THE AGGRESSIVES

Words by Carrie Stetler | Images by Akintola Hanif

An ‘a.g.’ or ‘aggressive’ is a masculine lesbian, a term synonymous with ‘butch’ or ‘stud.’

"My cousin is almost in her 70s and she's gay, and that's a term she would use. I remember hearing that term growing up,'' says Noelle Lorraine Williams, 35, a bisexual Black activist and artist, who explores gender roles in her work. "'Aggressive' means you're not trying to pass yourself off as a man. You're a woman, but you have this dialogue with masculinity.''

The dialogue poses a question: Is masculinity inherent or artificial, or both?

"What people are is organic, but some things we perform. Even men sometimes, they're performing masculinity,'' says Noelle.

Sometimes, the posturing can look like a stereotype, says Cira, an aggressive who grew up in Africa. "I feel like a lot of aggressives try to out dyke each other. They portray this negative aspect of masculinity. It's role play. That's so prevalent in Black lesbian culture. We all internalize racism and homophobia. It's a result of that.'' Cira’s ideal of manhood is more nurturing. "A man is someone who takes care of his family. A man can be gentle. I don’t want to be transgender, but the kind of man I would be if I was a man would be a gentleman.''

No matter how an aggressive defines masculinity, the identity is both declaration and act of refusal. "It's removing yourself from the game, the whole game of women's performance and men's predatory behavior. ‘I'm not participating. My breasts are not on display for you. My ass is not on display for you,’’ says Noelle. “The 'real lesbians' are always considered to be tomboys. Like, if you're a femme you're kind of passing. When you're butch you're definitely telling the world you're queer.’’