Lesbians in the mid-20th century who did not fit into the strict dichotomy of the butch-femme lesbian structure and refused to choose between being the "man" and being the "woman." Those lesbians, like poet Audre Lorde described the quandary of being unable to identify as either butch or femme. "I wasn't cute or passive enough to be 'femme,' and I wasn't mean or tough enough to be 'butch,'" Lorde wrote. "I was given a wide berth."