‘Paranoia might increase its ugly head when one has taken too many medication that don’t go collectively,’ warned Clark Henley’s 1982 educational, The Butch Handbook: The Present Drag and The best way to Do It. ‘Ideally, the weekend must be spent partying repeatedly, and the medication consumed should steadiness each other out. If Butch takes too many downs, he’ll move out. An up will rebalance his metabolism. Then again, too many ups will produce hysteria, which hopefully will be doused with alcohol. Too many medication from both the up or down households will produce extreme paranoia. Examine the next graph and observe how medication can counterbalance one another to maintain Butch within the paranoia-free zone,’ Henley suggested, offering the promised graph.
Henley’s tongue-in-cheek handbook was instantly fashionable upon its launch. Aping the model of a chatty, useful ladies’s journal, and full with fictional agony aunt ‘Gertrude Stein’, The Butch Handbook suggested homosexual males on the best way to appear extra masculine, with San Francisco-born Henley (1950-88) modelling his satirical ideas all through.
Now, with the assist of the creator’s household, the handbook is making a comeback. It’s a pure transfer for the founding father of publishing imprint Darkish Entries Editions, Josh Cheon, who notes how closely the e-book resonated upon its unique launch. ‘On the time it was printed, there was a slew of “the best way to” homosexual books – [how] to land a person and a secure relationship. Additionally, the Homosexual Clone look was nonetheless very prevalent. Clark’s e-book tightropes between reputable “butch” recommendation and remark, in addition to mocking the self-seriousness of homosexual males’s sexual/relationship cultures on the time. Homosexual semiotics overload. Due to that, it has a timeless high quality to it. The primary line of the e-book asks, “Are you getting laid ceaselessly sufficient?” What queer particular person, outdoors of Asexual/Graysexuals, does not ask that of themselves a minimum of as soon as every week? Additionally, “the best way to” and recommendation books are notoriously stuffed with it, so this e-book is a wonderful send-up of the “discover love quick”-style recommendation books of the time. Full with photos and illustrations.’
(Picture credit score: The Butch Handbook: The Present Drag and The best way to Do It’)
Good, well written and humorous, the handbook options Clark’s playful, razor-sharp model all through. ‘It sticks to its one true intention by sticking to the message of: I will let you know the best way to be butch,’ provides Cheon. ‘The textual content must be studied by comedians. Clark clearly spells out, a number of instances within the e-book, that masculinity is drag – “Nobody was born butch. Individuals have been born infants” – making the e-book a enjoyable strategy to discover questions of masculinity, and butchness, as a cultivated efficiency.’
(Picture credit score: The Butch Handbook: The Present Drag and The best way to Do It’)
Revisiting the e-book now marks an important second politically and culturally, amidst a backdrop of HIV/AIDS analysis and care being defunded, making a poignant tribute to Clark, who died of issues from AIDS in 1988. ‘The present political local weather we reside in desires to erase queer folks’s histories, making it more durable for younger folks to search out [them], be themselves, and be taught from folks like Clark. Bringing texts like Butch again into print feels much more necessary due to this risk.’
The Butch Handbook is republished on 29 July 2025, by Darkish Entries Editions, $19.95, from darkentriesrecords.com
(Picture credit score: The Butch Handbook: The Present Drag and The best way to Do It’)
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