The Butch Manual: The Current Drag and How to Do It

By Clark Henley

Now back in print after 40 years, this tongue-in-cheek manual advises gay men on how to appear more "butch"

"No one was born Butch. People were born babies and promptly burst into tears, which was most Un-Butch," declares Clark Henley's Butch Manual, a hilarious 1980s cult classic that reminds us that being "butch" is just another form of drag. The Butch Manual educates wannabe Butches on how to walk, talk, stand (or lean), dress and even what drugs to take to avoid "the freak out zone." Henley doubles as a hunky model for campy photo spreads demonstrating the proper way to sit (if you must) and an admonishment to the fey among us: "Do not talk with your hands."
Originally published by Sea Horse Press in 1982, Butch appeared on multiple bestseller lists and graced the cover of Christopher Street Reader. Today, used copies trade for $500 or more. Now, with the support of the author's family, we bring Butch back into print and share its timeless humor with a new generation.
Clark Henley (1950-88) was a writer, model and artist, born in San Francisco. He was known for his illustrated maps A Butch LOOK at America and Alligator Oz: Tails of the City, which reimagined his home country and city as raunchy gay paradises. In 1979, Henley moved to Los Angeles with the ambition of further pursuing his career. After being diagnosed with HIV in 1986, he returned to his native San Francisco to live with family and spent his final years as an HIV/AIDS activist before his death in 1988.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0F4JP24K2
• ISBN13: 9798985170436
• Release Date: July 2025
• Publisher: Dark Entries Editions
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 4.9" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

When Gay was hard to be...

...and drugs were good for you. Or at least socially acceptable.This is an irreverent romp through one segment of gay culture - the Butch, or garden-variety "Macho Man", circa 1980.If you're not gay, this book will make no sense to you. If you are under 35, you won't get it at all. You will wonder why any of this is considered funny.If you are over 35, gay, and ever aspired to being "butch", it's hysterical. Oddly enough, straight women find it funny, but for different reasons, and they still don't understand it.When first published, it was a lampoon of gay male social behavior. Now, it's nostalgic trip to an era when "the clap" was the most dreaded STD, drugs were good for you, and all you needed to have a great sex life was good pecs, mirrored sunglasses, and poppers.If you didn't understant that last sentence, don't bother with this book. If it made you at least smile, get this book.