*Masculine of center (MoC) recognizes the cultural breadth and depth of identity for lesbian/queer womyn who tilt toward the masculine side of the gender scale, and the term includes a wide range of identities such as butch, stud, aggressive/AG, tom, macha, boi, dom, etc.

-B. Cole, 2008

*From the Brown Boi Project's Mission Statement

We have assembled a collection of blogs, websites and resources that we believe positively promote MoC lesbian/queer women. Since this collection is only a taste of what is out there,please feel free to leave other suggestions for websites to promote in the comments section.

Brown Boi Project

According to its website the Brown Boi Project "... is a community of masculine of center womyn, men, two-spirit people, transmen, and our allies committed to transforming our privilege of masculinity, gender, and race into tools for achieving Racial and Gender Justice."

The group has several projects:

1) A leadership retreat that last five days which according to the website participants have the following opportunities:

During the 5-day retreat you will have the opportunity to work across issues and communities, talk about     race, class, culture, gender and sexuality, and explore what a commitment to social justice looks like for you and how you want to help your community. These retreats bring participants from across the country to experience an intensive introduction to community organizing while doing important personal leadership development. You will receive training in understanding power, communications, cross culture coalition building, personal finance, community organizing, self-care, fundraising, relationship building, gender justice, and personal life planning.

*Transportation, food and lodging are provided by the project. To learn more about the retreat, click here.

2) Freeing Ourselves: A Guide to Health and Self Love for Brown Bois - A health guide for MoC individuals. For a review of the book and information on how to order it, click here.

3) The Brown Boi Project's Facebook page also has news and culture updates related to MoC folks. Click here for the link.

bklyn boi hood

Its mission describes the bklyn boi hood as,

"...a collective that creates visibility and builds community within masculine of center* bois, lesbians, queers, trans-identified, studs, doms, butches and AGs of color through online media, events, workshops and collaborative projects."

The group organizes events throughout NYC, maintains a really well curated tumblr and a website. They are also available for speaking engagements.

Butch Voices

The front page of Butch Voices describes its readers as,

"We are woman-identified Butches. We are trans-masculine Studs. We are faggot-identified Aggressives. We are noun Butches, adjective Studs and pronoun-shunning Aggressives. We are she, he, hy, ze, zie and hir. We are you, and we are me. The point is, we don’t decide who is Butch, Stud or Aggressive. You get to decide for yourself."

The website is primarily home to the conference the group hosts in August. There are also featured stories, photography projects and butches in the media.

Me & My Bois Vlog

This project is about to launch. It will be a web series that highlights the experiences, talents and struggles of MoC folks, as well as individuals who work to widen the definition of MoC folks. Check out the trailer here. The vlog will launch soon and episodes can be found at the following websites: brklynboihood.com, thetaxitheta.com, and brownboiproject.org

Pariah

Is a coming of age story about a MoC African-Amerian, lesbian teenager. The story centers around Alike who is working to find her place in the world and reconcile her identity with her family expectations. The movie has won several awards and has been shown at Sundace. Today it was released to limited audiences in the U.S. For a summary and review click here.

Stud Magazine

According to the magazine this Canadian publication, "...will enhance, showcase and promote Stud culture as well as Stud identities."

It also "...offers high quality multimedia and a content rich source for masculine women we call ‘studs.’ The magazine includes explosive sections such as, essential information on health, successful Studs and ways you can access them, career options, fashion, a comic and much more."

To check out the website, click here.

Boi Meets Play

Boi Meets Play is a playful look all aspects of life for boiz including: Sex, Relationships, Dating, Style, Grooming, Fashion, Career and Money, and Health and Exercise. Its a project by a member of the Brown Boi Project (see above). To check out the website click here.