian music including hits like "A Good Man is Hard to Find", "It's Dirty But Good", and "The Boy in the Boat". Smith did have a husband who was known to be jealous of her relationships with women. It's significant to note that lesbians and other individuals attracted and preferring non-men often had to settle for domestic relationships with men due to the lack of queer acceptance during their time. However, it's also important not to assume unconfirmed sexualities of individuals to avoid erasure of other queer identities such as bisexuality. [Source, Gabriella Pomales "Bulldyke Blues: Proud Black Lesbianism"]

2. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey's legacy deserves celebration for several reasons. She helped popularize blues music as well as wrote, at least, one-third of her own music - something not so common at the time. She's known as the "mother of the blues". Ma Rainey is a newly familiar name to some. In 2020 Netflix released "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" starring Academy Award, Primetime Emmy Award, and two-time Tony Award winning Viola Davis. This movie told the a vague story of Ma Rainey, her life and her band. Her unapologetic pride in her identity endured intolerance. For instance, in 1925 Rainey was arrested and jailed for holding a lesbian party in Harlem. Bessie Smith, her protegé and lover, bailed her out the next morning. This is one of many examples of the criminalization and systemic oppression of lesbians. Following her arrest Ma Rainey released "Prove It on Me Blues" which was not only a significant lesbian affirming song but a jab at the discriminatory event. [Source, Gabriella Pomales "Bulldyke Blues: Proud Black Lesbianism"]

3. Lucille Bogan

Early blues singer Lucille Bogan, who recorded as Bessie Jackson, sang about the term "bulldyke" in her song "B.D. Woman's Blues" where she sings “Comin’ a time, B.D. women they ain’t going to need no men,”. Although she wasn't the first in the blues scene to openly sing about lesbianism, this song is great documentation of our existence and terminology. Bogan was the first Black blues singer to record outside of Chicago or New York when she recorded in Atlanta. She later began recording with Paramount Records. Almost all of her music was explicit as she sang about her sexual encounters, experiences as a sex worker, and comfort in her sexual identity. [Source, Gabriella Pomales "Bulldyke Blues: Proud Black Lesbianism"]

4. Gladys Bentley

According to this 2012 published journal article,  “How Does A Bulldagger Get Out of the Footnote? or Gladys Bentley's Blues” written by Regina V. Jones, Black queer women including Black homosexual and bisexual women, referred to themselves as Bulldagger. This same paper studies the bisexual life of Miss Bentley who was a popular Blues singer.

Photo taken from [GENDER-BENDING PERFORMER: GLADYS BENTLEY]

“Miss Bentley was an amazing exhibition of musical energy— a large, dark, masculine lady, whose feet pounded the floor while her fingers pounded the keyboard— a perfect piece of African Sculpture, animated by her own rhythm.” ~The Big Sea, Langston Hughes

Blues cabaret entertainer, Gladys Bentley, to whom Hughes refers in the opening epigraph, gained popularity with her spirited lyrical renditions of popular melodies that she often performed in formal masculine attire. The colloquial term used for some N*gro, masculine, women was bulldagger. At that time "bulldagger" was not a performative term in the Black community; they "...are associated with physical strength, sexual prowess, emotional reserve, and butch chivalry The term has roots in African-American communities of the early twentieth century, especially with the 1920s Harlemn where sexual and gender mores were more flexible" (bulldagger").

One was awed by even a cursory exploration of Bentley as a Black woman musician/entertainer who, during the Harlem Renaissance and beyond, publicly claimed her right to exist openly as a cross-dressing lesbian and later as a bisexual who defied conventions of gender normalcy...Her public and private life reveals a woman to whom others should be made aware; she, openly and unapologetically, crossed boundaries of gender, race, sex and class.

Even when she performed in skirts some folk found her masculine. On occasion she assumed the stage name Bobbie Minton -- 'ie' being the feminine spelling of the name. Overall she continued to perform using her birth name 'Gladys'. Physically she preferred the clothing of socially well-off men. Her tuxedoes were tailor made but they did not hide the fact that she was a buxom woman.

Her choice of suits, then later tuxedoes, or mixture of skirts with jackets and ties probably involved a level of comfort and vision on her part yet it was a direct act of resistance, a conscious claim to socioeconomic status and a form of aggressive speech. Aggressive speech, or sass, is one of the distinguishing features of the communication style attributed to many Black women and particularly the Black women blues singers. An African American woman who claims her voice and speaks her mind is perceived to be threatening and historically open to violence in the extreme by the dominant culture. The goal of such violence is fear and silence or rather an attempt to silence. During the 1920s-1940s, she took her sassy gender-bending act on the road where she confronted race/gender/class in the form of a dandy "bulldagger".

Denotatively bulldagger was the closest description one could use to characterize the embodiment of Bentley's individuality because it simultaneously invokes race and gender. Conversely a "butch" depiction has negative consequences. It has been pointed out that some dark-skinned Black lesbian fems and heir "continued exclusion from conceptions of womanhood by an always present misreading of the black lesbian body as automatically butch" (Harris 1996). Thus "These Black fems express the contradictions of desire and frustration that come with claiming such an identity precisely due to the negative sexual definitions accorded black women's bodies as not feminine, as not woman, and as oversexed and aggressive (Harris 1996). They subvert and disguise but highlight a view of Black women physically and emotionally. Bentley, assumed a dandy style of dress on and off stage, but not always. Her publicity still photographs, 'top hat and tails', show her face heavily made-up.

The Myth & Tradition of the Black Bulldagger

Bulldagger

It is most commonly credited to this time because this is when the communal use wasn’t just spoken as slang, but embedded in Black art and music. It became a symbol embodied visibly by Black persons and their gendered presentations. It became visible to non-Black mainstream white-dominant society.

Non-Black people incl. queers co-opted it, but most initially used it derogatorily as a slur and added anti-Black perjorative connotations against Black people. Later, it ironically became a slur against non-Black queer people too. Yet till this day, only the history centered around non-Black people, has been reckoned with by non-Black people.

The coinage of ‘B.D Women’ and ‘Bulldagger’ to the Harlem Renaissance and the Black community has been the clearest widespread autonomous use of the term, which grants it greater legitimacy and significance than if it were just used as a slur applied TO others or as quoted/reported by secondary word of mouth.

Even if folks wanted to quote Stone Butch Blues (written by a white author, Leslie Feinberg), ‘Bulldagger’ was used 13 times, and 10/13 times were hurled around as a slur by non-Black characters to apply to others in a demeaning and hostile fashion. 3 times it was used in an endearing fashion. 8 times the world “bulls” was used to refer amiably to butches, but noting the history of the whole slur, this doesn’t exempt even positive usages from criticism where the book fails to talk about the racism embedded in the term.

And if anyone continues quoting non-Black people using the term for themselves despite this lengthy history research done and posted, you’re adamantly refusing to center QTBIPOC voices and Black history, whilst clinging to the skirts of colonial narratives.

1980s 'Dike/Dyke' as a Lesbian Term

American linguist Archibald A. Hill (1902—1992), a professor at The University of Texas, submitted an essay to the American Speech, in 1982, to dispute the 1972 OED claim that ‘Dike/Dyke’ as a lesbian term, comes from ‘Hermaphordite’ and ‘Morphodyke’.

In 1985, Richard Spears submitted this paper to the American Speech to contest this. He posited that the term ‘Dike/Dyke’ came from ‘Bulldiker’, with ‘Bull’ symbolised “masculinity”, and ‘Dike’ referred to women. Spears was a professor at the Northwestern University studying and writing more than 150 dictionaries on American slang and colloquial expressions. “He has written on West African languages and nonstandard English, including pidgins and creolized languages, and has taught courses in slang and unconventional English.” Source

Spears also wrote that since 1931, in referencing the 1926 literature, it was attested that ‘Bulldike’ is a part of Black American vernacular. It was attested again in 1970 and 1980. Source, Richard Spears (1985)

This corresponds with the first Harvey Neal newspaper record, Harlem Renaissance Black music and arts history, as well as oral history by Black persons INCLUDING those on Tumblr blogs, who I don’t believe should be delegitimised if we are going to be charitably centering QTBIPOC voices who have been most vehemently wiped from academe and minimised in the field of anthropology.

In 1995, Susan Krantz submitted a paper of her own to the American Speech journal, to reconsider the etymology of the term ‘Bulldike’, in analysing both Hill and Spears’ papers. She did not contest the Black American history behind the term, but she did suggest that instead of ‘dyke’ and ‘dike’ being in reference to ‘woman’ and ‘bull’ being the hypermasculinising prefix—‘dyke/dike/dagger’ refer to the clitoris as an appendage, or an elongated appendage, mirroring a phallic instrument. This giving rise to “diked out”. [ Source, Reconsidering the Etymology of Bulldike ]

This also corresponds to Perry Lichtenstein’s (however dubious) paper on the physical examination of the bodies of female prisoners who “abhors the company of men and gains sexual satisfaction from associating with other females”, which focused on the “abnormally large clitoris…particularly so on coloured women”.

While such physiological finds seem to support the focus on the genitalia and sexual activity of Black sapphics as a factor in the etymology of the term ‘Bulldiker/dyke/dagger’, I respectfully note that such medical examinations and bioessentialist notes are extremely racist and invasive. Readers please be aware that the scientific, psychopathology and medical field is steeped in racial prejudice, especially in racialised stereotyping of Black bodies by their person’s sexuality and sexual organs.

‘Bulldyke’ thus has substantial Black American context, written evidence, scholarly review, and oral history purported by Black communities to support that it’s rooted in Black history first and foremost, then was popularised as a term used by Black sapphics in the Harlem Renaissance much more profoundly and culturally before it was weaponised as a slur by others.

Erasure of the Black Sapphic History

This [international blog thread] (Feb 2005) by academics in different universities’ teaching faculties of women’s studies and the arts.

This [Pink News] article (2018).

This [HER article] (2023) written by Robyn Exton, a white CEO & Founder of the HER dating app. 

This [article “Terms of En(queer)ment”] published by the Digital Chicago History site which prides itself as “The relationship between Lake Forest College and the Chicago History Museum, along with other Chicago cultural and humanitarian organizations, continues with the Humanities 2020 initiative, a $1.1 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant, to enhance and advance humanities education through deep engagement with issues of race in Chicago.” It states that “Bulldagger: Many blues songs performed in Bronzeville in the early 1900s used the term as coded reference to women who dressed as men.” The Blues was a music genre created by Black artists and that there were many Bulldagger Blues artists. [Bronzeville] has historically been known as “the “Black Metropolis” and the “Black Belt,” as core to African-American history on Chicago's South Side”. Yet of this failed to be explicitly stated on the page.

The famous SF Dykes on Bikes as a trademark term has not mentioned anything about the Black history behind the term Dyke in its [“Dykestory”] introduction.

r/butchlesbians where non-Black lesbians want to use "a butch version of bear" and suggest "bulldagger" while remaining ignorant to the history behind these terms.

Follow-up post by a Black sapphic calling out the racism in the sub and non-Black sapphics doing their thing in the comments. OP mentioned in one of the comments about the racism in associating hypermasculinised traits and other non-normative/commonly “non-feminine” traits with Bulldagger/Bulldyke (ie strong hairy fat). While such traits are not objectively non-feminine and certainly not unappealing, the negativity of these connotations were still previously mainstreamified.

Views by the Black Queer community surrounding non-Black usage of these terms

My brief google search revealed that there has been some controversy before on non-Black queers “reclaiming ‘dyke’” while failing to provide proper recognition of its racialised history as an anti-Black, misogynoir slur.

This history of both 'Dyke' and it’s Bull-prefixed origins, have been erased and whitewashed in Lesbian consciousness by both word of mouth and the many widespread articles which fail to attribute its origins in Black American history.

This makes the whole debacle on “Can non-lesbians use Dyke” such an ironic white queer conversation as a detraction from cultural appropriation and racists weaponisations against Black queer history.

When I asked several Black American sapphics for how they felt about this, the consensus was that they didn’t appreciate the constant appropriation of AAVE, the lack of acknowledgment of Black American Queer history, and the territoriality of non-Black lesbians over these terms that they barely knew the history of. Some share being exhausted from constantly having to call out non-Black queers for their anti-Blackness and appropriation, and how there was barely any time left to explore their own queer journeys. Black queers shouldn’t be required to tolerate anti-Blackness, nor should they feel like their lives are cut short by both its harms and its resource-draining battle.

Further search allowed me to find quotes sourced from Black users, I will not be linking some of them so as to preserve anonymity and their safety, since I already suspect a wave of hate is gonna come from this write-up.

Some Black sapphics say it is fine to use, as long as you provide recognition and acknowledgment of its history. [Source 1 , Source 2] But others are against it, especially with the continued ignorance and outright invalidation of Black voices speaking out against its use.

Well, in the past, I would have said acknowledge the history but as of now, I unfortunately came to distrust any nonblack person using Dyke at ALL since I recognised many do know the history but discard it in favour of whiteness. I hope this helps because personally I'd say stop.

OP: yt lesbians really said "bisexuals can't b butch/fem bc that's a lesbian thing" and then proceeded to use words like stud and dyke, which are aave then they turn around and tell bi woc to call themselves animals instead of butch/fem/dyke (stag, doe, tomcat) and see no issue w that commenter: bro this is the worst take ever-- d*ke has and always will be a slur targeted at lesbians, no matter the race. Stud is a term for black masc lesbians/black butches. D*ke is NOT aave WHAT OP: this post is about white lesbians demanding bisexuals call themselves animal names instead of historical identitifiers curious how they claim ownership of some words but deny black women the ownership of others bulldyke is aave and dyke is shorthand for it are u even black?

This [Reddit post] by a Black queer Reddit user in r/QueerWomenOfColor also explains how the erased history behind the term “Dyke” as it comes from Bulldagger, contributes to feelings of ostracisation and racist microaggressions in predominantly white Queer spaces when this history is explained to them.

Closing Words

‘Bulldyker/diker/dyke/dike/dagger’ and ‘B.D Women’ are Black American cultural terms. Black American Queer people, creators and writers today, have stated it is still used by some young Black masculine sapphics and was popular amongst Black American Queer elders.

Something which happens so commonly with appropriated terms is that it’s not just lost in its history, but also the fact that the meaning is warped to include perjorative connotations that wasn’t once there. It’s what happens when non-Black people steal and weaponise it against Black people with such crude handling.

It’s the way that they are quoted (as an action taken by people), without referencing and cross-contextualising to QTBIPOC history, which discredits and obscures said history. All the while white "authorities", elders and influencers claim to be self-sufficient experts in this history yet miss out all of this. This is complacency we should all be hypervigilant of and is responsible for why there is so much decontextualisation around racialised history, whether such was done by intentional omission or otherwise.

This is all important to the reclamation of the term by Black people only to restore its original non-perjorative connotations and to uncolonise mainstream vocabulary, thus removing racialised insults from what is and has always been a proud Black term. 

And because I have read enough responses that sound something along the lines of:

“But I, a non-Black lesbian, have been called bulldagger/bulldyke many times by white people. It was mainstream lesbian terminology when I first hung out with lesbians. It was part of the butch femme subculture. So I don't think it is a POC exclusive term. Language shifts from subcultures to mainstream and back again.”

Except this “but what about ME” view relies on casting aside the unforgettably relevant anti-Black discrimination against Black queers, their suffering, joy and resistance in spite of anti-Black white queers.

White and non-Black queers do not share in Black lesbian intersectional struggles, and have not been in the same fight enough to use a Black cultural term that was appropriated and slung by white people and white queers at Black people first.

Being called the slur too doesn’t warrant reclamation, especially noting the racialised history behind it for which the history of this culturally Black American term, corrupted into a racialised anti-Black slur by white queers. The Black queer community has yet to receive the acknowledgment and reparations it deserves. Not to mention the continued anti-Blackness and AAVE appropriation rampant in queer spaces, committed by non-Black queers.

White queers aren’t separate from whiteness, and non-Black queers have a long ways to go in working out anti-racism. This is our privilege at work in which many of us still benefit ourselves by clinching our power where we can at the expense of Black queer peoples and their visibility.

White and non-Black queers "reclaiming these terms", conveniently omit the efforts of Black peoples, while having the audacity to get territorial over anti-Black queer cultures, IS the actual appropriation and erasure. And I bet yall won’t want to talk about the backstory either because it makes you “reclaiming” the slur look a lot like bigotry.

There is no excuse of ignorance to justify continued appropriation, despite the thorough explanation given and due diligence done by QTBIPOC to raise awareness around this history. It would only be prejudice then.

Anyone who fails to understand this is being wilfully obstinate to carry on with their racism. It isn’t just about the appropriation or the ignorance anymore. It’s the lack of desire to listen to QTBIPOC voices and the lack of desire to uncolonise their known realities especially through language as the most pervasive instrument, and what this means for mainstreamified / appropriated vocabulary.

It would only be basic human decency to do our part and return the autonomy of reclamation ALL THE WAY back to the persons our predecessors stole it from, rather than continuing to fuel the oppressive silence.