IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Aimed at guiding the viewer through a curated narrative, the exhibition traces key themes in contemporary butch identity, examining the ways butches navigate cultural and social perceptions. These themes include:
Queering Masculinity – Butch identity exists in tension with traditional notions of masculinity, challenging its presumed alignment with cis-male experience. This exhibition explores how butches construct, embody, and redefine masculinity on their own terms—asserting it as something expansive, fluid, and deeply personal rather than a static or borrowed construct.
Butchphobia – Systemic and cultural biases toward butch identity, both within and outside the LGBTQ+ community, result in erasure, marginalization, and at times, outright hostility. The exhibition confronts these biases, highlighting the resilience of butches in the face of social pressures to assimilate, soften, or disappear entirely.
Invisibility – Butches often exist in a liminal space, both hypervisible and unseen. While their gender expression is frequently read and policed by mainstream culture, their voices and histories remain largely undocumented. This exhibition acts as a counter-archive, ensuring that butch narratives are centered, heard, and remembered.
Projection & Misconception – Butch identity has long been subject to external narratives that reduce, fetishize, or misrepresent lived experiences. This project resists those imposed definitions, instead allowing butches to speak for themselves, disrupting stereotypes and reclaiming their rightful place as complex, self-determining individuals.
By engaging with these themes, In Their Own Words invites viewers to move beyond passive observation into a deeper engagement with the realities of butch existence—its struggles, its power, and its enduring presence in queer culture.
INSTALLATION INFORMATION
In Their Own Words is a highly flexible installation—it’s been exhibited with as few as 12 pieces and as many as 90, depending on the space. That said, it really shines with around 35 works.
The show pairs especially well with an artist talk or butch panel, adding energy and valuable context to the work. In July 2024, In Their Own Words was presented at Portland'5 Centers for the Arts at the Winningstad Theatre, selling out to a packed house of over 300 attendees. The evening featured a compelling artist talk with Esther Godoy, moderated by Ruby Joy White, sparking vital conversations around butch identity, visibility, and resilience.
For inquiries about exhibiting the installation, please reach out to info@esthergodoy.com
