masculine of center

English

Etymology

Coined by B. Cole in 2008.[1][2] Compare left of center, right of center.

Adjective

masculine of center (not generally comparable, comparative more masculine of center, superlative most masculine of center)

(LGBT) Having a gender identity or presentation that is on the masculine side; butch, masc, especially of a woman or a person assigned female at birth.
Coordinate term: feminine of center
- 2015, Robin James, Resilience & Melancholy: Pop Music, Feminism, Neoliberalism, John Hunt Publishing (→ISBN)
  Working-class women, non-white women, some transwomen, and butch/ masculine-of-center women are stereotypically less fragile than the “ideally” feminine woman.
- 2017 Fall, Vanessa Rochelle Lews, "Nourrir Spotlight", in Nourrir, issue 12, page 21:
  […] where there was a plethora of even more well-dressed masculine of center heart throbs and their writings, […]
- 2020 Nov. 19 - Dec. 2, An Pham, "Charlie and the T-House Event Series", in The Guardsman (City College of San Francisco), volume 170, issue 7, page 4:
  The Queer Resource Center announced that they will be hosting an event series for transmasculine and masculine of center communities called the T-House, […]
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:masculine-of-center.

Alternative forms

masculine-of-center
masculine of centre, masculine-of-centre (British spelling)
MOC (abbreviation)

References

B. Cole, Persistence", in Ivan Coyote, Zena Sharman, Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme (arsenal pulp press, 2011, →ISBN), page 128: "and so in 2008 I introduced the term "masculine of centre" (MoC) as more encompassing and less racially and class-specific than butch."
Z. Nicolazzo, What’s Transgressive about Trans* Studies in Education Now? (Routledge, 2019, →ISBN): "masculine of centre was coined by B. Cole in 2008"

2018, Andrea J. Nichols, Tonya Edmond, Erin C. Heil, Social Work Practice with Survivors of Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Columbia University Press (→ISBN): "Feminine of Center; Masculine of Center—(adj) a phrase that indicates a range of terms of gender identity and gender presentation for those who present, understand themselves, and relate to others in a more feminine/masculine way."
2019, Damon Constantinides, Shannon Sennott, Davis Chandler, Sex Therapy with Erotically Marginalized Clients: Nine Principles of Clinical Support, Routledge (→ISBN): "(Masc/MOC). Masculine of center is a term that describes a connection to the more masculine side of the spectrum between femininity and masculinity (Cole, 2011). It is often, but not exclusively, used by people designated female at birth."

[1] B. Cole, Persistence", in Ivan Coyote, Zena Sharman, Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme (arsenal pulp press, 2011, →ISBN), page 128: "and so in 2008 I introduced the term "masculine of centre" (MoC) as more encompassing and less racially and class-specific than butch."

[2] Z. Nicolazzo, What’s Transgressive about Trans* Studies in Education Now? (Routledge, 2019, →ISBN): "masculine of centre was coined by B. Cole in 2008"