#anyway this is offtopic from the bulk but i think its interesting how this performance was picked up as way more queer

[mobiused]

loona femme and butch subunits

Grateful for this ask because I saw a korean tweet about this when Queendom was airing:

"Ah ㅠ the butches and femmes sitting next to each other, why is it so funny?"

And wanted an excuse to talk a cool part of Korean LGBT history. The words for butch and femme here are actually somewhat(?) archaic, seeing as modern usage (cmiiw) is 부치/팸, which are just transliterations of butch/femme from English. 바지씨 (Baji-ssi) and 치마씨 (Chima-ssi). The suffix -ssi is gender neutral but doesn't inherently imply nonbinaryness, similar to how Dr. is gender neutral but not neccesarily nonbinary, so basically it's like Ms/Mx. Pants and Ms/Mx. Skirt, which I think is pretty cute.

It apparently comes from the korean Women Taxi Drivers Association, which wasn't solely for taxi drivers (though 90% were), but rather an association (or union, though this is debated) for "spinsters" (or women who were basically 'not looking' to marry). Both butches and femmes (and even futches - 반바지씨 i.e Ms/Mx. Shorts) were welcome, and instead of referring to older butches as 'unnie', younger butches would refer to them as 'hyung' instead, like younger/older friendships. (sorry, don't know if femmes called butches oppa but for some reason I doubt it).

They existed as a mutual aid organisation to give generally GNC women, or women in stereotypically unfeminine fields of work (such as taxi driving) a sense of community and protection, physically, legally, financially and emotionally. They also participated in organising to protest against the Park Chunghee administration, and were consequently monitored by the NIS as a result, with the accusation that they were a 'gang' and not a union. (Though given the political climate at the time, it's not as though being a union would've been acceptable either). The association disbanded after 20 years in 1985, which is even more impressive considering the intensely authoritarian government, but not without clearly making a massive cultural impact on LGBT society in Korea.

(And then the english loan words became more popular.............)

Interesting 'zine' from a Korean-American(?) author that delves more in the topic here , especially from a more political perspective, if you're more curious about it. (though I feel obligated to mention many speakers referenced in this zine expressed discomfort with how their words were 'distorted' as well as plagiarism, protesting its publication here so don't necessarily take at face value)