What Type of Lesbian Am I? Take the Quiz

Types of lesbians: every label in this quiz, explained

Most lesbian “types” describe gender expression: how someone dresses, styles themselves and carries themselves, not who they’re attracted to. Think of them as points on a spectrum that runs from femme to butch, with plenty of room in the middle. They’re used by lesbians, bisexual and pansexual women and nonbinary people alike, and plenty of people use none of them at all. The 2021-22 National LGBTQ+ Women’s Community Survey asked more than 5,000 LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people how they describe their gender. About half described their gender expression as femme or on the feminine side, around 15% as butch or masculine, and 14% as androgynous or nonbinary.¹

Here’s what each result means, roughly from most feminine to most masculine.

What is a high femme or lipstick lesbian?

A high femme leans all the way into femininity, on purpose: full makeup, a signature perfume, heels, statement jewelry. “Lipstick lesbian” is the older, more casual term for the same glamorous look; it was in print by the early 1980s.² High femmes are often mistaken for straight women, which is one reason many wear the label proudly.

What is a femme lesbian?

A femme lesbian presents in a feminine way, with a softer, everyday take than high femme: dresses or cute tops, light makeup, delicate jewelry. Femme isn’t “straight-passing” or a default. It’s queer femininity, chosen on purpose, and it has been part of lesbian culture for as long as butch has.³

What is a chapstick lesbian?

A chapstick lesbian sits between femme and butch with a low-maintenance, often sporty or outdoorsy style: hoodies, leggings, running shoes and little or no makeup. The name is a playful twist on “lipstick lesbian”.²

What does futch mean?

Futch is a blend of femme and butch. It describes someone in the middle of the spectrum who mixes both, or moves between them from day to day: a blazer over a crop top, platform boots with a skirt. Read our full guide to what futch means.

What is an androgynous lesbian?

An androgynous (or andro) lesbian has a look that reads as neither clearly feminine nor clearly masculine: monochrome, minimal, unisex. Where futch mixes both ends, andro tends to step outside them. It’s also a style many nonbinary people feel at home in.

What is a soft butch?

A soft butch, or soft masc, has a masculine-leaning style (short hair, baggy fits, no makeup) with a softer energy or a few feminine touches. It sits between futch and butch, and it’s the “looks tough, is actually the gentlest one here” type.

What is a masc lesbian?

Masc is short for masculine-presenting. It’s the broadest, most modern word for lesbians who dress and carry themselves in a masculine way. It’s especially popular with younger lesbians, often with a streetwear edge: clean sneakers, chains, fades.

What is a butch lesbian?

A butch lesbian presents masculine, often in menswear from head to toe. Butch is one of the oldest identities in lesbian culture. In the working-class lesbian bars of the 1940s to 1960s, butch and femme were how women found and recognized each other, and butches often stood up to harassment to keep those spaces open.³ Many butches see it as an identity, not just a style.

What is a stud lesbian?

Stud is the word Black lesbian communities use for masculine-presenting women. It has its own style, culture and history, and scholars describe it as a racially specific term.⁴ That’s why the quiz only gives a stud result to people who say they already go by stud. For everyone else, the closest words are masc and butch.

What does stem mean?

Stem is a blend of stud and femme. Like stud, it comes from Black and Latine lesbian communities, and it describes someone whose style moves between masculine and feminine. The closest general word is futch.⁵

Masc vs butch: what’s the difference?

Both describe a masculine-presenting lesbian, and plenty of people use both. Butch is the older word, with deep roots in lesbian history, and it often comes with a classic, menswear-inspired look and a strong sense of identity. Masc is newer and broader, and younger lesbians often prefer it, sometimes because butch feels tied to a specific generation or look. In the end the difference is mostly about which word feels like home.

Where butch and femme come from

Butch and femme took shape in the working-class lesbian bar culture of mid-century America, documented in histories like Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy and Madeline Davis.³ In the 1970s, many lesbian feminists criticized the roles as copying straight relationships, and in the 1980s and 1990s writers like Joan Nestle helped reclaim them.³ Today the words are looser and more playful, and newer labels like chapstick, futch and soft masc fill in the space between. Even so, most lesbians don’t lean on them: in one study of personal ads by women seeking women, three quarters used neither butch nor femme.⁶

Does your lesbian type decide who you date?

No. Butch-femme couples are a classic pairing, but femme-femme, butch-butch, stud-stud and every other combination are just as common. Your type is about how you show up, not who you fall for. If you want to show your style and find someone who’s into it, you can join Zoe for free, or read our guide on how to meet lesbians near you.

Still figuring out who you’re attracted to in the first place? Try our Am I a lesbian? quiz or the Am I bisexual? quiz.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. National LGBTQ+ Women’s Community Survey (2021-22), demographic summary, July 2023
2. Lipstick lesbian (Wikipedia)
3. Butch and femme (Wikipedia, with its primary sources)
4. Curve: “Dear White Lesbians, You Are Not Studs”; Bianca D. M. Wilson, “Black lesbian gender and sexual culture”, Culture, Health & Sexuality, 2009
5. It Gets Better: stemme or stem
6. The Gay & Lesbian Review: “Do Butch and Femme Still Attract?”, adapted from Smith & Stillman, Journal of Lesbian Studies, 2002