Bull

Bull is a piece of older queer slang used to describe a strongly masculine, assertive lesbian. It functions as the root of related terms like bulldyke and bulldagger, which came out of Black lesbian communities during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. In that context bull carried a sense of physical strength and aggression, and it was often used as an insult against masculine-presenting women. Today it survives mostly inside those longer compound words rather than on its own. Like many identity terms with a hard history, its tone depends heavily on who is speaking and whether it is being reclaimed with pride or aimed as a slur. Context and the consent of the person being described both matter.