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Description
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ToC Skater Girls by Stacy Bias (p32); American Road Trip by Rachel Pepper (p52); Cover: Tegan and Sara by Melany Walters-Beck (p40); The Queens of Lesbo Rap by Rachel Shatto (p43); On the Scene (p44); Third Time's a Charm by Jeff Katz (p46); What Kind of Lesbian Rocker Are You? by Melany Walters-Beck (p47); Killer Lyrics by Katie Peoples (p48); Into the Woods by David Steinfeld (p49); A Lesbian Legend by David Steinfeld (p50); Environmentalism on the Cheap by Jodi Helmer (p36); How to Go Green - in the Bedroom by Stacy Biase (p37); Making the Most of Your Trash by Lina Swislocki (p38); Cover Photo by Grey Lockwood.
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issue
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6
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Date Issued
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July-August 2009
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Format
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PDF/A
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Publisher
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Frances Stevens
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Curve_Vol19_No6_July-August-2009_0CR_PDFa.pdf
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extracted text
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7
25274 80539 6
BEING AHEAD OF YOUR TIME IS NEVER EASY. That's why one of our core values is to respect
all people and value their differences. That's being progressive. And as a company, we aim to live
up to our name. We were the first to do things like offer insurance online and the first to let you
compare rates just as easily. Because like you, we believe in change, especially when it's for the better.
See progress at progressive.com/glbt
PROGREIIIVE.
Progressive Casualty Ins. Co. and its affiliates, Mayfield Village, OH. 09P00116.D (04/09)
FRANKLY
SPEAKING
curve
THE BEST-SELLING
JULY/AUGUST
2009
I
LESBIAN MAGAZINE
VOLUME 19 NUMBER 6
Publisher and Founder Frances Stevens
EDITORIAL
Editor in Chief Diane Anderson-Minshall
Managing Editor Katie Peoples
Assistant Editor Rachel Beebe
Book Review Editor Rachel Pepper
Music Review Editor Margaret Coble
Web Editor Rachel Shatto
Contributing Editors Julia Bloch, Victoria A. Brownworth,
Gina Daggett, Sheryl Kay, Gretchen Lee, Stephanie Schroeder
Copy Editor Katherine Wright
Editorial Assistants Ariel Messman-Rucker, Yana Tallon-Hicks
PUBLISHING
Advertising Sales Diana L Berry, Rivendell Media
Advertising Assistants Hannah Bolton, LaKeisha Hughes
ART
/PRODUCTION
Art Director Stefanie Liang
Photo Editor Hayley McMillen
Production Manager Ondine Kilker
Production Artist Kelly Nuti
Web Producer Nikki Woelk
The Mighty Quins
Singer-songwriter twins Tegan and Sara Quin started out as a dyke duo
in Calgary, Alberta, playing under the moniker PLUNK and using their
school's recording studio to create demo albums. After their mom entered
the twins in a Canadian music competition ( when they were only 17) they
quickly became fulUledged rock stars.
Today, the Quin girls call themselves socially awkward, but put them
on stage with a guitar or a mic in their hands and women's undergarments
start flying their way. What was once a small local audience has become
a huge international fan base and, even if you don't recognize them from
their appearances on Leno or Letterman, you've probably heard their music
on hit TV series like Greys Anatomy, Ghost Whisperer, Veronica Mars and
One Tree Hill.
Though they've hit the big-time, Tegan and Sara say they owe their fans
everything, a statement our editorial team heard time and again as they compiled this massive music issue, which includes interviews with the legendary
Janis Ian, rising stars God-Des and She and hot new solo artists Fannius III
and Amanda Palmer as well as articles broken down by region (New Jersey,
Portland, Ore.)-and
even a quiz to determine what kind oflesbian rocker
chick you are (page 47).
That's not all we have this issue: There's our annual Go Green section
(with a great budget how-to) and a great take on the traditional American
road trip.
Mix it, tune it, sing it, play it. However you rock out, do it loud and do
it proud.
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Kathy Beige, Kelsy Chauvin, Jennifer Corday, Lyndsey
D'Arcangelo, Beren deMotier, Michele Fisher, Tania Hammidi,
Jodi Helmer, Kathi lsserman, Gillian Kendall, Kate Lacey, Charlene
Lichtenstein, Karen Loftus, Candace Moore, Aefa Mulholland,
Alison Peters, Catherine Plato, Aimsel L. Ponti, Laurie K.
Schenden, Kristin A. Smith, Dave Steinfeld, Edie Stull, Robin
Miner-Swartz, Kyra Thomson, Jocelyn Voo, Alison Walkley,
Melany Walters-Beck
CONTRIBUTING
ILLUSTRATORS
& PHOTOGRAPHERS
Paul Michael Aguilar, Michelle Bart, Erica Beckman, Phil Cho,
Cheryl Craig, Tony Donaldson, Sophia Hantzes, Gabriela Hashun,
Janet Mayer, Maggie Parker, Elisa Shebaro, Leslie Van Stelten,
Katherine Streeter, Kina Williams, Misty Winter
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Advertising Email advertising@curvemag.com
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Letters to the Editor Email letters@curvemag.com
Volume 19 Issue 6 Curve (ISSN 1087-867)() is published monthly (except for bimonthly
January/February and July/August) by Outspoken Enterprises, Inc., 1550 Bryant St.,
Ste. 510, San Francisco, CA 94103. Subscription price: $49.95/year, $62.95 Canadian
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mailingoffices(USPS0010-355).Contentsof CurveMagazinemay not be reproducedin any
manner,either whole or in part, without written permission from the publisher.Publicationof
the name or photographof any persons or organizationsappearing,advertisingor listing in
Curve may not be taken as an indicationof the sexual orientationof that individualor group
unless specifically staled. Curve welcomes letters, queries, unsolicited manuscripts and
artwork Include SASE for response. Lack of any representationonly signifies insufficient
materials.Submissionscannot be returned unless a self-addressedstamped envelope is
included.No responsibilityis assumedfor loss or damages.The contents do not necessarily
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SubscriptionInquiries:Please write lo Curve, 1550 Bryant Street, Suite 510, San Francisco,
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Printedn the U.S.
curvemag.com
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Features JULY/AUGUST
2009
32
Skater Girls
These chicks are leveling the playing field, er,
skate park. By Stacy Bias
52
American Road Trip
A lesbian mom takes her daughter on
the classic family vacation. By Rachel Pepper
40
43
44
46
47
Onthe Beat
Tegan and Sara
We get a behind-the-scenes look at life
on the road with these lesbian rockers.
By Melany Walters-Beck
The Queens of Lesbo Rap
Rap duo God-Des and She dish on their
musical partnership. By Rachel Shatto
On the Scene
A look at two lesbian music hotspots: Asbury
Park, New Jersey and Portland, Oregon.
Third Time's a Charm
Fannius Ill goes from Disney soundtracks
to Dinah Shore. By Jeff Katz
What Kind of Lesbian
Rocker Are You?
Take the test! By Melany Walters-Beck
48
49
50
Killer Lyrics
The Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer tries her
hand at a solo album. By Katie Peoples
Into the Woods
Dar Williams talks about the forest- and
why it's such an inspiration. By David Steinfeld
A Lesbian Legend
Janis Ian has seen and done it all-and
now she's telling the tale. By David Steinfeld
I\"\'
FanniusIll: FromDisneyto Dinah
36
GoGreen
Environmentalism on the Cheap
Small, mostly free things you can do to be
eco-friendly. By Jodi Helmer
37
How to Go Green-in
the Bedroom
Gettin' down and dirty while keeping your
conscience clean. By Stacy Bias
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Making The Most of Your Trash
How worms can recycle your garbage.
By Lina Swislocki
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IN EVERY ISSUE
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19
20
26
64
Frankly Speaking
Letters
Contributors
This Is What a Lesbian Looks Like
Scene
Open Studio
Out in Front
22
Relationships: Dating when you're no
longer a spring chicken.
24
Health: Want better sex? These five natural supplements can help.
27
Money: How to protect your nest egg.
Dyke Drama
28
Planning a staycation this summer?
30
Politics
Lesbians: Green before it was cool.
Lipstick & Dipstick
AstroGrrl
Top Ten Reasons We Love ...
54
Books: TheSlow Fix and Dirt get us thinking about gender and chores. Plus, Rose
Beecham talks mysteries.
58
13
Miss Kittin & the Hacker and MYNX will
get you moving. Girl in a Coma's Jenn Alva
takes our questions.
Curvatures
The National Women's Music Fest is about
to kick off! Plus, slang terms for boobies
and where Miss California landed on our
Gaydar.
16
Music: Synth-sational cuts from Von Iva,
Celebrity Gossip
Lilo pokes fun at herself, Ellen joins the
Twittersphere and Suze Orman on SNL.
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Fold this pillow in half.
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Do not take TYLENOL® with other products
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COMING
UP
From the Editor
When I told
my teenage
foster sons that
Bridgestone, one
of curve's longtime
supporters, had
created the first
"green" tire, they
both said, in
unison, "Gross!"
Apparently lingo
like "green" and
"eco" are lost on
them-even after much explaining
of what it means to be green (see
our Go Green section on page 36)
they barely got it. But when I take
them to the beach for cleanup
day, as we do each month, they
understand that we all have to do
our part in saving the planet, and
pronto. For the Curvettes, finding
ways to go greener and lessen
our impact on the planet is a
consuming passion, and everyone
from copy editor Katherine Wright
to advertising executive Diana
Berry gets in on the action. (Just
ask our art director Stefanie Liang
whose tireless devotion to reuserecycle takes the whole mantra
to an absurd new level). Some,
like production manager Ondine
Kilker, have pushed for more digital
enterprise-the no-paper way to
read the same great magazineand thanks to her we're having
great success with our new digital
edition of curve. I can't imagine a
world without print magazines but
I do love to get the digital version
in my inbox, replete with videos
and song downloads, knowing that
it's a little bit greener than the print
edition. It's just one of the small
ways we're trying to help out.
~
Diane Anderson-Minshall
Editor in Chief
s Icurve
•
High Fidelity
Can't get enough of the hot queer musicians rockin' out in our annual
music issue? Neither can we. Read uncut exclusives at
www.curvemag.com. Synth-rock sensations Von Iva define
success, up-and-coming indie trio Girl in a Coma (pictured
above) talk tejano and voluptuous madam Amanda Palmer
(right) cuts through the bull.
•
Little Green Houses for You and Me
"Green building goes from your personal health, to the community's health to the planet's health," says Iris Harrell, who
started her own eco-conscious construction company after
hitting her hammer one too many times on the glass ceiling
of the male-dominated industry. Read her
green building tips online now.
•
Seeing Through
the Greenwashing
Soap. Shampoo. Lotion. Moisturizer.
Makeup. Everyday your skin absorbs about
60 percent of the products you apply to
your skin-do you know whether they're
safe for you, or the planet? The U.S. government does not review the ingredients
used in the personal products sold across the country, or the eco-claims
made on their labels. Get the real story at www.curvemag.com.
•
The Secret to Happy Relationships
Helen Fisher, a developer of Chemistry.com and author of Why We Love
and Why Him? Why Her?, explains the link between brain chemistry, personality and successful relationships on page 23. Still not convinced? Get
the full story at www.curvemag.com and learn how to meet your match.
Love what looks.
a little like you.
■■
Stylish. Sassy. And the right size for every adventure. The Subaru Forester has what
ou love, including curve hugging Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and a powerful SUBARU
OXER®engine. No wonder Forester was named Motor Trend's 2009 Sport/Utility of
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he Year. It's as individual as you are. Love. It's what makes a Subaru, a Subaru.
ion fees. Dealer sets actual price. 2009 Forester 2.5X w,tn Prem1urr.Pa"KUge p1cturod abuVE:hd& an MSHP of $22,495
LETTERS
The Ultimate Sex Workout 10 Powerful Lesbian Politicians
L Word. Not all of us are watching The L
Word. After years of parties and debate, my
partner and I don't care anymore. At least
we have some other media to watch here in
Denver but what about the girls in Middle
America or who can't afford Showtime? Or
Logo? Please stop. Get over it. Diversify.
- Jenna Reulbach,Arvada, Colo.
Writer's Block
Curve magazine is, without a doubt, my
favorite magazine today, but I was wondering
why you never included a Writer's Corner. It
would be something that would help connect fans and make them feel involved and it
would add another dimension to your magazine. It would also appeal greatly to your
audience because, let's face it, what lesbian
has not, at one point or another, written a
done-me-wrong poem or penned a naughty
love note for her partner?
- Allura Danielle Dean, Enid, Okla.
Editor's Note: Jenna, it's funny you bring up
diversifyingbecausethat's exactly what we had
in mind when we put Pam Grier on our cover.
We'reproud to be able tofeature such a talented
woman of colorwho has beenafeminist iconfor
over 30 years. And as you can seefrom June's
cover with suifer Amee Donohoe, and this
month with Tegan and Sara, we do feature lesbians on our cover.Our overarchinggoal is to
coverall women-queer or straight-who have
an impact on the lesbiancommunity.
Still Hot and Heavy
Just wanted to drop you a quick note from
the cornfield, Illinois, to assure you that not
all lesbians in a committed relationship suffer from lesbian bed death. My fiancee and I
have been together about two and a half years,
depending on who you ask, and still have passionate, hot sex. I'm not trying to brag, but I
don't want all the ladies out there to get discouraged. Do whatever it takes to keep that
spark alive. Life's too short not to share passion with the one you love.
More Otalia!
I renewed my subscription to your fabulous
magazine. However, I really hope that you will
include more coverage of the GuidingLight actors Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia.I would
love you all forever and ever if they would grace
the cover of your magazine as they are the next
lesbian super couple. 1ba, lk., for your time and
I impatiently await you1 ut=xtissue.
- ConnieB. Cervantes,.LosAngeles
Where Can I Find It?
I recently saw the article tided "Our Lady
Parts, Ourselves" in the newest issue [Vol.19
#2]. I am wondering how I can find the book
that is discussed, Woman? It sounds fabulous and I would love to see it but I can't find
anything about it. Any way you can help?
- Nicole via email
Editor'sNote: The book has not beenpublished
yet, but go to www.picturesforlucy.comto find
more informationand tojoin the mailing list.
Vay for RugbyGirls
I really enjoyed reading about the different
sports in the May 2009 issue [Vol. 19 #4]. I
think an important sport in the lesbian community that is often overlooked is rugby. I
joined my university team my freshman year
of college and was exposed to one of the most
open communities of women in the nation.
My teammates' acceptance was instrumental
in my coming out. The rugby community is
Editor'sNote: Don't get us wrong,we lovea good - Lauri, fllinois
bleeding-heartballad as much as the next dyke,
but we like to stick with what we know here and
that's nonfiction. If you're lookingfor exclusive
Smack Down!
interviews, cutting exposes and tell-it-like-it-is
Webraced
fortheKatyPerryhaterade
to hitourinboxes
afterourAprilcover,
butwerepleaspersonalaccounts,you'rein the rightplace.
antlysurprised
to getpositive
lettersinstead
aboutmusician
JenFoster
andher"I Kissed
A Girl"
response,
"I Didn'tJustKissHer."Sowe'reputting
thesetwolady-smoochin'
musical
titans
Get Over The L Word
head-to-head.
Gotowww.curvemag.com,
listen
tothetunesandtelluswhichoneyoulikebetter!
Stop featuring straight women who play lesbians on the cover of your magazine. Interpret
this as: Get over The L Word. Is curve the
L Word newsletter? You featured lesbian
politicians inside of the magazines with little
blurbs and small pictures, and these are out
lesbians who are trying to change our world
and likely getting some flack for it and who
do you offer up for us in a three-page article?
Foxy Brown-a straight woman who plays a
straight woman who once fell for a transgender man [Vol.19 #4]. And this is the third or
fourth cover this year that has featured The
10
I curve
I kisseda girlandI likedit
Queen
LESBOLICIOUS
LYRICS
MUSICAL
INFLUENCES
Rompers,
candy-colored
palette
PERSONAL
STYLE
Twentysomething
sorority
girls
MYFANBASEIS...
Tryingto getfamous
IF I WASN'T
FAMOUS
1'DBE...
I didn'tjustkissher
BobDylan
Bluejeans,sensibleshoes
Thirtysomething
womyn
Playing
the guitarin
a coffeeshop
CONTRIBUTORS
extremely close and my straight teammates are
some of the strongest allies the lesbian community has. One teammate recently wrote on
Facebook, "I love lesbians. Ninety percent of
my best friends are gay and I wouldn't have it
any other way:' Not to mention, it's a great way
to find women if you are single!
- Issa Braman, Kalamazoo,Mich.
America for the Win
I have subscribed to curve for quite a few
years now, and it seems appropriate to pass
on to you my heartfelt thanks and congratulations for staying true to my experience of dykedom. Unlike the British equivalent, you have
managed to speak with sincerity and verve,
educating and entertaining us with heart. I get
a sense of a real community spirit, rarely in evidence over here in the U.K., where one could
easily replace the leading lesbian magazine
with 10 other boring, all-style, no-substance,
traditional women's magazines, (with each
issue I become more and more convinced it is
heterosexual led, masquerading as lesbian). If
there are ways we can support your survival in
difficult times, just let us know.
"Whenever I go out with my friend Sommer, she insists on introducing me to the ladies
as 'My friend Nina, who writes for curve magazine; as if she thinks people are going to
break into 'oohs' and'ahhs;" laughs editorial assistant NinaLary,who admits that interviewing strong females like French graffiti artist Mademoiselle Kat and Bay Area balls-to-thewall rock band Dolorata may not get her ogled at the local girl bar, but
has connected her to dynamic women from all walks of life. Scouring
endless stacks of books and DVDs to find the best of queer pop culture
for readers has introduced her to the heavy "real-New York" world of
Sarah Schulman's characters and educated her on the struggles of Texas'
iconic female musicians. "Curve has allowed me, and its thousands of
readers, gay, bi, trans, or even-gasp!-straight,
not only to see, but feel,
how others are living, loving and struggling everyday;' says Lary.
"Welcome to life on the road;' says contributing writer MelanyWalters-Beck
who spent 48 hours with Tegan and Sara during The Con tour to write "On
the Road With Tegan and Sara'' (page 40). "It was so amazing to be a part
of that energy again;' she admits, referring to her own ill-fated career as a
singer-songwriter. "I love music and I love travel, but there's so much pressure, to be 'on' all the time. Even on my days off I was having anxiety about
small details like chord changes and lyrics-and
remembering to wear
underwear. I decided it would be better for me to write about this crazy
world than to live in it;' she says. Profiling such artists as Northern State, Team Gina and
Lez Zeppelin, Walters-Beck has remained on the move. ''I've lived in L.A., Phoenix and
Chicago, this year alone;' she reflects nostalgically.
- Sue Robinson, United Kingdom
Marital Bliss?
Why all the focus on marriage and babies? It
seems, with every issue, there is less and less
content for younger, single women. Even the Sex
Issue [Vol. 19 #1) was all about motherhood
and marriage. As someone who is not currently
interested in getting married or parenting, the
only thing sustaining my loyalty to curve is
the hope that it will get interesting again.
- Jonna Witbeck, Portland,Ore.
Editor'sNote: It'sfeast orfamine when it comes
to sex. Last year we got complaintstherewas too
much aboutyoung singlewomen and not enough
about moms or women over40. Alas, when your
readershipis 18 to 80 you end up needingto cover a lot of topicsin a mere 64 pagesa month!
Corrections:
Our June cover girl lesbian surfer Amee
Donohoe ["Too Foxy for Roxy?" Vol. 19 #5)
is No. 5 in the world, not No. 9. In "Top Ten
Reasons We Love... " [Vol. 19 #5), Kebo Drew
is the festival manager for the Queer Women
of Color Film Festival, not the Corona Queer
Women of Color Film Festival. ■
"I can't skate worth a lick;' admits contributing writer Stacy Bias, a
long-time queer and body image activist from Portland, Ore. "But I'll
chase most any girl on wheels-two or four:' The mischievous twinkle
in Bias' eye doesn't entirely overshadow the fact that she's very serious
about the kind of grassroots activism embodied in the Skate Like a Girl
organization (SLAG), which she wrote about for "Skater Girls" (page
32) "I think that the only difference between those who make change
and those who don't is a good idea and the tenacity to try. Folks like
Jessie Haungs and the rest of the SLAG crew saw a need and filled it
passionately, despite the adversity they faced. As a result, a new generation of female skaters
are taking to the ramp with a new level of advocacy and empowerment:' Bias is no stranger
to grassroots activism, hersel£ As the founder of the former TechnoDyke.com online community, FatGirl Speaks, DykeTees.com and, most recently, TaprootHosting.com (a new,
queer-owned, green web hosting company) Bias is quite the need-filler hersel£ Find out
more at www.StacyBias.net. ■
Sweet Sounds
Rock goddess and curve contributor Jennifer Corday (right) is
celebrating the release of her fourth studio album, Superhero. An
award-winning musician, Corday has also been busy producing her
vlog "Girl Rock!" Log on to www.curvemag.com for the latest episode. Jenny
Sherwin aka Sheena Metal, our illustrious entertainment writer and a seasoned
talk radio host, is now on KLSX (97.1 FM) wth The Sheena Metal Experience.
Raw, unscripted and unpredictable, this is not your mother's talk radio show.
Tune in weekdays 5 to 7 p.m. (PSTI at www.latalkradio.com. Better yet, stay
tuned for a future issue of curve where Metal goes man-o-man with girlfriend,
rock star Danielle Egnew.
Actor, drag
performer and
model Lauren
LoGiudice.
cur~atures_~~~,-----
-
Your Chance to Make Out and Rock Out
"This festival is like meeting up with family again, only
it keeps on giving and you get to make out with some
of them;' says musician Martine Locke, and given the
audience I saw last year, it's not just the performers
who feel this way about the National Women's Music
Festival. Maybe Locke was kidding about getting laid
but hey, it could happen, especially since you get to
stay in a comfortable hotel and attend concerts in
a nice theater setting. No pine needles in my hair:'
Where do I sign up:' (www.wiaonline.org)
This long-running festival is no musty folk-singer
jam-fest. Sure, if folk music is your thing, you can
hear Lucie Blue Tremblay and Zoe Lewis, but the
lineup also includes Sarah Bettens, Erin McKeown
and Patrice Pike. You can also laugh your ass off with
comics Lisa Koch, Vickie Shaw and Roxanna Ward.
If that's not enough, get energized with poet Alix
Olson. Or go to one of the many other activitiesthey offer workshops, crafts, open mies, dances and
theater presentations. Even fundraising is a scream
at the festival's annual auction, where you can bid on
trips and other prizes, with festival performers playing the role of Vanna White.
Who's the nun:' That would be singer-songwritercomic extraordinaire Lisa Koch as Sister Mary
Agnes. And if you're lucky, you'll catch her with her
puppet Sister Mary Mike Tyson.
The National Women's Music Festival started
back in 1974 when a group of women in ChampaignUrbana, Ill., got angry that their local music festival
featured mostly men. Getting nowhere with the
organizers, they decided to have their own event
and hired a producer. The producer made big promises about bringing in Roberta Flack and Yoko Ono,
but instead, she skipped town. Undaunted, organiz-
ers forged ahead and held the festival with women's
rock bands, folk singers and string bands.
In the years since that awkward beginning, the
festival has featured speakers and performers like
Tracy Chapman, Angela Davis, Melissa Ferrick,
Ferron, God-Des and She, Janis Ian, Laura Love,
Sweet Honey in the Rock, Tribe 8, Cris Williamson,
All The King's Men and hundreds more. The audience members come from all walks of life, cutting
across ethnic, racial, sexual,
age and ability boundaries. In an email statement
from God-Des and She, the
hip-hop duo said, "National
is an amazing festival that
welcomes everyone and has
incredible music:'
Drag
king
performer
Leighsa Burgin of All The
Kings Men says, "It was
meaningful and exciting to
be part of a monumental and
historically significant event
put on by, and for, women:' Go, be meaningful-or
just to get laid.
This year's festival is July 2-5 in Madison, Wis., at
the Marriott Madison West Hotel and Conference
Center. [JamieAnderson]
SWEETER
DREAMS
FORHOMELESS
KIDS
A 2009reportbythe
WilliamsInstituteshowed
that povertyratesare
twiceas highfor children
of lesbianandgaycouples
thanfor childrenof married
heterosexual
couples.In an
effortto makea differencein
the livesof childrentouched
by poverty,ProjectNight
Nightdeliverspackages
of
"childhoodessentials"
to
25,000homelesschildren
eachyear.A security
blanket,a stuffedanimal
anda storybookcomplete
the gift,whichis designed
to improveemotionaland
cognitivewell-being.
(www.projectnightnight.org)
[YanaTallon-Hicks]
Fashion and Function
Ride Off Into the Sunset
Tied on by cowboys, break dancers, bank
robbers, leather-dykes and more, there are
few accessories as versatile as the humble
bandanna. The Bandanna Book (Cider Mill
Press} illustrates 103 ways this calico critter
can be used to make your life better-from
an emergency feminine napkin to do-it-yourself throw pillows. The
,11•-*
Ill
book also contains a humorous, whirlwind his-
...
tory of neckwear (which, sadly, fails to mention
the hanky code} and even a bright red ban-
ii!:--,...~
I
danna to get you started. The book is bound
to get your creative juices flowing-which
you
can then wipe up with your bandanna. (www.
cidermillpress.com) [Heather
Robinson]
July/August
2009
I 13
the rundown
There's been plenty of speculation about
what's next for bombshell Lindsay
Lohan
since her public split with Sam Ronson.
Now, betting sites bookmaker.com and
betus.com are getting in on the action,
placing odds on whether the starlet
will stick with the ladies or return to
dating men ... More than 5,000 schools
participated in Dayof Silenceon April
17. Organized by the Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network, students
remained tight-lipped throughout the
day in an effort to call attention to antiLGBT name-calling and bullying
in schools ... Following the release
of the National Organization for
Marriage's ludicrous, propagandist anti-gay marriage TV
commercial, "Stormis Coming"
a number of skewering parodies
have popped up on The Colbert
Report and FunnyOrDie.com.
A storm is, indeed, coming, and
we like the look of the forecast .. . Eve
Sedgwick,
a founding pioneer of queer theory, lost her
longtime battle with breast
cancer in April. Brilliant,
witty and frequently scandalous, Sedgwick authored a
number of books including the groundbreaking Epistemology of the Closet.. . New
YorkCitytourism officials rolled out an
LGBT marketing campaign this summer.
The Big Apple is a top vacation destination for gays and lesbians and they aim
to keep it that way... The men's magazine
Esquire
issued a formal apology for its
advocating of the pejorative "shit-sniffing
faggot" in its May article, "How To Be a
Man;' insisting, "the parody
was profanity itself and
not the various people who
might be its object ... we are
sincerely sorry"... There's
no love lost between comic
JamieFoxxand tween star
MileyCyrus.In a recent broadcast of his
radio show, The Foxxhole, he implored the
actor to "Do like Lindsay Lohan and start
being a lesbian and get some crack in
your pipe. Catch chlamydia on a bicycle
seat:' Poppa Billy Ray Cyrus was not
amused. [RachelShatto]
14icurve
What Did Grandma Call It?
Avocados,
bazookas,
bazooms,
beestings,bombs,
bubs,buffers,
bumpers,
casabas,
cupcakes,
funbags,
gazongas,
grapefruits,
hangers,
headlights,
jigglies,
jugs,knockers.
If youhaven'tfigured
it outyet,allowmeto spellit outforyou:I'mtalkingbreasts.
And,whileit wouldbefunto write
anodetothoselovelyorbsthatcannursetheyoungandinciteriotsinthestreets,
thisis notmy
intention.
AllthesetermscamefromTheRoutledge
Dictionary
ofAmerican
Slangandbelieve
me,
I'velistedonlya fractionoftheeuphemisms
thatcanbefoundthere.
It wasfun,fora while,to pagethrough
thebookandsmileto myselfovereachnewentry.
But,aftercomingacrossonetoomanyvariations
ontheC-word(Idon'tcareif we'vereclaimed
it, it stillgrindsmygears),
I realized
thatwhilesuchterminology
doesadda certaincolorto the
language,
it alsodetracts
fromandoftendemeans
whatit describes.
Take,
forinstance,
"able
Grable"
a popular
phrase
fora sexygirlinthe
'40s2---if
sounds
benignenough,
butthereis
anunmistakable
undercurrent
of
objectification
thatalsoruns
througha lotoftheslang
popular
today.What'sVl{rong
withcallingthingswhatthey
are?Theword''vagina"
dMsn1t soundsexyto
you?Getyourea!'$
checked,
because
it
sounds
greatto me.
[Rachel
Lastra]
The Gaydar
Here's a taste of lesbians in pop culture this month.
Who missed the mark and who was right on target?
nderLuna&
ut Bliss:coconut
rganic,vegan,
ious
AmberRoseJoinsOtherTeamLeaves
girlfirendTre(from TheAggressives)
for Kanye
Westwhocalledhimself"the fuckingend-all,
be-allof music."Whatwasshethinking?
SCENE
1 Uh-Huh Her's Camila Grey at The Dinah 2 Missy
Higgins rocks The Fillmore in San Francisco 3 Exes and
Ohs star Megan Cavanagh (right) and her wife, Anne
Chamberlain, at the GLAAD Media Awards in SF 4 Amy
Ray at The Dinah 5 Jenny Shimizu and Susi Kenna at
the GLAAD Media Awards in New York City 6 Booby
Trap party at the Bolt Underground, Minneapolis 7 Suze
Orman speaks at GLAAD SF 8 I Want to Work for Diddy's
Laverne Cox accepts the award for Outstanding Reality
Program at GLAAD SF 9 Partygoers at curve's third
annual Ladies' Night for Dine Out for Life at Charanga
in SF 10 Suede performs at the Dinah Weekend 11 Dr.
Betty L. Sullivan celebrates her birthday at Orson restaurant in SF with the burlesque troupe Twilight Vixen Revue
July/August 2009
I 15
LESBOFILE
I.
Thinkingthe Unthinkable
Ellen fails, Suze Orman gets mocked and LiRo split. By Jocelyn Voo
Americato LiRo:R.I.P.
LindsayLohanand SamanthaRonson's
relationship has had massively rumored ups (did
you hear that Lohan supposedly wanted to
convert to Judaism to prove her commitment to Ronson?) and downs (how about
that Lohan upset Ronson by unexpectedly
showing up at the Las Vegas club Ronson
was DJing at, only to have Ronson take off,
with Lohan chasing her all the way back to
Los Angeles?). But now there's been confirmation: The little train-wreck that could is
officially over.
Lohan's official comment on the breakup
was textbook damage control: "We are taking
a brief break so I can focus on myself;' she
told E! News.
But, you know, it's hard to "focus on yourself" when you keep getting asked about
someone else-on
national TV and the
World Wide Web, no less.
"I think [the breakup has] been really
good for me;' Lohan told EllenDeGeneres.
"I
thought it would be so much harder and it
hasn't been ... I've had great people surrounding me and I've just been working every
single day:'
And part of"working" includes an eHar1.1:1 ny video prnfile
for lwmor weh<;ite
16 j curve
FunnyOrDie.com that pokes fun at her
failed relationship.
'Tm recently single. I think. And I'm looking for someone who I can spend the rest of
my life with. Or at least the rest of my probation with;' she says in the clip. 'Tm looking
for a compatible mate who likes a night out
on the town-as long as he or she has driving papers. Likes ankle-monitoring bracelets
and doesn't have family members quick to
issue restraining orders:'
Since the breakup, Lohan has been partying with the boys, according to the New York
Post. Lesbian fans are hoping that's just the
rebound talking. Uh, Linds, call us.
Imitationas Flattery
With the country in its current econorruc
state, you can't get away from SuzeOrman.
And
though she's a New York Times bestseller, has
her own eponymous show on CNBC and has
won two Emmys for the PBS specials based
on her books, Orman has finally hit the bigtime ... at least in her mind.
Having KristenWiig impersonate her on
Saturday Night Live was the 'greatest honor
of my career;' the money guru says.
"I love it;' Orman told WWD.com. "Tue
real problem is that now I do my own show
every Saturday night and I start doing all
these things that make me go, 'Ugh. I'm playing Kristen Wiig: I mean, it's just very good.
She has got me down:' Watch out-this
could be 2009's TinaFey-Sarah
Palinskit.
Followthe Leader
Everyone and her mother (hi, Mom!) has a
Facebook page now, but some folks are just
jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. Enter
EllenDeGeneres,
who gave herself the lofty
goal of achieving a million "followers" in 24
hours. (For those also late to the tech party:
Twitter is a social media platform where
users are encouraged to send 140-character
messages, called tweets, to update their followers on what they're doing or thinking.)
Though she now has over a million
followers, DeGeneres failed in her mission,
even after she posted a pie of hot wifey
Portiade Rossi.Unsurprisingly, her Twitter
(www.twitter.com/TheEllenShow)
is actually pretty funny. But it is surprising that
she follows some 20-odd feeds, which
include the New York Times, Barack Obama,
Martha Stewart and ... MC Hammer? Well,
he does have quite a few more followers
than she does ... ■
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OPENSTUDIO
A Photo Field Tri
One lesbian finds beauty in her own backyard. By Heather Robinson
Inspiration can be an elusive mistress and even talented
photographers sometimes can't make those sparks fly.Trish
Tunney (www.trishtunney.blogspot.com) once roused her~
self from a creative slump by taking pictures of the same
block every day for two weeks straight.
"It helped me to relax, stop judging and start playing
again, to start seeing it as the joyful meditation I have done
my whole life;' she says.
Tunney most often finds inspira~
tion in new light hitting old things
as she haunts the streets around her
studio in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.
'Tm drawn to things from another time;' Tunney says.
"I like to see things that have lasted. Most things that are
old show the effects of time. It seems to me like they have
stories to tell:'
Lately, she has been mixing it up by taking pictures
through the viewfinders of old cameras from the '40s and
'50s. The effects are ghostly and unnaturally aged. "It feels
like looking through a time machine;' she says.
When Trish isn't capturing San Francisco, she is taking
pictures of chickens for her wife, the artist dk hass. ■
You don't need an expensive camera or a degree in art to enjoy taking pictures,
just a desire to see your world with fresh eyes. Tunney offers the following advice:
Signyourown [creativity]permission
slip: "I thinkwe'reallcreative,
butsome
peoplehaveideasthatgetinthewayof
thinkingthattheyare."
Findyourthing:"Forme,it'sreallyabout
shadows
andpatterns.
Foreveryone
it's
a differentthing...youjust[haveto]go
lookingforyourthing."
Doit for yourself:"Somepeopleareshy
aboutgettingintothatplacewherethey
canrecognize
beautywhileotherpeople
arewatching."
Bea goldfish:"Don'tthinktoomuch
aboutwhatyou'reseeing,
justseeit.Try
to seeit forthefirsttime,evenif it'sthe
thousandth
time."
Waitfor it: "Therearelotsandlotsof
interesting
thingsto photograph,
butit's
notrightuntilthelighthitstheminthe
rightway."
Rulescanbefun:"I
likehavingparameters.
I willpickonelensand
walkinonedirection.
Thatworksforme,to
pushmeintolooking
andseeing."
Explorewithoutjudgment:"You'regoing Thinkoutsidethe box:"If youfind
to makesomelousypicturesbeforeyou
something
reallyinteresting,
try puttingit
gettothegoodones."
anywhere
butthecenteroftheframe."
1s
I curve
OUTINFRONT
Doin Their Part
Queer women advocating on the home front and in the wider world. By Sheryl Kay
MinorityReport
writes for www.mombian.com, a lifestyle
For the past four years, MarcieFisher-Borne blog for lesbian moms and other LGBT parhas studied the HIV/ AIDS epidemic and ents. Although the original arrangement was
its impact on young gay and bisexual African for her partner, Helen Maynard, a semiconAmerican men as part of her work toward a ductor engineer, to stay at home with their
Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at newborn son, plans changed.
Chapel Hill. There, as a research associate for
"When I tell this to straight friends, they
Project STYLE (Strength Through Youth look at me like I'm from Mars;' she says.
Livin' Empowered), she has helped develop "That's one advantage lesbian couples havecultural competency training for healthcare
without rigid gender expectations, we may
providers to improve their capacity to work with this underserved
population.
Fisher-Borne first got turned on to
activism as an undergraduate. As a
Point Scholar, she was the first student to major in women's studies at
Louisiana State University. "It was in
these classes that I began, for the first
time, to find a language to articulate a
critique of social inequality and injustice;' she recalls.
She's also been involved in two
notable studies that have looked at
youth issues-one
examining the
strengths and challenges of different kinds of families, including the
working poor, parents with cognitive
limitations, gay and lesbian families
and grandparents raising grandchildren; and the other involving a five-year, $1 feel freer to form our own roles and be more
million Federal Children's Bureau grant to flexible in child rearing than opposite-sex
develop training to enhance the effectiveness couples:'
Overall, however, the similarities between
of child welfare workers and supervisors who
serve rural communities.
straight and gay parenting far outweigh the
"So often, we set the tone for how people will differences, Rudolph says. "There's not a lesengage with us;' she says. "If you are proud of bian way to change a diaper;' she jokes.
Still, there are some critical differences
who you are, connect to people with as much
love as possible and give folks a chance, they between straight and gay parenting, parare likely to surprise you:'
ticularly involving legal issues that might,
for example, impact which partner can visit
a sick child in the hospital. There can also
GaybyBooming
X:
For almost a decade, DanaRudolph
developed be tremendous financial burdens involving
5
5 marketing and business strategies for various
health insurance and IRA contributions.
~
"I think there can be great pressure on
i:l online services and served as a vice presi:i::
5 dent at Merrill Lynch, where she also led an LGBT parents to be perfect, as if we need to
prove to the world that we are good parents;'
~:> LGBT employee network.
t
Today, she's a stay-at-home mom and says Rudolph. "That can lead to pressure on
our kids to be perfect as well. Being a good
parent doesn't mean being perfect, however;
it means trying our best, learning from our
mistakes and realizing that most of parenting is on-the-job training:'
A Revolutionary
AmongUs
At 13, she volunteered at the local draft
resisters' office and, after weeks of stuffing
envelopes, she asked if there was something
more important she could do.
"They told me there's nothing
small in a big movement;' says Donna
RedWing,58, who today is a senior
advisor to the Interfaith Alliance
in Washington, D.C., and to the
National Crittenton Foundation in
Portland, Ore. Over the years, Red
Wing has held executive positions
with grassroots activist organizations such as the Child Assault
Prevention
Project of Central
New England, the Gay & Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation, the
Human Rights Campaign and the
Gill Foundation.
All lesbians, she says, have a part
to play in the work for equality and
that part can be as big or as small
as the individual wants it to be.
Simply being out is a great and courageous
beginning. And while she believes the LGBT
movement has made some real "atmospheric,
cultural and attitudinal changes;' many issues
are still unresolved.
"I would like to see an equality revolution,
a strategic, grassroots, not AstroTur£ movement, that engages our friends, our adversaries and those in the middle, connecting
houses of worship, academia, government,
the independent sector, Madison Avenue,
Wall Street, Main Street, Hollywood and
our families;' says Red Wing. "Our goal
is simple-equality-nothing
more and
nothing less:' ■
-.."-'
Know anyone who's
.
Email us at oif@curvernag.com.
July/August 2009 j 19
~f
ADVICE Lipstick & Dipstick
Making Your Move
DearLipstickandDipstick:I've beenin a rela- girlfriend didn't do a thing to help me get
tionshipgoingon two years.In the beginning, out, not only would there be no more nooky
it was nice.She did thingsfor me, like give for her, but there would also be no more
me moneywheneverI neededit, and bought roof over her head-because I would have
me things.We usedto go out.Now,it's totally burned it down. Mom's house would have to
different.Lastsummer,my motherkickedme go, too. Dump the deadbeat girlfriend now
out and my disabledsonand I hadto go to a and start rebuilding your life.
shelter.Myfriendscamethroughfor mebutmy
girlfriendneverhelpedme or did anythingfor Dipstick:I don't know, Lipstick. I think
me whileI was there.SheknowsI needhelp, maybe this one is not simply a sucker-she
especially
withmyson.I feel likeI'm justthere sounds like a leech. In what world would a
forshow,likea "trophygirlfriend,"
butshesays homeless lesbian mom with a disabled son
shelovesme,that we're nevergoingto break and no money be considered a trophy girlupandthatshewantsusto getmarried.I don't friend? What's the backstory here?Whywere
get it. Shegetsso mad if my friendsgive me you mooching off Mom in the first place?
money,buymethingsor offerto help,butshe Why do you need to be bailed out so much?
doesn'tdoit, so I'm kindof trapped.-Sucker
A little help now and then is fine, but friends
in SouthCarolina
giving you cash and buying you things? Look
at yourself and see if
Lipstick:The first thing you need, Sucker, it's really your girlis some self-respect. If not for you then for friend who needs
your child. If I ended up in a shelter and my to change.
I'm having crazed
th ghts about
packing it all up,
leaving my current
career path and
relocating to
Portland, Ore., or
some other lesbian
mecca. Is that
crazy talk?
20
Icurve
DearLipstickand Dipstick:I'm a 27-year-old
professional
witha coupleof graduatedegrees
anda lotof spunk,butI'm havinga reallyhard
time meetinginteresting,single lesbiansin
myfairlymetropolitan
area.I'm havingcrazed
thoughtsaboutpackingit all up, leavingmy
currentcareerpathandrelocating
to Portland,
Ore.,or someotherlesbianmecca,outof sheer
frustrationand demoralization.
Is that crazy
talk?- Makea MoveonMe
Dipstick:I was just your age when I packed
my bags and moved to Portland. I think it's a
great idea. What do you have to lose?
Lipstick:
I did the same thing, too, but learned
the hard way that your troubles somehow
get into your moving boxes, no matter how
vigilant you are at keeping them out. I'm not
saying you shouldn't move-I like the idea,
actually-but these issues you're having will
be with you in Portland, too, only with more
rain, organic food and trendy coffeehouses.
Let's face it: It's hard to meet a good woman,
one who not only blows your skirt up, but also
keeps that other important organ stimulated-your brain. If a great relationship were
easy, it wouldn't be so coveted. Stop obsessing over meeting someone special, Mover and
Shaker, and live your life with intention. That
may mean a big move to Portland, one of
the greatest cities on Earth, but it also might
mean sitting down and thinking about what
you want in life. So, focus on yourself and
creating what you imagine, and one day the
woman of your dreams will come sauntering
in-whether you're in Portland or Peoria.
Dipstick:There you go again, guru Lipstick,
with that New Age jargon-"intention;'
"organic food:' Mover and Shaker, Lipstick
is wrong. I think you're being called to
Portland because your soul mate awaits
you there. Follow your instincts. You're
young and, remember, you only live once.
Throw your dog in the back of the Subaru
and head to the Northwest. If things don't
work out in Puddletown, you can always try
the Peace Corps.
DearLipstickand Dipstick:I cameout about
sixyearsago.Myfamilyis veryaccepting-my
dadis evencomfortable
talkingwith me about
women.I am well-likedby myco-workers
and
I'm continuing
my education
by takingcollege
classes.Theoddpartof all this is that I work
as the after-school
programcoordinator
at my
church.I am not outat work,for obviousreasons.My bossis a minister,
mydadis a minister andmostof thepeopleI goto meetings
and
conferences
withareallministers!
Mydadhasa
positionof authorityin thechurch,soeveryone
inthisareaknowsme.I reallycannotbeoutand
workhere.I dolovemyjob,though.
Thekidsare
great,andtheparentsloveme.Inthatrespect,
it
is awesome.
In myheartI feelsadthatI cannot
havea full lifehere.It is a rural-ishsmalltown,
andif I hada sociallifeeveryone
wouldknow.I
wouldneverdoanything
to hurta child.I amnot
a dangertothem,butI knowthatnotalltheparentswouldfeelthatway.I lovemylifebutI just
don'tfeellikeit'sfinishedyet.I wanta wifeand
LIPSTICK
& DIPSTICK'S
FAVORITE
FASHION
ACCESSORIES
DIPSTICK
Peacesignnecklaceon a leathercord
VintageMontgomery
Wardbluedownvest
"RockStar"leathercuffby
RIGGED
OUT
/FITTERS
Dykesin TheCitycap
LIPSTICK
Dolce& GabbanaCiclaminobustier
S ucon}Gridrun ingshoesandTime
IRONMAN
triathlon30 lapwatch
JeaninePayer'sMarinathumbring
prised if you come out. With your dad leading
the flock, maybe you'll be just fine where you
are. Times are changing. Just go on and keep
living your life in a way that makes you happy.
If you meet someone you want to settle down
with, then do it. You don't have to make a big
announcement. Just live. Give your community the opportunity to support you. Maybe
they will. But if they don't, fight it sword and
plowshare! Make a stink. Call the press, organize protests, blog about it, get the ACLU
involved. Either you'll find a new career path
as an activist, or childcare centers across the
country will be lining up to offer you a job.
Dear Lipstickand Dipstick:My girlfriendis
reallysensitive.I say a lot of stupidthings,
anddothingsthat I thinkare meaningless
but
that hurt her.How can I be moresensitive?
theoptionto at leastattemptto adoptor foster - Barbed-Tongued
Barbie
somekids.ButI don'tseethathappening
inthis
town.AmI doomed?
AmI mentallyunstable
for Dipstick:I, like you, often let things fly out
beinghappyhere?- ChurchLady
of my mouth that I wish I could retrieveespecially ifI've had a drink or two. For some
Dipstick:No, you're not insane or doomed.
reason, tequila is the worst. Just ask Lip. She'll
There's nothing wrong with you and you never have margaritas with me again. But
know it. Your dad knows it and God knows
when I'm sober and sensitive, I try to take a
it, too. The problem is not with you but with
few breaths before I spout whatever is on the
bigotry and dose-minded people. We would
tip of my tongue. You've taken the first step by
all love to be out at our jobs, but the truth is, realizing this is a problem for you. Now follow
some of us don't have that luxury. Think of Dipstick's four-step process to avoid insulting
the military. You're out to the people who are those you love. Step 1: Count to 10. Step 2:
important to you in your life. That is good.
Take a deep breath. Step 3: Ask yourself if the
statement you're about to make will get you
Lipstick:
What? Dipstick, are you taking those
closer to or farther away from her jewelry box?
herbal sedatives again? Church Lady, get out
Step 4: Keep your mouth shut anyway. Works
of that closet! You can have the life you're every time.
dreaming about, but you're going to have to
Lipstick:Dipstick, did you have to bring up
pay the price for it. You have something that
the margaritas in Manhattan incident? I
other people from religious families don't
was trying to put that behind us. I have the
have: a father who supports you. Consider
opposite problem, Barbie, believe it or not-I
yourself lucky. There may be consequences
tend to be too nice. I wouldn't say I'm a patsy,
when you come out-ignorant
people judgbut when it comes to someone I love, I can be
ing you or treating you differently-but
that
quite a softie. Well, until I become a pushedis their baggage, not yours. Think of it this
way: What's the worst they can do to you? over-the-edge, I'm-out-of-here Barbie, that
Gossip? Treat you differently? Cast stones? is-which is what I suspect your girlfriend
We are on the front line of this fight and it's will eventually morph into. Maybe you two
never been more important for queers to live just aren't right for each other. ■
their lives out and proud. The time is now to
Get more advice! Watch
stop living in fear.
new episodes of The
Dipstick:
Yeah, sorry. I just threw the sedatives
Lipstick & Dipstick Show
away.You never know-perhaps
you'll be surat www.curvemag.com.
July/August 2009
I21
ADVICE Relationships
Sex and the Single Girl-Over 40
Oh, the perils of midlife lesbian romance. By Stephanie Schroeder
I'm on a date with a woman very close to my age (I'm 45, she's
42), and one of the first things out of her mouth is: "My ex... " I
squirm and halflisten to the litany of affronts and offenses she
says the woman has perpetrated. Not that I don't believe her,
but this chick is giving me a rundown about a previous lover
who obviously started as ... a date. Not a good sign.
She is yammering about her most recent ex, a writerjust like you;' she says. Great. And her ex before that was an
attorney ( thank God I am not practicing!). It turns out she
is not over either one of these women, which I find ironic,
since I met her on an online dating site. "Dating" being the
operative word.
The worst thing I can think of doing on a first date
is dredging up a parade of my exes. I have been a serial
monogamist since I was 24. Now, 45 and single, the last
thing I want to discuss with another woman who is almost
a stranger-but
with whom I am trying to enjoy a meal-is
how one ex beat me, another cheated on me and yet another
was nice, but we just didn't work out.
My experiences with other, supposedly date-ready dykes is
that they are often so mired in drama at work, at home, with
friends and, yes, former relationships that their emotional
capacity to make a romantic or even a personal connection,
let alone commit to a monogamous or open relationship, is
dubious at best.
Women over 40 have a lot of baggage, for sure, but one
positive note is that we are still putting it out there. I see
all types of women willing to post or send photos, proving
that we've got the style, personality and confidence to back
up a few wrinkles, some gray hairs and an imperfect body.
After 40-plus years, our sensibility is mature, and 20- and
30-year-olds can't compete. We are willing to make bold
statements about exactly who and what we are looking for.
We persevere, undeterred.
Being ready to dive headlong into the future is what it's all
about. After all, we 40-somethings are in our prime, and wallowing in former drama only holds us back
from experiencing the
here and now. We need
to plan for the next 40
years. When we're open
and honest, and emotionally and physically
available, it's time to
have fun-go out and
play. Just remember not
to stay out too late! ■
22 I curve
MIDLIFEDATING
DOS...
ANDDON'TS
...
• Dobeupfront
aboutyourage.Hey,
sheis goingto findoutsooneror later.
• Don'tfeelbadaboutbeing
singleafter40.Noteveryone
is
cutoutto havea lifelongrelationship.Beingaloneis neithera
punishment
nora crime.
• Dodressandactyourage.Fortyis
thenew... whatever,
andit's perfectlyacceptable
to beanurbanor
ruralhipster.But,don'tactlikeyou're
stuckin the'80sortryingto bean'09
punk-you mightgetseriously
injured
in a mashpit incident.
• Dolearnfromexperience.
If you
haveunhealthy
patterns,
don'trepeat
them.If youconsistently
makeunwise
decisions,
changeyourperspective,
see
a therapist,buysomeself-helpbooks,
worktheroom-whateverit takesto
beableto (finally)engagein healthy
intimaterelationships.
• Dobe outrageous.
We'renowold
enough-andboldenough-nottoworry
aboutwhatothersthink.Beyourself,
be
freeandbecarefree.
• Dohavesafesex.HIV/
AIDShas
notbeencured,STDsstill exist.Yes,
female-to-female
transmission
mightbe
low-risk,butwhytakeanyriskat all?
• Don't(andI meandon't)
talkaboutyourex(es)onthe
firstdate.Oreventhesecond.I
meanit.
• Don'tevenfudgea little
aboutyourage.Especially
to
muchyounger
women-it will
comebackto hauntyou.
• Don'ttrymakingit workwith
a chickunder32.It's a setup
for certainfailure.Trustme.
• Don'tconfuse
sexwithlove.
Yes,weare40-plus,butsomeof
ushaven'tworkedthroughour
"issues"withsexandlove.Too
manyrelationships
arebasedon
sexalone,whichis finewhennot
confused
withlove.Makesure
youknowthedifference
before
youreservetheU-Haul!
Relationships ADVICE
This Is Your Brainon Love
Best Domestic
Gay Resort Town
-2006,2007,2008,
Out Traveler /PlanetOut.com
The woman behind Chemistry.com explains. By Katie Peoples
Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist
and the developer of Chemistry.corn's gayfriendly compatibility survey, has recently
released a new book on human attraction,
Why Him? Why Her? (Henry Holt and
Company). The follow-up to
her 2004 book, Why We Love
(Holt Paperbacks), her latest
work explores the brain chemistry behind all things amatory.
Focusing on four major hormones in the brain (testosterone, estrogen, dopamine and
serotonin) and the four major
personality types they produce
(director, negotiator, explorer and
builder), Fisher explains how our
brain chemistry expresses itself
in our personality and why the best matches
are usually between people with compatible
chemistry.
"People would always say, 'Well, we had
no chemistry' or 'We had chemistry: And I
thought to myself-because I do study brain
chemistry-maybe there really is that kind of
chemistry and were naturally drawn to certain
people because of their body chemistry;' Fisher
says. "And then I thought to mysel£ Well you
know, if I were to design a questionnaire to
see to what degree you express these chemical
systems... and then on Chemistry.com watch
who's drawn to whom, maybe I could find
some of nature's patterns:'
What she found was that certain personality types are drawn together. For example, an
explorer will do well with another explorer, a
builder will do well with other builders and
negotiators seek out directors.
While her book focuses on heterosexual
relationships, Fisher says the same rules apply
to LGBT people, as these hormonal differences cross the sexuality spectrum (i.e., having
higher testosterone levels does not necessarily
make you a lady lover). "Who you are drawn
to is very different from how you feel when you
are drawn to somebody;' she says."For example,
we all have a fear system in the brain. It doesn't
matter if you're gay or straight, you're still going
to be scared of something and not scared of
others in the same way when you're in love.
It's the same brain system. So, I really don't see
gay and lesbian people as any different from
heterosexual people. I match them exactly the
same way, and I think I tend to
be accurate:' And just how do
we know if the one we're with
is The Oner
"The brain is the very best
computer for finding love. You
feel that this person might be
right or wrong for you;' Fisher
says. "The brain was built millions of years ago with what
we call 'mate choice; and we're
pretty good at sizing somebody
up and having almost instant
feelings of whether this will work for us or not.
and then of course, all during the conversations
theres the escalation and de-escalation points.
I mean somebody-you're talking to them and
they, you suddenly realize, they are a religious
zealot and you're an atheist and you say I don't
think so. You know, so were walking billboards
of who we are:' ■
Just Between GirlzN
) Formoreof ourinterview
withHelenFisher,
gotowww.curvemag.com
TRY FOR FREE!
1.800.616.6113
CODE 1508
lavenaer line™
North America's Lesbian Chatline
lavenderline.net
Reduce your
carbon
footprint!
ADVICE Health
FiveWaysto BetterSex
Natural supplements to kickstart nooky. By Nina Lary
...
e
Flip through the pages of the
digital edition and use keyword searches then bookmark
your favorite stories
e Forward pages to friends
e Click from the page directly to
the women artists we cover
e Watch video clips and hear
songs embedded in your
digital copy
e
Download and save your
magazine on your hard drive,
(no more stacks of magazines
to recycle!)
Looking to amp up your sex life without all
the icky side effects of prescription drugs r
Dr. Ray Sahelian has been studying the
benefits of natural supplements for years. In
his most recent book, Natural Sex Boosters
(Square One Publishers), he draws on personal trial runs, female and male patient
feedback and medical research to assess the
true erotic qualities of over 20 different natural remedies.
0 Diffuse Anxiety With Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is an ancient ayurvedic shrub
root that helps diffuse anxiety, which can
allow you to be more open to lovemaking.
We've all let everyday stresses, insecurities
and anxieties get in the way of nooky. So
while ashwagandha is not necessarily a libido
booster, it brings a sense of calm and well-being,
so that your inner eroticism can emerge.
8 Pregnelolone Stimulates the Senses
Pregnenolone is a steroidal hormone that
can increase sensory stimulation including
sight, hearing and touch. So, those normally
ho-hum kisses or suggestive grazes from
your lover just might have you crackling with
sexual energy-a good time to bust out your
arsenal of sexual sights and sounds.
@ Gear Up With Tongkat Ali
Tongkat ali, also known as long jack, is a
tree root from Southeast Asia. It takes several hours to kick in, so take it with breakfast or at your midmorning coffee break and
you'll be ready to rumble by the time you
get off work.
8 Yohimbe Gives an Instant Boost
Anything that worked for Bantu tribes during "extended orgiastic mating rituals that
would last up to two weeks" has got to do I
something smokin' hot for your love life.
Sahelian reports that the bark of the yohimbe
tree, which is an evergreen native to Western
Africa, and its active ingredient, yohimbine,
is one of the most immediate, intense natural
sexual boosters on the market.
0 Andro's Great for Mature Love
Sahelian calls andro, a natural steroidal hormone, "the father of testosterone:' Though
often equated with male sexuality, testosterone also impacts the female libido, and its
levels drop as we age. Andro is most effective
for middle-aged and older women and works
best when taken a couple of days in a row,
leading up to a weekend of passionate sex. ■
Botanicals for Your Breath
Ayurvedic mouthwash is an acquired taste, which I have
not yet managed to acquire. I'm going to keep trying,
though, because this stuff works miracles for your mouth,
including stronger gums, less cavity-causing plaque and
fresher breath. Though it tastes like licorice schnapps,
Auromere doesn't have alcohol or any of the yucky
artificial stuff usually found in mouthwashes. Gargle
a shot today. ($11, www.auromere.com) [HeatherRobinson]
j
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ASTROGRRL
Turn Up the Heat
Charming, flirtatious and irresistible-Cancer and Leo rule this summer. By Charlene Lichtenstein
Missy Elliott
turns 38 on
July 1
Cancer(June22-July23)
Sex:You have your eye on someone special but haven't
had the courage to make your feelings known. See if
she feels the same and then feel it together. Career:
Make it your mission to clean out your closet and
remove any barriers to your eventual success.
Leo(July24-Aug.23)
Sex:You find that a certain gal pal fans the flames
of your passion. Will you get singed, burned or well
done:' Career:Lionesses can use their considerable
influence to move and shake the movers and shakers.
Uh-oh, I'm getting dizzy!
BETWEEN
THE Virgo(Aug.24-Sept.23)
SHEETS
WITH Sex:Sleeping your way to the top may not be the best
CANCER
ANDLEO way to move up the corporate ladder, but it is easier
than working a full week. Career:You need to move
Old-time
astrologers
saythat
Cancerwomentendto be someone out of the way in order to advance. Use more
themothering
type,which than half your wits to outmaneuver this competitor.
conjures
upallsortsof Oedipal
fantasies.
Factis,thesegals Libra(Sept.24-0ct. 23)
justsimplyloveto playhouse Sex:Sexy Libras find love with an exotic strangeranddon'tnecessarily
carewho and the stranger she is, the better. You bore easily...
playsthenurturingmamaand
much to her sensual delight. Career:Expect to travel
whoplaysthehungrybabe.
for business throughout the summer. It will be more
Buttheyaremoreaffectionate
thanpassionate.
Cancer
rules fun if you can convince the bosses to send you to Paris
thebreastsandthestomach, instead of Podunk.
andSapphic
Crabstendto have
amplebosoms
(thebetterto Scorpio(Oct.24-Nov.22)
snuggle
you,mydear).Leosare Sex:Be especially generous and thoughtful to your
firesigns,soit'sa goodbetthat girlfriend this summer. You will reap what you sow, so
yourLeoenjoysa robustsexual
become a sexy and giving so-and-so. Career:
Scorpios
appetite.
You'rea luckylovergrrl
know
how
to
wheel
and
deal.
Use
the
summer
to lay
to havethisbigcatinyourpen
down
some
corporate
tracks
so
you
can
chug
to
sucbecause
whenshe'shot,she's
outto demonstrate
thatshe cess. Start your engine before you run out of steam.
isthenumerounostokerand
poker.However,
you'llbesecond Sagittarius(Nov.23-Dec.22)
incommand:
Leogalsareposi- Sex:Relationships become lovey-dovey if you can
tionedto bethequintessential
pry yourself away from your assorted personal projpillowqueenswhoexpectto be
ects. Make time for your lady or she will find time
serviced
first.Andif she'snotin
for
someone else. Career:You rule the roost when it
themood,neitherareyou,babe.
comes to career momentum. But will you "fowl" out
when it comes to employee motivation:' Who cares
about them anyway.
Capricorn(Dec.23-Jan. 20)
Sex:Be nice to your body and it will be nice to you.
26
I curve
Even better, be nice to her body and hope she reciprocates. Career:
Watch for unpleasant job assignments.
Fob them off on someone else and get out of the way.
Aquarius(Jan.21-Feb.19)
Sex:Aqueerians are charming and cajoling throughout the summer. Use this newfound talent to your
advantage ... or to take advantage. Career:It might be
hard to stir up the motivation you need to get the job
done. There are too many fun things going on that
divert your attention. Save her for a rainy day and get
back to work.
I,.
~
Pisces(Feb.20-March20)
Sex:Feather your love nest with plush decorations.
Then invite a sexy bird over and crack a few eggs
together. Career:
You may be asked to travel for business but try to find an excuse to stay close to home.
Tell them you'll be more effective, then leave early.
Aries(March21-April20)
Sex:All talk and no action won't get you anywhere.
All action and no talk will get you into trouble. Use
your tongue wisely this summer, young lady! Career:
Ask your neighbors for advice about a certain job
issue. They've been gossiping about it behind your
back anyway.
Taurus(April21-May21)
Sex:Find ways of spoiling your lovergrrl this summer.
The heat you two create will warm you all through
the fall and winter. Career:
Even with the lousy economy, Sapphic Bulls could see a raise in income or job
status. Become a queen bee of the office by spreading
your honey and stashing your stinger.
Gemini(May22-June21)
Sex:You have loads of sex appeal and charisma this
summer. Hurry up and make it work for you before
it dries up and peels off. Career:
You make a powerful
first impression on bosses and other people of influence: Is that spinach in your teeth:' ■
Astrologer Charlene Lichtenstein is the author of
Herscopes: A Guide to Astrology for
Lesbians. Get more at www.thestarry-
eye.comor go to her blogat www.thestarryeye.typepad.com.
Money ADVICE
Kee
Your Nest E
Warm
Five financial tips to make sure you don't get left out in the cold. By Heather Robinson
Whether your nest egg has recently been
shrunk by the market downturn or you
haven't even begun to feather your retirement
nest, there are some financial planning tools
that you should be aware of. We recently
called on two experts who specialize in help,
ing lesbian couples to give us the inside line on
maximizing retirement assets.
e A littleegghelpsprotectthebigegg
Christie advises everyone to maintain an
emergency cash fund that will cover at least
six months of living expenses. This fund will
tide you over in case of an un,
expected job loss, or health or
family crisis. "If you don't have
that and an event does occur,
people tend to draw down
on those retirement assets,
and then they're paying a
penalty;' she says. In these
uncertain times, Christie
recommends contributing
less to your long,term retirement fund, until
you've built up a comfortable emergency fund.
0 Leaving
youreggbehind
Another uncomfortable topic is what hap,
pens to your assets when you die. Yeldell's
No. 1 piece of advice to her clients is to
create a legal will. "It's not that if you die
nothing will happen. A lot of stuff is going
to happen based on the laws of your state;'
she says. If you don't have a will, your assets
will most likely be distributed by familial
lineage, which does not recognize nonmar,
ried partners. ■
A greattimeto investin yournest
For some reason, the common,sense
shopping instinct that has most of us lung,
ing at half price shoes does not transfer to
our investments. "If I were to tell you that
Banana Republic just put everything on sale,
most people would say, 'I want to go in and
buy while the prices are really, really good:
But the stock market is exactly the opposite;'
says Yeldell."People are scared to death when
the prices are low and greedy when the prices
are high:' Today's market is the equivalent of
an after,Christmas clearance sale, and Yeldell
encourages anyone with a long,term outlook
to invest as much as she can.
@
July/August 2009 j 27
DYKE
DRAMA
l.-.
__ S_a
____
p____
p_h_ic_S_t_ay.-L,.._c_a_ti_o_n_S
___
_
How to have a happy homo home vacation. By Michele Fisher
In these trying economic times, everybody is
cutting corners and sacrificing. For many, one
of the first things to go is the annual family
summer vacation. There is even a name for
not going away for vacation; it is called a
"staycation:' It is cute and catchy and way too
long in coming.
I wish my parents had known about staycations when I was a kid. We were lower
middle class, teetering on poor, and yet my
parents thought it their right and duty to
take my sister and me on a vacation
every year. It was always a camping
trip but it was no picnic: hot car ( airconditioning was for rich people),
bugs, bad food (forget s'mores-we
had no-mores, which was anything
my dad burnt in a cast-iron pan over
the campfire) and a lack of any fun
activities.
Somehow, my parents thought that
taking a couple of kids from smackdab in the middle of urban blight and
plopping them out in the woods for
a week with nothing to do but stare
at each other was going to be relaxing. It was anything but. At least in
the city we had our friends and our
bikes, but out in the woods with our
well-intentioned but unimaginative
parents, boredom reigned supreme.
That is, except for a couple of minutes of sheer terror per day, courtesy
of some creepy crawly that was supposedly more scared of us then we
were of it.
The upside of these family getaways
was that home, as homely as it was,
looked awfully good to us when we
got back.
I have spoken with my sister about
the staycation concept and she agrees
that our parents would have been
much better off just leaving us at home
for a week. She even suggested it would
have been kinder for them to leave us at
a laundromat for a week. That way, we
would at least have had clean clothes
28
Icurve
and been able to watch them spinning around
in the machines for entertainment.
I am geographically blessed as an adult.
I live in San Francisco. There is so much
to see and do here that I could take staycations the rest of my life and still have plenty
to do. Back when I was single, my whole life
was a staycation. Most of the time I was too
broke to leave, but I never minded being
stranded where all the birds were flocking.
I thought of the San Francisco airport as a
delivery service for women. They were on
vacation and by extension, so was I, several
times a year.
I think I could cope with a staycation as a
single lezzie just about anywhere, as long as I
had a computer. Women are just a few clicks
away, so a gal could set it up ahead of time,
with a date every night of her vacation. If
being on vacation is not all about women for
you, then ... well. .. go to the library or take up
a new hobby, like tole painting or fly tying.
It isn't the single gals I worry about when
it comes to staycations-it
is the couples.
You won't save any money by staying at home
during your vacation if you have to spend
thousands on vodka and couples counseling
just to get through it.
Don't just assume that you two are going
to stay home together for a solid week and
everything is going to be Shangri-la. What
are you going to do with that time? Where
are you going to go? Are you going to sleep
in or chase the dawn on the jogging path
each morning, while the oil in the car needs
changing, the kitchen cupboards need painting and the garage is threatening to spew its
entire contents onto the driveway?
A successful staycation requires careful planning and honest communication.
Is your holiday going to be all about lazing
around, or home improvement or personal
enrichment?
For me, a working vacation is hunting
truffles in France or counting fish in Hawaii.
The little lady, on the other hand, can't help
working, no matter where we go. We took a
tour a few years ago through colonial New
England. We stayed one night in Delaware
and when I woke up the next morning, she
had already swept the entire state.
We staycationed last year and we are doing
it again this year, but this year is going to be
even better than last, because we know what
works and what just works our nerves.
Before our staycation, she makes a list of
the "projects" she has to get done in order to
have any peace at all on her time off. We go
through the list together and negotiate how
the tasks will be accomplished, who will do
them and how long we are going to devote
to each.
I make a list of all of the places and people
I want to see during our time off together.
She looks it over and lets me know who I will
be visiting on my own and what wondrous
sights she is willing to take in.
We also talk about how much we are willing to spend on our staycation. I love trying
new restaurants, seeing first-rate entertainment and having an adventure that I'll be
able to reminisce about in my old age. My
wife would be content to just live off whatever is in the pantry, scrub her days away and
read junk mail by candlelight at night. If you
ever want the Amish vacation experience, she
is your woman.
I think the best part of not being at work
is not being at work, so we always try to keep
that in mind.
A staycation can be a restful and frugal
alternative to the madness that vacation
brings. But if you are set on having a real
vacation experience, I could bring my dad
over and he could take you out to the backyard, throw a scorpion in your lap and tell
you Army stories while he burns a can of
potted meat in his cast-iron pan. ■
July/August 2009 j 29
POLITICS
Green BeforeGreenWas Cool
Lesbians have always been at the forefront of the eco-movement. By Victoria A. Brownworth
Coincidentally, environmental consciousness
and sun poisoning struck me at the same time.
The date was April 22, 1970. It was the
first Earth Day and I was one of 20 million
participants worldwide.
I was a high school sophomore, an antiwar
activist, an out lesbian and, like other young
hippies of my generation, I was cause-hungry.
I wanted to change the world. Saving the
planet seemed a good place to start.
In Philadelphia, the Earth Day celebration was outdoors at Belmont Plateau, a hilly
enclave overlooking the city in Fairmount
Park. It was an extraordinarily beautiful
spring day-hotter than usual for that time
of year. There were speeches and music and
no doubt a lot of people smoking pot. We all
left with a greater knowledge of the importance of sustainability as we tossed away our
trash and felt good about it.
By that evening, I had been infused with
environmental purpose, and I'd also overdosed on sunshine. It took two full weeks to
recover from the sun poisoning my Nordic
skin got that day (I chalked it up as an example
of the power of planetary forces), but I never
recovered from the fear that humans might
destroy the earth in my lifetime if we didn't
all get on the environmental bandwagon.
Environmentalism was slow to take hold
in the majority community, but among hippies, queers and other cause-mongers, going
green became a way of life early on.
For lesbians, it seemed a natural coalescence of form and function: How could we
worship the Goddess and not reclaim the
planet she had given us?
There's some dispute over whether or not
Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and acclaimed science writer,
was a lesbian. She never married
and had no romantic relationships
with men. She did, however, have
a long and deep romantic relationship with Dorothy Freeman, which
lasted for 11 years, until Carson's
untimely death from cancer in
1964.
30
Icurve
Carson was one of the first to signal the
canary-in-the-coal-mine nature of environmental catastrophe. Like Al Gore's film, An
Inconvenient Truth, Carson's 1962 book, Silent
Spring, was groundbreaking science. Carson
took on the chemical industry, spurring a generation of activism; her work resulted in the
banning of DDT, a destructive and dangerous pesticide that may even have been linked
to her own cancer.
Carson's work was slow to be accepted
on a large scale. Unlike Gore, she didn't win
a Nobel Prize for her contribution to the
planet, although Jimmy Carter did award
her the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
posthumously.
Today, however, Silent Spring is
required reading and the word "sustainability" has not only become
common parlance,
it has spawned its
own field of study at
noted universities.
The
environmental alarms Carson
sounded nearly 50
years ago echo daily
in talk about going green, reducing carbon
footprints, buying local, eschewing chemicals
and lowering the planet's temperature.
The hardcore members of the lesbianfeminist movement of the 1970s were
intensely connected to earth issues. They
lived a lifestyle that respected the earth,
heeded Carson's warnings and embraced concepts like recycling and reducing carbon footprints long before these ideas were accepted
by the larger culture.
One area where lesbians broke ground
was in food. Scientists like Carson have
long posited that the disruption of the food
chain is one of the first signs of that injury
to the planet. In the 1970s, lesbians like Tee
Corinne moved to women-owned land and
created their own eco-friendly communes
and communities, many of them in the Pacific
Northwest, like Corinne's home in Oregon.
As an early environmentalist, I was also
deeply impressed by the work of Wangari
Maathai, an environmental activist from
Africa who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize
for preaching sustainability on the continent
most damaged by deforestation.
The sustainability of the planet begins
locally, as Maathai's work so clearly demonstrated. We can't save the polar bears and
the ice caps without stopping needless waste
wherever we live. All those landfills give off
gases that make our planet hotter and more
dangerous. Deforestation means a hotter
planet and more extreme weather.
Growing their own food and reforesting land-these
were early green initiatives
among lesbians that have now become so
widespread that even the Obamas have a vegetable garden at the White House ( the first
since Eleanor Roosevelt's victory garden) and
the first lady has discussed the importance of
buying locally grown food.
Each of us addresses the green issue individually, but we all need to embrace it and
teach it, as those lesbian mentors I met in the
1970s taught me.
We can recycle everything now: clothes,
food, paper products, glass and cans. And
composting and growing your own has never
been easier. Whatever you cannot grow, you
can probably buy locally. And if you can't
buy it locally, do you really need it? Consider
where products come from, who produces
them and what else the company produces
that might be damaging.
Going vegetarian helps too, because raising animals for food can be highly inefficient.
Think of switching to clothes made of natural materials like cotton, linen, flax and wool.
Cut out the chemicals in the garden and the
house (vinegar, baking soda, salt and lemons
are the best cleaners around, are incredibly
cheap and don't harm the environment). Use
compact fluorescent bulbs in lights and LED
lights outside. Unplug all unused appliances.
Don't buy or use things without thinking
about what will happen to them after you are
finished with them.
Part of going green is talking green. Not
everyone can be a scientist of Carson's caliber
or a mover and shaker of Maathai's intensity,
but everyone can explain the impact of buying
locally versus buying from states or countries
far away. Everyone can explain why we must
recycle. Everyone can talk about the perils of
too much waste.
I like to think that lesbians helped to form
the movement that is so vital to our planetary
survival. But even if we didn't start it, we can
certainly do everything in our power to sustain it-and our planet. ■
News Notes
MarriageDebate
Sweepsthe Nation
Followingswiftly in the
footstepsof Vermont
andIowa,statelegislaturesin Maineand
NewHampshire
voted
in favorof same-sex
marriageon May6.
WhileMaineGov.JohnBaldaccisigned
his state'sbill lessthan an hourafter the
legislatureapprovedit, at presstime it
is unclearwhetherGov.JohnLynchwill
do the same,thoughhe haspromised
to "makethe bestdecisionI canfor the
peopleof NewHampshire."
NewYorkGov.
DavidPatersonannouncedin Aprilthat
he wouldintroducea same-sexmarriage
bill in his state'slegislature.Meanwhile,
onApril 21,the NevadaSenatepasseda
domesticpartnershipbill. Thebill will not
legalizesame-sexmarriage,whichis outlawedby Nevada'sConstitution,but it does
givedomesticpartnersthe samerights
as marriedpartners.However,
Gov.Jim
Gibbonshaspreviouslythreatenedto veto
the bill whenit reacheshis desk.State
lawmakersin Washington
approvedthe
Senate-passed
domesticpartnershipbill,
whichwill expandon existinglaws made
whenthe state'sdomesticpartnerships
becamelegalin 2007.Thebill is expected
to be signedinto law by Gov.ChrisGregoire
despitethe referendumfiled by opponents
in May,whichwouldallowvotersto uphold
or rejectthe decision.
HateCrimeLawsExpand
Washington's
Legislature
hasexpanded
the
state'shatecrimebill to includeprotection of transgender
people.Previously,
the
bill onlyincludedlesbian,gayandbisexual
people.And,a Colorado
jury foundAllen
Andrade,32,guiltyof
a hatecrimeandfirstdegreemurderin the
killingof AngieZapata,
an 18-year-old
transgenderwoman.Theruling,
believedto bethe first
in whichhatecrimelaw
hasbeenappliedin a
murdertrial wherethe
victimwastransgender,
setsa nationalprecedent
for hatecrimelegislation.
Colorado
Beneficiary
Law
Coloradopassedthe Designated
BeneficiaryAgreement
Act in April,which
expandsthe rightsof same-sexcouples
in areasincludinginheritance,medical
decisionsandhospitalvisitations.Although
Coloradovoterspasseda same-sexmarriagebanin 2006,the beneficiaryagreement,whichwent into effectJuly 1, brings
same-sexcouplescloserto havingthe
samerightsas marriedcouples.
Tennessee
Schools
BlockLGBT
Websites
TheACLUhasthreatenedto bringsuit
againstTennessee
publichighschools
that haveblockedwebsitescontaining
the keyword"LGBT."
Websitessuchasthe
HumanRightsCampaign
andGLAAD
have
Custody
BattlesRage
Thespreadof civil unionsandsame-sex
beenblockedby a filter that administrators
marriageis leadingto anotherkey debate
canreportedlycontrol,whilesitesclaimin lesbiancivil rights:the lawssurrounding ing to provideinformationabout"curing"
child custody.InApril,TVadsbeganairing
homosexuality
havenot beenblocked.
in Virginiathat targeta Vermontresident's
rightsto visit the daughterof her ex-civil
GayConservatives
LaunchNewPolitical
Organization
partner,who is a Virginiaresident.The
GOProud,
a
adssuggestthat the June2008Virginia
Republican
SupremeCourtrulinggrantingvisitation
www.goproud.org
organization
rightsto the Vermontresidentviolates
aimingto give
Virginia'sconstitutionalbanon same-sex
gayconservativesa voice,was launched
unions.Andin NewYork,a courthasruled
in April.Accordingto the group'sleaderthat a womanwhosecivil partnergave
ship,GOProud
supportsgay marriage
birth to a sonafterthe womenwere
but believesthat it shouldbe achieved
joinedin a Vermontcivil unionhasno
throughstate-by-statelegislation,not
parentalrights becausesheneverlegally
court precedence.
adoptedthe child.
GOPROUD
July/August 2009
I31
'
Jessie Haungs walks into the coffee shop where
I sit, huddled over a cup of steaming chai. She is fe(f.•
fresh-faced and joyful, even after spending her
entire day dragging an enormous skate ramp to
the driveway of her new home. This is a girl who
loves to skate-loves it enough to heave heavy
chunks of wood across Portland, Ore., loves it
enough to commit a good portion of her life to
making the skating world accessible to girls.
Her infectious enthusiasm is most accurately
measured by the fact that in just a little over one
year, she's taken the idea of building a community
of female skaters-Portland's Skate Like a Girl
(SLAG)-and brought it to fruition with the help
of 15 volunteer coaches and organizers, many of
whom are queer.
Back in 2005, Haungs ran across a flier for the
original Skate Like a Girl organization in Seattle
and was immediately smitten. A true go-getter,
Haungs says she immediately contacted Fleur
Larsen (one of the original founders of SLAG)
and said, "This is awesome! What can I do to
help?"
SLAG started in Olympia, Wash., at Ladyfest
and now has chapters in Seattle, Portland and
San Francisco. When Haungs called, SLAG
Seattle was already in full swing, hosting skate
clinics and summer camps for girls. Haungs
dove in, providing tons of raffle prizes from
Portland-area skate shops and going back every
year to coach. But she still wanted to do more.
"I was so moved by what they do, and with
the skate scene here [in Portland]," she admits.
"There's so many girls, I just decided that it
had to happen." In 2007, Haungs started the
Portland chapter of SLAG with an all-girl skate
clinic, held at the city's only indoor skate park,
Department of Skateboarding (www.departmentofskateboarding.com). About 10 girls showed
up for that first clinic, and the growth has been
exponential since then. Now, 30 to 40 girls come
every month. They are of all ages and abilities
(though the majority are between 8 and 12 years
old) and learn from volunteer coaches.
"Local women's Roller Derby players sometimes show up to the clinics," says Haungs.
"They come to expand their skating skills from
boots to boards. We have a lot of women showing up that haven't touched their boards since
they were 10. You're never too old to learn."
The ultimate goal for SLAG Portland, she
admits, is to continue once-a-month clinics and
to do summer camps with Portland Parks and
Recreation. "The whole idea behind SLAG is to
empower women in a male-dominated arena.
The ultimate goal in general is to be able to go
to a skate park and see half girls, half boysequality on the ramps!"
Wantto rampup?Goto www.skatelikeagirl.com
"It's not just a sport for males. Females get in
there and tear it up with them-and just as good,
but with a little extra flavor because we are girls!
I love teaching the kids and adults how to skate.
We get them to cheer for each other, help each
other, and work with each other to be better not
only at skating, but as people, too."
"It's amazing to be part of something that creates a feeling
of empowerment in girls and women. We are not only working to dismantle the stereotypes of gender connected to
skateboarding, but bust the boundaries of what we think we
can and cannot do. I love to skate and I came to it later in
life than most, but I never would have gotten this far without
finding SLAG along the way." (pictured on page 32)
"I love the inspiration and support I get from
the SLAG women and girls. For being such
a male-dominated sport, it's great to have a
group of girls who will lend a helping hand and
give you the moral support that you need to
keep achieving your goals in skateboarding."
(pictured on page 32)
itS easy
beingg
ee
Want to do the right thing for the environment but hate the idea of spending
$200 on a pair of bamboo jeans, eating organic wheatgrass or trading your
beloved VW for a Prius? You don't have to. It's possible to be an environmentalist without investing big bucks or spending a lot of time making changes.
Going green is easier than ever. Want proof? Here are eight simple changes
that don't cost much but pay big dividends to the environment.
Stopjunkmail.Catalogs from Doilies R Us and
Fisherman's Supplies are going straight from
the mailbox into the trash, right:' Put a stop
to
unwanted
catalogs, which
require 8 million
tons of trees to produce, at www.catalog
choice.org. Use the
free service to unsubscribe from mailing
lists. Don't fret about missing the fall Victoria's
Secret catalog. You'll still get the ones you
want, minus the junk mail.
Giveold sneakersnew life. Your used sneakers, with their broken laces and worn treads,
shouldn't be donated to Goodwill. Instead,
drop them off at a local running shop. Nike
collects used athletic shoes and turns the
rubber soles into a surface material called
Nike Grind, which is used on basketball
courts, athletic fields and running tracks all
36
I curve
over the United States. To date, the program
has kept over 21 million pairs of running
shoes out of landfills. Go to www.
letmeplay.com/ reuseashoe to find
a drop-off location.
Rethinkbottled water. It takes more than
1.5 million barrels of oil-enough
to fuel
100,000 cars-to manufacture the amount of
bottled water Americans drink on an annual
basis. To make matters worse, those bottles
often end up in landfills where it takes up to
Eight simple tips for making
eco-friendly changes that
won't break the bank.
By Jodi Helmer
1,000 years before they start to decompose.
Tap water is safe, is less expensive and uses far
fewer resources.
Switchlaundrydetergents.Look for detergents labeled "phosphate-free" to help
protect marine life. Phosphates can cause
algae blooms, which deplete the oxygen
in water and kill marine life. Seventh
Generation, Caldrea and Shaklee all make
phosphate-free detergents.
Unplugappliances.Appliances, like
your coffeemaker, is drawing power
even when they' re of£ It's called
standby power, or vampire power,
and it accounts for 10 percent of all
residential energy use and 1 percent
of global CO2 emissions. Take a
second to unplug appliances that
aren't in use; it's a small act that
will make a huge difference.
Dry clothes faster. What
happens when the spin
cycle starts? Your favorite
jeans and well-worn fleece
cling to the edges of the
dryer. The less those clothes
tumble around, the longer it takes them to
dry. Given that the average clothes dryer uses
close to 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per
year, speeding up drying time will save a significant amount of energy. The solution: Put
a few tennis balls in the dryer. The weight of
low-iDlpact cruising
Whether vehicletechnologycan make cars truly eco-friendly
is up for debate but, while we wait for an efficient,affordable
solutionto America'sauto-dependencyproblem,we can at
least make the cars we already have a little greener.This
spring Bridgestoneunveiledthe latest in their Ecopialine
of tires, the EP100, which providesbetter fuel economyby
reducingrollingresistanceon the road. The line targets fuelefficient vehicleslike BrightAutomotive'slatest concept car,
the IDEA plug-in hybrid(right),which gets 100 milesto the
gallon. Designedfor the fleet market,the IDEAwill be on the
roads by 2012 and will come equippedwith Ecopiatires.
the tennis balls will help the clothes move
around, speeding up drying time.
Sortthetrash.Recycling is one of the first
tenets of going green and it does make
a difference. According to the U.S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency,
recycling one aluminum can (instead
of sending it to a landfill) saves enough
energy to power a computer for three
hours, run a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours
or operate a TV for two hours. Recycling
can also help divert the amount of waste
sent to landfills by up to 83 percent. Place
a recycling box in every room in the house
to increase your odds of success.
Shapeup in the shower.You can feel less
guilty about taking those long hot showers
if you install a low-flow showerhead. It can
cost as little as $10 at a home improvement
center and can help you save up to 50 percent on water heating costs. For maximum
efficiency,look for showerheads with a flow
rate of less than 2.5 gallons per minute.
Not sure if you already have a low-flow
showerhead? Put a bucket, marked in
gallon increments, in the shower. Turn it on.
If it takes less than 20 seconds to reach one
gallon, it's not a low-flow showerhead. ■
Jodi Helmer is the author of The Green
Year: 365 Small Things You Can Do to
Make a Big Difference (Alpha). Visit her
onlineat wwwJodihelmer.com.
seeking
ore
sustainable se
Learn how to get dirty with a clean conscience. By Stacy Bias
You're a good girl. You compost, you bike
everywhere you can and take public transportation when you can't. You keep chickens
in the backyard, in a coop you built yourself
out of cob (like adobe, but trendy on the ecoscene ). You use chicken poop to fertilize your
organic garden and barter the eggs for vegan
cupcakes from the bakery down the street.
You rinse your recyclables. You cut up those
plastic-ring thingys from your Nature's Soda
because you once heard that they get caught
around the necks of sea critters and it gave
you nightmares. You don't flush the toilet
every time, your deodorant is a crystal and
you actually have a vegan tattoo.
You are virtuous-a
pink-cheeked, wellhydrated, dirty-fingered poster child for
urban environmentalism. Also, I'm pretty
sure something you're wearing right now is
made of hemp.
So, what more could you possibly do?
Green your sex life. From what you wear (or
don't) to what you use ( or don't) to how you
wrap it up, here are some suggestions on how
to make your sex life more eco-friendly.
fair trade fore play -----While there's nothing more natural than
naked, sometimes you want to spice up the
presentation a bit. Luckily, there are several
options available for eco-embellishment:
EthicalAesthetics.
Makeup is an excellent way
to bring all your role-play characters-from
the black-nailed, gum-popping tawdry teen,
to the ruby-lipped, sponge-bathing naughty
nurse, to the mono-browed, ruler-wielding
school marm-to
life. Check out the wellrounded selection of botanically based
products at www.futurenatural.com to wake
up, decorate and refresh your skin for the sensual stage. Also, check out the organic lines
from Sephora (www.sephora.
com) and www.kaiahouse.com.
Eco-Lingerie.While I'm fairly
sure that "fair trade;' "hemp" and
"bamboo" aren't often applied to things you'd
like in your pants, I hope that the adorable offerings at www.greenknickers.org will
change your mind. Sexy offerings for janes
and jocks, all made with their ethics intact.
Sex continued on page 63
July/August 2009
I 37
One enterprising gal takes on
some wriggly new roommates.
By Lina Swislocki
and the city
Like most things in my life, all this started
with reading and ended with worms. Let
me explain: As a Californian transplanted to
Boston, I was struggling to find ways to bring
the outdoors and a sense of environmental
awareness with me to the East Coast. Little
did I know that my solution would hit so
close to ... well, home. Inspired by the plethora
of recent articles and books by people who are
growing their own and getting off the grid, I
wanted to find a way to make my home more
sustainable. I decided
to research the ways
in which I could
significantly reduce
my impact on the
environment. There
was just one snag in
my plan-I
live in
an apartment, with
three roommates. I
found a lot of great
eco-solutions
for
people with backyards, or with roofs
that solar panels can
be attached to or with
terraces to grow potted tomatoes on, but not a
lot of info aimed at city-dwellers living on the
salary of a freelance writer-grad student.
I did-briefly-consider
getting a composting toilet kit, but after imagining trying
to convince my roommates that "humanure"
is the way to go, I decided to scale back my
eco-ambitions a bit and make my own worm
bin instead. I'd seen it done before, when my
self-identified "crazy" roommate in Vermont
made one over the summer we lived together.
Since then I'd been wanting to try it on my
own, especially after I read that worms are
easy to care for and will just love you more
for letting chem eat your vegetable scraps.
38
I curve
I wanted to get started right away, so I
wasn't too picky about the bin that I bought.
Because of that, I may have gotten the wrong
one. Worms don't like light, so the fact that
my box was clear plastic was a downside.
However, at $6, I went with it. I plied my
friend Anna with whiskey and hot chocolate,
and convinced her to come over to hammer
nail holes into the bottom, sides and lid of
my bin. The lid was easy and even fun to
pound into, but the bin itself was prone to
cracking, so I patched it up with duct tape,
leaving the holes themselves open. It wasn't
pretty, and I could only hope that the "tea;' or
liquid produced by the worms, wouldn't leak
out and that there would be enough air flow
to keep things besides worms from growing
in the bin.
I ordered my worms online-$17 a pound
for "red wigglers:' I had no idea what that
meant, but presumably they would be as
competent at eating my trash as any other
worm. When they arrived, I took some of
the "advertising newspapers" from the foyer
of my building and shredded them. Worms
like a damp bed, so I dunked the strips in
water and squeezed them out. The shredded
paper went in the bottom of the bin, then the
worms, then a whole sheet of newspaper over the top, to keep the
smells in.
I decided to let the worms
get used to their surroundings
before I fed them, then I went out
of town-after
asking my roommates to feed them while I was
gone. I made sure they knew that
worms are vegans, that they don't
like oil or salt and that they shouldn't
be overfed. There can't be too much food in
the bin at once, because if the worms can't
munch fast enough the food scraps start
to mold. I gave the girls clear instructions,
stashed the worm bin under the counter by
a window and took off.
When I got back, the bin was scarily empty.
The worms, poor dears, were trying to escape.
I panicked, grabbed a bag of spinach from the
fridge and dumped it in the bin. Then I cut up
an apple and put that in, too. I decided that
maybe the whole "let them get used to it, then
feed them" strategy was a pretty poor idea.
I looked at them and apologized (silently,
because only crazy people talk to worms),
then closed the bin and walked away.
In class that night, I asked a girl who had
a worm bin what she thought. "Don't worry;'
she said. "Worms are the easiest pets ever.
Worms continued on page 63
g
2~
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MOREFUNTHANA BARREL
OFMONKEYS
~
~
Step1: Geta bin.Opaqueis betterbut
transparentwill work-just makesurethe
wormsaren'texposedto directlight.The
sizeof the bin youneeddependson how
muchwasteyouhave-500 wormswill
eat abouta half poundof fooddaily.
Step2: Putventilationholesin thetop,
bottomandsidesof the bin usinga small
nail or a 1/16-inchdrill bit. Makethe holes
about1 to 1 anda half inchesapart.
a::::,
a:
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Step3: Getsomeworms.I got500red
ii:
wigglersfromwww.unclejimswormfarm. I
comfor $17.
ft
~
a:
Step4: Shredsomenewspaper.
Getit
0
~
wet. Ringin out.Putit in the bin.
Cl)
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~
(.)
Step5:Addyourworms.
~
~
0
Step6: Addyourwaste.Remember
thatwormsarevegans(except
theydolike
eggshells)so no meator dairyproducts. ~
UJ
Thoseattractpestslike insectsandrodents. d:
b:
(.)
Step7: Coverthe wholethingwith an unUJ
z
shreddedsheetof paper.
z
Cl)
~
<(
Step8: Waitfor the magicto happen.
~
::::,
Cl)
Whencurve's MelanyWalters-Beck
hittheroadwithTeganandSara,
thebandgaveherunprecedented
accessto theirworld-openingup
abouttheirtourbus("It'sjusta reallynicecamper.
You'restillpissing
in a porta-toilet"),
howtheyfeelaboutmeeting
fans("Wearethemost
sociallycrippledpeople")
andwhatit'sliketo bepopicons("Evenif we
neverdoanything
else,at somepointin ourfuture,I'll tellpeopleI played
JayLeno'').Headbackstage
withexclusive
photos
oftheband,rehearsal
shotsandcandidcommentary
fromtheCanadian
twins.They'reat the
topoftheirgame-and thequeermusicscene-andthey'resurprisingly
downto earthaboutit all.
Minutes before showtime in Tegan and Sara Quin's musty
Madison, Wis., dressing room, Tegan, the twin with the chin
piercing, cracks open a brown bottle. She takes a dropper,
throws her head back and swallows. The concoction is 40 per~
cent alcohol and smells like whiskey, but it's a lot less rock star:
Tegan is drinking a homeopathic herbal remedy to ease the
toll of almost two years of near~constant touring. "If you can't
put it right on your tongue;' she says, swishing the stuff around
in her mouth,"you can put it in a little bit of water:'
Welcome to life on the road. With the release of 2007's
The Con, Tegan and Sara have established themselves as
an international pop act, following up the formidable Juno
Award~nominated So Jealous with more critical acclaim and
fan adoration. "I spent a year writing and recording;' Tegan
confesses. "It's different and it was intense. Sara and I played so
many instruments. We went to work every day for 18 hours:'
The result was a taut, smoldering elegy to lost relationships
that cemented their status as one of the hottest acts in
the country.
And they're about to do it all over again. With another
album on the way featuring Death Cab for Curie's Chris Walla
handling production duties, and with over 40 songs in the can,
the sisters Quin can afford to coast, but they don't. They can't.
They're still worried about what their fans think about the
new tour bus.
"I don't want people to think we're big rock stars and we're
in a bus;' contends Tegan, tapping away on the MacBook that
has become another appendage whenever she isn't onstage. "It's
just a really nice camper. You're still pissing in a porta~toilet.
You're still sleeping in a tiny little bunk that's, like, the width
of your shoulders. The only time you sleep is when you're in a
hotel room. But, I was really worried that people thought we
had changed or something:'
Stretched out on a patch of grass behind the venue, Tegan
40
I curve
still makes plenty of time for the fans. "We're really open and
not trying to be mysterious;' she maintains after signing a shoe
and accepting a box of homemade cookies. "I feel like some~
times people do get obsessive and crazy, and we just put out a
vibe to have people not be like that. We're not the Beatles or
the Jonas Brothers. We don't need a thousand girls running
after us, screaming:'
But it happens. An hour later, during one of their more tren~
chant ballads, an orange bra sails over the first four rows of the
audience and lands between them onstage, where it glows like
a neon sign, a testament to the fact that, despite their protests,
they're still working some serious teen~idol mojo.
"The other night we were bowling and we were so awkward;'
giggles Sara, quick to maintain the girl~next~door humility
that's become part of their trademark. "We didn't know where
to get the shoes. We were running into each other. We are the
most socially crippled people, the geekiest unlikable people;'
she adds, cradling a cup of coffee and looking just the slightest
bit tired. "It's the opening band's fault;' she confesses with a
BYMELANY
WALTERS-BECK
PHOTO
BYGREY
LOCKWOOD
nod to her Australian tour mates, An
Horse. "I think this is the worst hangover
I've ever had:'
To prepare for the show, Sara talks
books. Tegan browses mortgage rates.
Aside from a couple of nights out on the
town, the two could easily be considered
role models, a label eschewed by many
celebrities. The twins embrace the responsibility with enthusiasm. "I really like it;'
shrugs Tegan on being a role model for the
growing masses. "First it was, like, young
queer girls then it was just young alternative girls and now it's,
like, people of any age:'
Both women are quick to discuss their own experiences on
the other side of the autograph line. 'Tm a fan, first and foremost;' declares Tegan with a smile. "I grew up in a household
with gigantic framed and lit photos of Bruce Springsteen on
the walls. I respect artists and musicians and the whole culture. I buy the DVDs. I get why our audiences are interested.
The fact that were twins and we're gay-there are so many
things about us. I think over the years people have gotten over
the fact that, 'Oh they're twins' and we're lesbians and that's
totally cheesy or whatever. I think once they get past that, they
realize it's not a gimmick. But, it's weird and interesting and
fascinating. I get it:'
A glance into the audience on any given night confirms
the band's broad appeal. Frat guys mingle with baby dykes
and cool parents dance along with their kids to music that is
almost universally accessible. "I always tell people I'd rather
walk on stage in front of somebody else's fans, like 20,000 of
someone elses fans, than go to a house party;' admits Sara,
brushing a strand of that famous hair out of her eyes. 'Tm so
much more comfortable when I know that I have a guitar and
I'm playing music:'
"My life all day, whether it's boring or bad or hard, whatever, it's still, like, my show;' Tegan explains. "I think I am really
comfortable when it's about me, because when it's not about
me, that's when I get really uncomfortable. Like, I'm not sure
how to be. [With music], it's like I'm getting up and functioning and doing something important every day. And I have a
purpose. When I'm at home, I give away that purpose:'
But Sara admits that, though she loves her job, it isn't always
the best for maintaining relationships. "I know it's hard for
the people aroµnd me sometimes;' she says. 'Td been going
through this breakup and I hadn't bought any new clothes
in, like, a year. My hair was practically in French braids. [A
friend of mine] was like, Tll take you out. We'll go shopping:
Teenager after teenager [approached us] and, I mean, they are
not casual about recognizing [us]:•
Many individuals in the public eye seek solace with fellow
performers. From Brangelina, to Ellen and Portia, to the newly
split Samantha and Lindsay. But both Tegan and Sara have
managed to avoid celebrity-couple drama. Of course, theres
42icurve
no harm in looking.
"In my relationship, there's a whole bunch of girls I'm
allowed to make out with;' laughs Tegan, immediately thinking better of it. "It can't be people I'll ever meet, of course, or
people that would ever make out with me. Scarlett Johansson's
on the list:' Apparently The Other Boleyn Girl does pretty
well with female rockers, after providing the inspiration for last year's
Katy Perry hit, "I Kissed a Girl:'
Lindsay Lohan is another possibility."I want to adopt her and be her
friend;' Tegan offers generously. "I
could help her:'
With high-profile guest appearances, coverage in the major indie
press and two lines of shoes (with
Macbeth and DC Shoes), Tegan
"ITHINK
and Sara have already had their share of surreal moments. "It's
OVER
THE
difficult to completely step outside of what you're doing and
YEARS
what is happening to you in your life and actually look down
PEOPLE
HAVE on it and go, 'Wow, this is happening to you; ,, muses Sara,
GOTTEN
recalling her first taste of late-night television.
OVER
THE
"I hear Jay Leno's voice, and hes introducing us, and I have
FACTTHAT,
this moment, which doesn't happen very often. It would be too
'OHTHEY'RE
distracting to have these kinds of moments. You need to just get
TWINS'
through it. When you're performing or meeting someone, you
ANDWE'RE
can't have, like, your 'Wow, this is happening to me moment.
LESBIANS
ANDTHAT'S That's ridiculous. It's like feeling insanely in love throughout
TOTALLY
your life. You would die. You would never get anything done:'
CHEESY
OR
She contemplates the idea further, glancing at another plate of
WHATEVER.I fan-made cookies. "Even if we never do anything else, at some
THINKONCE point in our future, I'll tell people I played Jay Leno:'
THEYGET
But the odds of either of them staying still for very long
PASTTHAT,
are slim to none. In addition to the new album and a rigorTHEYREALous round of touring, they regularly lend a hand to causes like
IZEIT'SNOT
PETA and the fight for marriage equality in the U.S. But their
A GIMMICK.
biggest
contribution is probably simply their existence. "I don't
BUT,IT'S
think being gay or being twins is a negative thing, so bringing
WEIRDAND
it up isn't a negative thing either;' says Tegan as a fresh group
INTERSTof nervous teens approach. "We put this record out and ...
INGAND
FASCINATING.mainstream magazines did six-page features on us and didn't
I GET
IT."
mention our sexuality once. And I was like,'cool: Not 'cool; like
I wish everyone would do that, but cool' like these are more
mainstream, boy-centric kinds of magazines and, like, were
making some progress in the world. Not that people aren't
identifying us as lesbians, but that it's not that relevant. It was
an article about our music and so they just didn't think it was
that relevant-and it is, in a lot of ways, but it isn't:'
For Tegan and Sara, what is relevant, above all else, is the
ability to get their music to the people who want to hear it.
"If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound, if no one is
there to hear it?" Sara asks, taking the last sip of her lukewarm
coffee."The answer is no. Because the sound isn't perceived by
anyone;' she smiles. "It's just vibration:' ■
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THEDYNAMIC
HIP-HOP
DUOGOD-DES
ANDSHEKEEPIT REAL(QUEER).
BYRACHEL
SHATTO
The lesbian hip-hop duo God-Des and She met at a National
Organization for Women benefit. At the time, She was playing with a rock group when God- Des approached her in
hopes of kick-starting a collaboration. "I had never really
thought of doing hip-hop, to be honest;' laughs She. "I mean,
I liked it, but it wasn't something I was thinking would be my
path, but I was like, 'Well, I'll try it. I'll see what's up:" Two
albums and one L Word appearance later, there's no doubt
that She made the right choice.
The pair's latest album, Stand Up, has spawned two hits,
the R&B anthem "Love You Better" -a mainstay of Logo's
New Now Next, the station's weekly music video programand "Lick It" the lyrically graphic cunnilingus instructional
music video (which MTV banned). In the video, the ladies
commandeer a sex education class to impart their "expertise;'
and the results are hilarious. "Everything we do, we like to
have fun;' explains God-Des. "Even serious topics, we kind of
like to bring humor into it and just never take ourselves too
seriously-life is way too shore:'
Maybe it's this attitude that keeps the ladies constantly
moving forward. In addition to appearances at South by
Southwest and Dinah Shore, they are working on their
third album. Teaming up with Public Enemy producer Brian
Hardgroove, God-Des and She are
excited about the new direction their
music is taking. "She and I have always
just recorded in our house. We've never
really had any help-we write our own
music. So, it's going to be nice to have
some other ears and some really trained
musical people to help us with it;' says
God-Des. God-Des goes on to explain
how their sound is constantly evolving,
saying, "We don't ever like to be boxed
in to one style or sound-we
kind of
like to really push the envelope. On this
record, it's going to be ... on another level
of sound. Is this pop? Is this lock? Is
this hip-hop? Is this soul? Ir's going to
be really good:'
The group's diverse sound is the result
of equally diverse sources of inspiration.
"We really take influences from so many
different things and people, we have
such a wide musical taste. I mean, we
listen to anything from Lupe Fiasco to
Neil Diamond ... to Wynnona Judd to
Tu-Pac. We like music that makes you
feel;' explains God-Des.
Describing the duo's writing process,
She says,"We critique each other-like, for example, the song
'Love You Better: I wrote a hook for that song and [God"WEKINDOF
Des] was like, 'Man, that hook is not good enough: I rememLOOK
ATOUR
ber going across the park in Brooklyn and being pissed-I
CAREER
AS
was walking with my headphones on, and I was singing out
ACTIVISM,
loud like a crazy and writing a new hook for that song ... !
BECAUSE,
IT ISN'TTHE came back and was like, 'I wrote the best hook ever!' and laid
it down and that's the current 'Love You Better' hook. We
EASIEST
ROUTE
TOBE definitely challenge each other to be our best:'
The out artists have also faced challenges from unexpected
OUTANDTO
BEVERYVIS- places, namely closeted gays in the music industry. "The
IBLE.THERPS people that really think it's going to work ... are middle-aged
SOMANY
white guys who aren't gay, that are totally like, 'Oh, yeah!
FEMALE
Totally! Great! Cool;" She says, admitting, "We're always so
ACTORS
fucking flabbergasted that it's these dudes that totally think
OUTTHERE
it'll work. The people that are the most scared are the ones
THATARE
that maybe have to hide, that maybe have to be worried about
TOTALLY
GAY
them being found out. Therefore they're like, 'Well, there's no
ANDWILL
way
you could be our: And the truth is-we're out. There's
NEVER
SAY
no going back:'
THATTHEY
Ir's no mistake that they are so open about their sexuality.
ARE,AND
THATHURTS "We kind oflook at our career as activism, because it isn't the
EVERYBODY."easiest route to be out and to be very visible. There's so many
female actors out there that are totally
gay and will never say that they are,
and that hurts everybody;' She adds.
Their pride is not lost on their fans,
as God-Des and She receive a mountian of mail from people affected by
their music. "We get emails all the time
that literally make me tear up;' says
She. "They are just so heartfelt-from,
like, girls in super-small communities
that can't be out-that,
if they didn't
have our records to listen to every
day, they don't know how they'd get
through ... it just makes me bawl. Bur,
it's really cool and I'm so happy that
I'm able to affect people in a positive
way like that:'
But at the end of the day, despite
their growing success and bright
future, She pledges to stay humble
and keep it real. "When we win our
Grammy next year-that's my planwe're totally going to be having barbecues and Budweiser at the crib, you
know what I'm saying? Because that's
how we roll as people. I don't foresee
that changing. Ever:' ■
July/August 2009
I43
!tr..Sty E,i,rl..s
QUEER
GIRLROCKERS
FLOWER
IN THEGARDEN
STATE.
BYSTEPHANIE
SCHROEDER
This New Jersey scene is a big to-do. No, it's not a pile-up on
Route 3, that unfortunate part of the New Jersey Turnpike
known for a treacherous merging lane-it's a March evening
at legendary music venue the Stone Pony in Asbury Park,
an artsy Jersey Shore town about 60 miles south of New
York City. The star is Christine Martucci, a diva of the Jersey
lesbian music scene headlining at the Paramount Theater in
Asbury Park in July.
Martucci is a rock goddess with long flowing curly auburn
hair, custom denim jeans and a sexy rocker grrrl T-shirt.
She belts out her anthems more ferociously than Melissa
Etheridge, though she's constantly being compared to that
performer because of her smoky voice and loving devotion
to her fans. But Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt come more
quickly to mind when Martucci sings the poignant "There
You Are" and "Waiting on the Rain;' as well as her songs that
honor her past as both a homeless youth and a member of
the military.
Martucci was thrown out of her family home at 18 after
corning out as a lesbian to her father. She ended up homeless,
a queer throwaway, and some of her experiences are chronicled in her haunting song "Child Inside:' She made peace
with her father just two weeks before his death, but in the
meantime Martucci found a home in the Army. "I am really
passionate about the cause of homeless gay youth;' she says.
"I have experienced being disposed of because I am gay, and
I understand the loss of purpose and self-esteem:' Martucci
44
I curve
regularly plays charity gigs to raise money for causes rang1DON'T
LABEL
ing from supporting cancer research to supporting the troops
MYSELF.
THE and their families.
ONLY
LABEL
Because of her experiences as a young person without
11
I WANTIS
ARECORD
LABEL.'
-ASTER
PHOENYX
resources, Martucci has taken it upon herself to mentor
younger performers. "It's hard in this world, especially if you
are different. But different is good. We need to embrace diversity, instead of being afraid of it;' she says. One of Martucci's
proteges (as well as her No. 1 fan) is Aster Phoenyx, a
22-year-old singer-songwriter who often opens for Martucci.
Phoenyx plays manic guitar and sings hard songs about
broken hearts and love gone wrong, but without the cheesy
angst so common in lesbian art.
In fact, Phoenyx doesn't identify as a lesbian. "I don't label
myself;' she says. "The only label I want is a record label:'
She's of the generation where hetero-flexibility and bisexuality are realities, not political sticking points. Phoenyx only
picked up the guitar at 19 and began writing songs "as a way
to get through a particularly painful breakup:' Phoenyx has
had no musical training or exposure to music theory; she's
totally self-taught. She's nervous yet pleased about being
interviewed-and
she says she's the same on stage until she
melts into her music. She's got a lot of bravado and a tough
exterior, but Phoenyx is really sweet and pretty, covered with
tattoos, her hair streaked pink and blonde.
She's also got a philosophy about songwriting: "It's a therapeutic process to write out my feelings. I wake up hearing
o
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songs and write them down. I make myself vulnerable on
stage by singing about stuff I am going through, and if people
want to pay for my therapy, it's a good deal:'
The crossover in the Jersey queer girl music scene is impressive, if sometimes confusing. The Christine Martucci Band
has several new band members. Phoenyx
plays both solo, often opening for Martucci,
as well as with her own band, Aster Phoenyx
and the High 5 Revolution. On occasion,
Phoenyx also fills in on guitar-or
air
guitar-for
Kathouse, a Jersey-based allfemale rock cover band.
Mare, Kathouse's lead guitarist and the
default spokesperson for the group (including Gwen on bass, Jo-Jo on drums and Jaki
on lead vocals), quips, "We are a band of illrepute. A female version of Motley Crue:'
The tagline on the group's MySpace page is "We're not here
for a long time, we're here for a good time:' On the more
serious side, Mare cites influences ranging from Jefferson
Airplane and AC/DC to Janis Joplin and Melissa Etheridge.
The ladies of Kathouse describe themselves as two queers,
a karate mom and the new straight girl. While Mare and
Jo-Jo identify as lesbians or
queer, Jaki, who, along with
Jo-Jo, was in the original allfemale, heavy metal band
Missdemeanor in the mid'80s, is straight and married
and Gwen, the new girl, is
also straight. Jaki says she has
a very supportive husband
(with whom she also has a
band), although she does have
to work around her kid's busy
school and activity schedule.
Both Jo-Jo and Mare ride bikes (motorcycles, that is) and
generally appear to live the rock star life. However, as with all
the Jersey girl performers, they have to schedule band practice and gigs around their day jobs.
These lesbian musicians are becoming more and more popular outside Jersey as well, spreading into the tri-state area,
with Martucci also playing in the Southwest and Midwest
and Phoenyx doing shows in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, back at the Stone Pony, the audience is rapt
when Phoenyx performs, warming up the crowd. Then
Martucci takes the stage and the audience goes wild. Cheering
and jumping on and off the stage, Martucci's informal fan
club and regular followers, the "Tucci Train;' are all over her
as she belts out her newest song. She's known to have personal stage divers! Both Phoenyx and Martucci are sensations. Now it's Kathouse's turn to take to the stage and rock
the place. Everyone is having fun, most of all these fabulous
musical women. It's just another party at the Jersey Shore for
these musicians and their growing fan base. ■
FANNIUS
Ill TALKS
ABOUT
MAKING
MUSICSHE'D
ACTUALLY
LISTEN
TO. BYJEFFKATZ
The story of Fannius III (a.k.a. Fan 3 or just Fan) is the stuff
of rock 'n roll history. Knocking down doors. Getting lucky
breaks. Major label deals. Getting dropped. Doing drugs.
Getting dropped again. Getting second and third chances.
It's a story you've probably heard before, all part of the lifelong struggle to become a rock star. Typical, really. Then again,
Fan is just 21. A 21-year-old, white, bisexual female rapper
from a cookie-cutter Los Angeles suburb.
Not so typical anymore, huh?
These days, Fan is making music on her own terms. Her
solo EP ( technically her third album, but her first to ever see
46
Icurve
the light of day) is garnering her big attention, propelling her onto coveted stages, including this year's
South by Southwest festival and Club Skirts
Dinah Shore Weekend. She packed Los Angeles'
legendary Viper Room early this year and has
become a formidable presence on the indie music
scene. And, to top it all off, she's working on a
reality show concept. But it all could have been
very different.
"I made a couple of songs using studio gear in my
house and literally sent out 500 packages to managers and agents:' she reaclls over coffee in Los Angeles.
"I had my whole spiel:'Hi, my name is Fan 3 and I'm
a white female rapper from Sherman Oaks:"
Out of those 500 pitches, she got just one
callback, but that was all she needed. Soon, Fan
found herself in the middle of a bidding war
between Geffen Records, Def Jam Recordings and
Hollywood Records. She went with Geffen, and
before she knew it the teen had a big record deal.
She was in the studio making an album and on her
way to stardom.
Then she encountered a snag. Geffen knew they
had a great new artist, but had no idea what to do
with her. Fans knight in shining armor came in the
most unlikely of forms-a mouse.
"Disney called and said, 'Well, if she cleans up
her lyrics a little bit, covers up her tattoos, we could
probably do a lot with her: So I went back into the
studio, rerecorded and they put me on tour with
Aaron Carter. From a business perspective, it was
like, I didnt really fit in anywhere else;' she recalls.
But, it turned out it wasnt a great fit for her,
afterall. "Call it being young and reckless, I like to
push it about as far as I can, and by the end of that
tour they had Disney staffers approving outfits the
second before I would go on stage. They made me
take out my lip piercing, wear longer shirts:'
Fan managed to get a few songs on the Lizzie
McGuire soundtrack, but post-tour, Disney
couldn't handle the rabble-rousing. Without that
support-and
the tweens that came with it-Geffen was at
a loss for a marketing angle, and Fan was dropped. "The last
six to nine months I was signed at Geffen was kinda like a
mourning period;' she adds. "When they say people lose your
number, people lost my number. And being 16, 17, it was lots
of soul searching:'
But, it didn't take long for Fan to find her next venture,
and this time she wouldnt be going it alone. Fan had been
approached to join a new girl band, Shut Up Stella. The group
already had two young vocalists, and a female rapper would
supply the missing piece.
Within months of leaving Geffen, Fan had deal No. 2
when Shut Up Stella signed with Epic. It was a huge growing
opportunity, creatively and professionally, for Fan. She sud-
0
~
5
LU
~
~
denly found herself writing melodies and, for the first time,
making music she would listen to.
Unfortunately, no one else would. The band was dropped
from Epic with an album recorded but not released. These
struggles would probably have sent most young hopefuls pack~
ing, but instead, Fan became even more determined to make
it. Now, a little more than a year after the demise of Shut Up
Stella, Fan has an unbelievably mature and candid outlook
on it all, turning her feelings into one of her album's standout
tracks,"Major Label Blues (Been Caught Stealing):'
"I love music. I love making it. I love playing it. I love the
shit storm that is the music business. I don't know how to do
anything else:' she says. "This shot is going to do it or not:'
And the Fan that is free from the suits is better, indeed. Her
upbeat, infectious personality radiates off the tracks-and
"I LOVE
THE
SHITSTORM
THATIS
THEMUSIC
BUSINESS.
I
DON'TKNOW
HOWTODO
ANYTHING
ELSE."
comes to life on stage-as she takes on both guys and girls
when it comes to love and life. Her song "Girlfriend (I can)"
became the Dinah must~play track, and her video was even
shot amongst the Sapphic madness of Dinah '08. While she
says the attention from the lesbian community is unexpected,
everyone is welcome at her shows because the game has taken
on a new meaning on this, her third go~round.
"Now it means making music I'm really proud of and
having people like it and come to my shows;' she says. How
is it different, this time around:' 'Tm much more present for
everything that is happening. Before, I was kind of along for
the ride, whereas now, I'm manning the ship. If it works out,
if it doesn't work out, at least now I know I gave it everything
I could;' Fan says. And then with a coy smile she adds, "But I
think it will:' ■
ByMelany
Walters-Beck
Think you've got what it takes to be a rock icon? Take this quiz and find out which dyke diva is your double.
0 Shaving is:
'I. A throwback to the patriarchy
I,. A necessary evil that I endure to rock my
sleeveless tees
e,. To be done daily for silky-smooth, touchable legs
,I. Something I could do to my head and then get
a great tattoo
0 You pull up for a date in:
'I. A Volvo, a Subaru or a veggie diesel 1978 Mercedes
I,. A Mini Cooper or maybe a Scion (not the boxy
one, the other one)
e,. Um, you'll be picking me up, thanks
,I. A motorcycle or a pickup truck
@
8 Where is your ideal home?
"· A small, liberal hamlet with great hiking trails
I,. A metropolitan area with rail service and hot clubs
e,. Bi-coastal, N.Y.C. and L.A.
,I. Anyplace I can really let my hair down and be myself
@
In high school:
'I. I staged a protest and began eating vegan
I,. I had a ton of friends who looked just like me
e,. I had big hair and a lot of shoes
,I. I lit something on fire
O Which word would most people use to
describe you?
'I. Earthy
I,. Trendy
e,. Feminine
,I. Intimidating
0 Which deadly sin is most likely to land you
in hot water?
'I. Sloth: Give me some herb and a good book
and I'm couch-bound
I,. Lust: There's a part of me that craves novelty
e,. Vanity: I work hard to look good-and I do
most of the time
,I. Gluttony: I will consume the world
(without apology)
Describe your ideal woman.
'I. Warm, curvy and real
I,. Witty and cutting-edge
e,. Absolutely fabulous
,I. Immune to my antics
"8o.st&y'I'.si Melissa Ferrick
You're a crunchy granola chick with
a penchant for chords and corduroy. Get yourself a big, fat
acoustic guitar, light up that campfire and stage a sing-along.
"8o.st&y&'.si Tegan... or Sara
The sisters Quin pretty much set the thennostat for young
queer fashion and you're a fashionista. So slip on your hot
pink Vans, adjust the drum machine and write about
your heart breaking.
"8o.sc&y'-''.si Leisha Hailey
OK, she wasn't always draped in satin, but lately Miss
Hailey's the poster child of rock glamour and you
could teach her a thing or two with your collection of
Jimmy Choos.
"8o.st&yD'.si Beth Ditto
Punk rock and living to shock. There's probably
already a six-string in your bedroom and a warrant out for your arrest. Careful, your riot gm1 is
showing.
,cj,ttWtca.,
It-I Softly
AMANDA
PALMER'~TESTSOLO
ALBUMBRINGS
OUTOURINNERGOTH.BYKATIE
PEOPLES
Amanda Palmer, the XX-chromosomal half of the Bostonbased Dresden Dolls, has had a whirlwind year, from her
breakout solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, to her
belly-baring "Leeds United" video, to her collaborative photo
book with Neil Gaiman (www.whokilledamandapalmer.com),
to her performance in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration
Day. And Palmer's time on her "solo" tour has been packed
with more musicians and cabaret performances, (with the
likes of curve favorites Vermillion Lies) than you can shake
an Edwardian cane at.
l'VEFACED
FARLESS
BACKLASH
First,howwasperforming
in D.C.onInauguration
Day?
ASAWOMAN
It was magnificent. Every single person in that city that day BEING
BISEXUALTHANI
just felt like they were this little thread in this huge historiAS
cal tapestry, and you could just feel the electricity in the air WOULD
everywhere you walked and everywhere you went. It was AMAN.NO
ONESEEMS
just awesome.
TO
Yourworkmixescabaret,goth,steampunkandEdwardian-era CARE
ANDTHAT'S
styling.Whatinspiresyouto combineall thoseinfluences?
THEWAYIT
That's a very hard question for me to answer, because I don't
SHOULD
BE.
think I know. I mean, I think if you pulled the dossier on
BECAUSE
I
everything in my life that I've absorbed, it might make sense, DON'T
WANT
but it's not like I can point to one thing or another and say, PEOPLE
TO
"Well, this is obviously why I wound up this way or obviously THINKOFME
why I dress this way:' It's such a wide variety of things that AS'AMANDA
PALMER,
THE
make an artist what they are. And I think it's actually boring ...
BISEXUAL.'
"
if you can nail it down that easily.
You'vecoveredloneliness,
mentalillness,rapeandabortion.
How
muchof that is yourpersonalexperience
andhowmuchisjustmusicalstorytelling?
I think, like all art, it's a combination of
truth and fiction, and everything definitely has an emotional truth, and not
every detail in every song is real. But I
tend to write about the darker things that
fascinate me or that confuse me, and since
it's art you can take it anywhere you want.
But that can get a little sticky and turn
into a problem when, you know, people
start making assumptions about who and
what you are because of what you've written. That's actually been a pain in my ass
lately, because the songs of the Dresden
Dolls and Amanda Palmer are so dark
that [people assume] I must be this really
psychotic, fucked up person, and actually
it couldn't be further from the truth. It's
the songs and the music itself that I think
make me a pretty well-balanced person.
Youidentifyas a bisexualwoman.Hasany-
48
I curve
11
onein themusicindustry
triedto exploitthat?
No, luckily. There's a lot of things that you have to deal with as
a woman, obviously, in our culture and in the music industry,
but I dare say I've faced far less backlash as a woman, being
bisexual, than I would as a man. No one seems to care and
that's the way it should be. Because I don't want people to
think of me as "Amanda Palmer, the bisexual:' I'd like them to
think of me as Amanda Palmer, the performer, or the musician, or whatever role I happen to be in during that moment,
unless they' re in bed with me. Then they can think of me as
Amanda, the bisexual. That's fine. I'll allow that.
Youalsoparticipated
in Oufs 100People
oftheVearphotoshoot
withotherfamousqueerwomen,likeRachelMaddow,
Teganand
Sara,andJaneLynch,butwhatdidyouthinkaboutKatyPerry
beingtheonlywomanonthecoverofthatissue?
You know, it was pretty confusing. I was chatting with Tegan
and Sara about that, and she [Perry] has said specifically that
she is not bi or gay. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. And I
wouldn't necessarily call the song"I Kissed a Girl" an anthemic
call to arms or anything like that. So, I don't know if she's a gay
icon. If she is, then she's part of the cultural story. She kind of
rubbed me the wrong way-so calculated and so commercial.
It's generally not the kind of thing that I'm into.
That'sbeenthecomplaint
in thelesbiancommunity
andthebisexualwomencommunity,
thatsheis trivializing
thosethings
withonesong.
Yeah. I mean, it's a catchy pop song. But once I saw the video,
I heard the song and I was like, Oh right, that's the single
I've been hearing about, and I did a little
research on her, and she seems really
smart. She obviously knows what she's
doing. But watching the video-this
was really terrible, misogynistic soft-core
porn. Like, it's really bad. There's nothing
empowering about this, it was just really
trashy. So that sucked. There's a lot of
powerful tools out there that can be misused. There's no obviously right or wrong
way to do it, but some things just don't feel
quite right, and that song didn't feel quite
right. We've been making fun of it on tour
and so I should probably fucking shut up
about it. [Laughs]It's fun to make fun of
people. What are you going to do?
Is thereanythingyouwantto say to your
lesbianfans?
Just to my lesbian fans? Something that no
one else will ever know? Good question.
It's a beautiful time to be a woman-don't
take it for granted. ■
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DARWILLIAMS
SHOWS
USTHEWAY.BYDAVIDSTEINFELD
Dar Williams has been a familiar face on the women's music
scene since her first official album, The Honesty Roomincluding "When I Was a Boy;' one of the most moving songs
about gender roles ever recorded-came
out in 1993. Two
years later, the album was given a second, larger release by
Razor & Tie Records, which is still her home today. Between
then and now, Williams has released another half dozen discs.
On her latest, Promised Land, the 10 original songs and two
covers deal with life, love and nature. Williams offers exemplary takes on the Fountains of Wayne tune"Troubled Times"
and the song "Midnight Radio" from the musical Hedwig and
the Angry Inch. "(This is) one of the best tours I've ever done;'
Williams says from the road. 'Tm sort of in heaven:'
words, [rather) than more.
Tellmeaboutthe song"Goto theWoods"fromthe newalbum.
The people who write the most interestingly about the
woods to me are people in urban areas. Laurie [Anderson)
has this quote about going in the woods and I kept on thinking of that when I was lost in the woods in my car (one)
night in Wisconsin. I took a wrong turn and I didn't have
GPS. I realized that I was afraid of serial killers, rabbits and
ghosts. [Laughs] The one moment when it all came together
was when I wrote the line "I am afraid of the woods:' There's
no getting past that. (The woods] terrify me on a certain
level. (But] I'm also afraid that they're disappearing. And in
a funny way, when you lose the actual woods, you're going
lose your metaphors. The woods resonate for us as a metaphor for things that are wild and free and untamable.
Whatwasit likehavingSuzanneVegasingonthattrack?
I see her as a word girl, but she got the melody and came up
with a harmony immediately. I was really amazed. And then
we just sat around and talked about our latest albums [and)
what it's like to be out there making music right now. And we
talked a little about our kids. She actually sent me a song that
her daughter had written and produced, and I loved it.
Yougrewupwithtwo sistersandyourmomworkedfor Planned
Parenthood
for manyyears.How did all this feminineenergy
shapeyouas a younggirl?
I think it influenced my interest in gender. To some degree,
the absence of boys in our lives-you'd think that it would
create a very strong female aspect in the house. But in a way,
I think my sisters and I were competing to see who could be
most like a boy. You know, Julie knew how to drive a tractor. Meredith was a math and language whiz. I had the need
to jump outside the ability to be pretty and contained, in a
dainty way, and be more of a clown. I think my mom encouraged [us]. She was a debutante, so there we were, out in the
middle of nowhere, climbing mountains and reading books
and, almost to a fault, she encouraged that kind of ruggedness. And I think it did well for all of us. It certainly helped
me question what defines a girl and what defines a boy. ■
"MYMOM
ENCOURAGED
THATKIND
OFRUGGEDNESS.AND
I
THINKIT DID
WELLFOR
ALLOFUS.
IT CERTAINLY
HELPED
ME
QUESTION
You'vesaid,"Witheveryalbum,I'm tryingto figureout what I WHAT
don'thaveto say whilestill givingeachsongits due."It's not DEFINES
oftenthat you hear a songwritertalk abouttryingto say less. AGIRL
ANDWHAT
Couldyouelaborate?
DEFINES
Well, I'm just a wordy person. So, I guess it's about trying
to find wisdom in my life. And wisdom often uses (fewer) ABOY."
July/August 2009 j 49
l.,i,yi,194, lt..sl,i,,-19 l.,t4,t11,I
JANISIANREFLfTs ONA LIFETIME
IN MUSIC.BYoA& STEINFELD
It's safe to say that most of us don't get through life without some ups and downs, but then, most of us haven't had
as many ups or downs as Janis Ian has had. Her autobiography, Society'sChild, chronicles her life both in and out of the
music business, including death threats, her parents' divorce,
her mother developing Multiple Sclerosis, being molested by
her dentist, being randomly dosed with acid on the street,
bankruptcy, abusive relationships with both men and women
and several physical illnesses.
Of course, there have been many positives in her life as
well. A well-known singer-songwriter for over four decades,
not to mention a superb guitarist, Ian first became famous
at the tender age of 15. Her first single, the controversial
"Society's Child;' became a hit in 1967. For the next 15 years
or so, she recorded prolifically, scoring her second big hit in
1975 with 'i\t Seventeen:' That song, whose catchy bossa
nova beat belied its painful lyrics of teenage awkwardness
and alienation, garnered Ian a Grammy and drove her album
Between the Lines to No. 1 on the charts.
After taking a hiatus from recording for over a decade,
Ian returned in 1992 with the acclaimed Breaking Silence.
Since then, she has recorded and toured steadily. She has also
developed, belatedly, a happy home life. Ian currently lives in
Nashville, Tenn., with lawyer Patricia Snyder, her partner of
nearly 20 years. The two were married in 2003.
Last year was a significant one for Ian, with the release of
the Best ofJanis Ian: The AutobiographyCollection.This double-disc anthology is the most comprehensive collection of
her work to date, and an ideal companion to Society'sChild.
I just finishedreadingSociety'sChild.Youseemto havegone
throughmanymorehardships
thanmostpeople,andat a much
youngerage.Often,peopleturnto Godor drugsto keepthem
goingin difficulttimes.Whatkeptyougoing?
Well, I've probably turned to drugs, alcohol, God and whatever else I could find during the hard times. But really, at
the end of the day, I always came back to music. The rest of
the world can be collapsing around my ears and if I'm in the
middle of a really good song, I probably won't notice it.
Youwerea childof the '60s.In whatwayswastheworldbetter
backthen?Howis it betternow?
I think like every other lame old idiot approaching their dotage-the world of my childhood seems simpler and kinder.
But, when I think about medieval bear baiting, or giving
people pre-frontal lobotomies in the '50s, this era is pretty
good. I can't be arrested, incarcerated or judged mentally ill
because I'm gay, for one!
Severalof your albums-your self-titleddebut,Betweenthe 0z
~
Lines,BreakingSilence-have been quite successful,
com- i}i
mercially
andcritically.Butis thereonestudioalbumfromyour ~
careerthat you think shouldhavegottenmoreattention?
Like all artists, I have my collection of "the ones that got
away:' My personal feeling is that Billie'sBones should have
loomed larger, and Night Rains, which did spectacularly
everywhere but at home.
It's clear from your book that you were in a numberof abusive
relationships.Your ex-husbandTino was both physicallyand
emotionallyabusive."Cassie,"the therapistwho seducedyou,
was abusivein a differentway.ButunlessI'm wrong,oneperson
you neverhad a bad thing to say aboutwas PeterCunningham.
Heseemedlike a great guy and I'm curiousto know if you and
he are still friendstoday.
Tino and "Cassie" were the exception rather than the rule,
fortunately for me. As for Peter, yes, I adore him. He still
shoots most of my publicity photos. He's slated to do my next
album cover. And I see him whenever I can.
Ona relatednote,yourcurrentrelationship,with PatSnyder,has
f
i
~
~
5
~
!if
!
§
~
~
Lourds Lane is a working musician with
an eponymous band. She plays electric
violin, mandolin, electric guitar, acoustic
guitar and, at twentysomething, Lourds
(she goes by just her first name) has
changed from a chrysalis to a butterfly
and is making sure theatergoers get to
experience the same transformation in
her rock musical, Chix 6. Lourds has taken
on the role of producer, writer, songwriter,
singer, performer, creative mastermind
and business manager to bring to the
stage the story of Katie, a comic book
artist with low self-esteem. Played by
Kacie Sheik, Katie meets six "rock 'n' roll
angels" who lead heron a life-changing
3 joumeytoself~.
"THERESTOF
THEWORLD
CANBE
COLLAPSING
AROUND
MY
EARSANDIF
l'M INTHE
MIDDLE
OF
A REALLY
GOODSONG,I
PROBABLY
WON'T
NOTICE
IT."
been a long, happy one. In
yourbook,youwrite that Pat
knew within five minutesof
meetingyou that you would
spendthe rest of your lives
together.Whendidyouknow
that shewas the one?
After she told me-about
two weeks later.
Earlyon in your career,you
had to keep your relationships with women secret.
Whatdoesit feel like, all theseyearslater,to be ableto marrya
same-sexpartnerandbe openaboutit?
It feels normal. I was fortunate in that I didn't keep my rela~
tionships secret from my family, friends, close associates. But
it's certainly nicer this way! ■
The cast consists of highcaliber musicians from other
bands-and all corners of
the music, theater and dance
worlds-all of whom are successful in their own right. The
Chix 6 sisters also represent the
spectrum of lesbians, bisexuals
and straight girls.
Lourds, who cites influences as
diverse as Led Zeppelin, Queen
and David Bowie, describes Chix
6 as Rocky Horror meets Rent
meets a stadium rock concert.
"Each Chick represents an
integral, yet unconscious, part of
Katie. There is the punk rocker
(also a lesbian in the show), the hippie chick, the sex kitten, the Sex
and the City type, a full-figured
African American
chick called Mama
who sings the song
"Shut Up and Fuck Me"
and is all about positive
body image and, finally,
the nerd, whom Lourds
inhabits, as the triumphant
Katie overcomes her selfpity and the cast brings
down the house with the
finale, "I Will Start the Fire
Now."The audience
can feel the absolute
intensity and authority of six powerful women making music, loving and
respecting each other and making
a difference, both onstage and off.
Lourds began the project alone, in
isolation imposed by an industry that
could not categorize her music and
fit her into any one box. "For so many
years I tried to figure out which character I am, because my music runs the
gamut. One of my shows might have
five or six girls, and the industry wants
to put me into a nice, neat marketable
box. And I think it's really cool that when
I decided to reframe the picture, to
celebrate every character within myself
and make each character another girl, it
all became clear."
Lourds says some of the songs in
the show are four or more years old,
but now-and all performed
together-they make
sense. Originally, Chix 6
was headed off-Broadway
but, with the downturn in
the economy, investors might
see an opportunity in all the
available Broadway houses and
a great ready-made showand franchise. If all goes well,
you'll be able to catch Chix 6
on Broadway by the end of
the year. (www.chix6.com)
[StephanieSchroeder]
Chix6
character,
Mama
July/August 2009
I51
Road Tri~pin'
Going cross-country with my 9-yearold daughter. By Rachel Pepper
fter five years away, working in New England, it was
time for me to return home to the West Coast. After realizing
I'd be wrapping up the details of our East Coast life in late
spring, the logistics of my daughter's summer vacation suddenly loomed large in front of us. How, I wondered, would we
spend these weeks in between worlds? After worrying extensively about how we would ship the car, the cat, our stuff and
ourselves, the answer came to me: road trip.
Although in the end our cat couldn't join us-he flew
cargo-and our stuff was carted out on one of those Portable
On Demand Storage units (aka PODS), my daughter Frances
and I set off on the quintessential American vacation: a month
of travel across the very heart of the United States (with a
detour to see the grandparents in Canada).
Hitting the Road
Summer scenes
(from left): Frances
enjoying the wide
open spaces at the
Mystic Hot Springs
in Utah; Outside the
trading post at the
Terry Bison Ranch
in Wyoming; The
water slides at the
Great Wolf Lodge in
Sandusky, Ohio
s2
I curve
Our baggage included one suitcase each, a bag containing various remedies for any number of possible ailments,
a "book box" crammed with new novels, comics and travel
guides, a crate of CDs, a bag of shoes and many swimsuits.
We also took several stuffed animals, an American Girl doll, a
violin, an emergency tent, sleeping bags and a cooler. In other
words, the car was completely full, and it had to be emptied
out at every place we stopped. That part, my friends, was
not so enjoyable.
As for research, between my LonelyPlanetUSA guidebook,
online surfing and the AAA regional guides, I felt ready to
tackle an entire country's worth of fun. That and several credit
cards, my cell phone, an ATM card, passports, a tuned up car
and the first of many full tanks of gas made me feel as prepared
as I could be. The U.S. map lay unfolded next to me on the
front seat. Wow, I thought, do I really have to drive all that way?
In the Mix
So, what did we see on this cross-country odyssey? Some
amazing things. A glow-in-the-dark underground mini-golf
course in Niagara Falls. Toronto's waterfront park, Ontario
Place, replete with water slides perfect for a hot.summer's day.
Roadside rest stop signs in New York that trumpeted avatars
of the women's rights movement, including Seneca Falls resident Amelia Jenks Bloomer, creator of the then-revolutionary
garment that bears her name.
There were bizarrely fabulous places like Ohio's Great
Wolf Lodge, a surreal, huge, indoor water park where it is
always 84 degrees and you can ride water slides from dawn to
dusk-which we did. Or the Amana Colonies, tiny towns on
the Iowa prairie, where Frances got to make her own broom
from fresh reeds, where we sat in the Midwest's biggest rocking chair and where 15,000 bicyclists just happened to swarm
through on the very day we were there. In Amana, we also
enjoyed a home-cooked German dinner and took pictures of
our waitress carrying a tray laden with at least 15 kinds of
fresh-baked pie. Of course, we had to sample more than a few.
In Chicago, we visited friends and the city's prestigous Art
Institute, where an exhibit of teeny decorated rooms captured
our attention. We also ventured downtown to the American
Girl Doll store, guaranteeing an early birthday present for my
passenger and a new outfit for her AG sidekick, Eleanor.
Going west, we made several impromptu stops to see historical sights, including a Pony Express station sitting in the
small town of Gothenburg, Neb. In child-friendly Lincoln,
where I wondered if we shouldn't just jump ship, we enjoyed
three days of sightseeing, including the Children's Zoo and
its butterfly pavilion, a three-level kids' museum and the free
and wonderful Nebraska History Museum, where I realized
how much I hadn't known about the settling of the West.
Topping off our stop in Lincoln were a candy
store selling only licorice, yummy fried pickles
at Crabby Bill's Seafood Shack and a short visit
to the National Roller Skating Championships.
(Who knew so many kids were competing in the
sport of artistic roller skating, all wearing sparkly
outfits with glitter in their hair? Obviously, my soccer playing
kid was missing out.)
At the Terry Bison Ranch in Cheyenne, Wyo., my daughter
got to pet a camel and had her first real trail ride. We saw the
Salt Lake Temple, enjoyed a magical stay in the mountains of
Utah at Mystic Hot Springs and then delighted in two days
of Las Vegas excess. This included consuming many fruity
beverages by a monstrously large swimming pool, watching
fresh Krispy Kreme donuts roll off the assembly line-we
indulged, of course-and
taking in a dinner show complete
with galloping horses and fantastic stunts. Last stop before
driving back to the Bay Area-two days at Disneyland. Not a
bad ending to any kid's summer.
The End of the Road
Yet, what I will remember most about the road trip was
much more than the sum of its parts. For me, the trip was
about spending time with my daughter, free of distractions
like work, sports, school or TV. It was about singing in the
car as we cruised along Highway 80, cheering every time we
passed another state line. It was about trying regional cuisine
and stocking our travel bags with delicacies like locally harvested honey and strawberry preserves. It was also about the
conversations we had with other people along the way, from
the friendly refinery-worker dude in
Wyoming to the tattooed professional
matchmaker with whom I shared a
hot tub in Iowa while our kids catapulted down the water slides.
In a time apart from time, I found much more in common
with other people than I usually do. And when I told them I
was currently homeless and unemployed, and not minding it
at all, we had a good laugh together.
This trip was also about feeling free, about not having to be
anywhere or do anything at any particular time. It was about
appreciating the small moments, watching the country's cornfields roll by, seeing small-town water rowers rising up from
the fields, proud farmhouses still staking their claim on the
landscape of this country. It was about the feeling of freedom
that comes from being on the road, watching the world change
before your eyes.
We saw it all, from the lush green of the East, the corn and
cattle of the Midwest, the prairies of the plains, to red rock,
big sky, windy mountain roads and the desert patches that let
us know we were "almost there;' almost to our new home.
How did we survive this trip? With good humor, little gifts,
silly souvenirs, frequent stops, new books, lots of gum, alternating kids' music with grown-up girl rock, and the promise
of a nice hotel bed at the end of each day. We also were really
lucky that it never once rained, and I chose never to drive
more than five or six hours a day, keeping our car-weariness
at bay. When we came to places we liked, we both decided
to stay an extra day. In this way, the trip was a collaboration,
always a joint adventure.
So, in retrospect, would I do it again? The answer, quite
simply, is an unequivocal yes. Though by the trip's end we were
ready to call someplace home,
our monthlong time apart from
the structure of our daily lives
was priceless. If you have a child
of a certain age-too young to
be cynical but old enough to roll
up a sleeping bag-take a road
trip this summer. I promise that
no matter where you end up,
traveling will be an adventure
that you'll never forget. ■
Sightseeing (clockwise from top left):
Cooling off at an
artistic fountain in
downtown Chicago;
A Pony Express
station in Nebraska;
Frances, trying out
her own pair of
wings at the Lincoln
Children's Zoo in
Nebraska; Meeting the camels at
Terry Bison Ranch;
Meeting some fluttering friends at the
Lincoln Children's
Zoo; Marveling at
the red stone at the
Mystic Hot Springs
in Utah
July/August 2009
I53
l
REVIEWSIn The Stacks
Underthe Skin
Gender and housekeeping get us thinking this month. By Rachel Pepper
HUSH,SWEET
CHARLOTTE
FollowingCoriCrooks'journey
to uncoverherbiological
fatheranddealwith her
flawedmotherin Sweet
Charlotte's
Seventh
Mistake
(SealPress)is likewatching
someonerip openthe seams
of herlifeto seewhat'sinside.
BasedonCrooks'popular
blog,A GagReflex,Sweet
Charlotte
is a visualmemoir,a
scrapbook
of lyricproseand
a collageof oldphotosand
lettersatopvividlyillustrated
backgrounds.
Thestory
bringsusdisjointed
flashes
of crank-fueled
dysfunction,
butCrooks'desireto learn
the identityof herfatheris
whatcontinually
pushes
the narrativeforwardand
eventually
leadsto a climactic
DNAtest.Withwritingthat is
bothpoignantandwry,and
visualsthatelevateit from
just another"deardiary"to
fullyrealizedcinemaon paper,
SweetCharlotte
engages
onall fronts.WhenCrooks'
motherstaysupall night
sewing,we seeherstitching
onthe page,circlingperfectly
aroundimagesof buttons
andhems,thencuttingwildly
throughenvelopes
andblackand-whitephotos.Wesee
the stitchesof ourownlives,
sometimes
straightbut mostly
jaggedandblurry.(www.
coricrooks.com)
[NinaLary]
54
I curve
Ivan E. Coyote explores the terrains of Northern
landscapes and gender identification, and the writers
of Dirt explore the territory lying beneath the veneer
of a recently polished floor.
what it would be like for him to be the
only boy in a dress on a playground
full of kids whose parents are trappers and hunters;' Coyote muses.
Many other pieces delve into the isolated landscape
TheSlowFix,Ivan E. Coyote(ArsenalPulpPress):"I of the Yukon where Coyote was raised, or his decision
learned most of what I know about being a man from to move back to Vancouver after he noticed his wardmy Uncle Rob;' writes Ivan Coyote in the opening robe habits starting to slide and his fear of riling up
line of this new collection of short stories, The Slow men "whose biceps are bigger around than my thighs:'
Fix. Coyote, who goes by she or he, plays with gen- As a frequent traveler, often living in remote areas as a
der copiously in these stories, many of which have writer-in-residence, Coyote applies a cool observer's eye
been collected from an ongoing column in Xtra West to both new destinations and the challenges related to
magazine.
her masculine appearance and identity. "Open Sesame"
The pieces are varied, from "The Bathroom
tackles children's prejudices-or
lack thereof-and
Chronicles;' which explores bathroom anxiety when "Teach the Children Well" explores Coyote's commityou' re trans, to "Imagine a Pair of Boots;' which ques- ment to public readings where queer teens might take
tions how you can pick just one pronoun to identify comfort in identifying with someone openly LGBT.
yourself when you've always felt that" 'she' pinches a
"Every time I walk through the front doors of
little and 'he' slips off me too easily:'
another high school, I remember what it was like to
There's also a piece about Francis, Coyote's gen- hide, to pretend, to practise not being different ... !
der-variant nephew about whom she has written
am not here to change the minds of the many. I am
previously, but is now a tougher 11-year-old who here for the kids who think they are alone:' After
calls other kids "faggot:'
such readings, Coyote writes, there will often be a
"I can't help but wonder if the politics of public MySpace message from a lesbian teen who writes to
school have pushed him to conform, or if he has say it was "the best thing her school had ever seen:'
outgrown his cross-dressing phase ... ! try to imagine
Other pieces are lovely odes to girlfriends past and
w
b5
~
5
!
~
~
present, including "How I Knew;' in which an uncle
tells him not to mess up the relationship: "She's the
one, I can feel it. The whole family loves her. She's
gorgeous, and she can cook. She even likes fishing.
Don't be an idiot. Marry her already:' As Coyote and
her girlfriend imagine their wedding ceremony, they
ponder whether it will be circus-themed or sportsinspired. They do know, however, that there will be
stilt walkers and three-legged races, and that it'll be
the "dream wedding that neither of us ever dreamed
we'd dream of having:' After all, Coyote writes, "I figure the beauty of gay marriage is that we get to
choose which traditions we want to honour, and
then make up the rest as we go along" -words
that will resonate with many readers these days.
( www.ivanecoyote.com)
housework, other women's proclivity for clean wood
floors, vacuum cleaner envy, kid and paper clutter,
the pervasiveness of pet fur, other people's gross
bathroom gunk and an elder parent's accumulation
of possessions. There is even a piece about nostalgia for pre-gentrified 1980s New York City, where
Alissa Quart describes being a "creature of the old
untidy New York" in a city that began to be taken
over by lounge bars. The city started, Quart writes,
to regrettably "slouch toward perfection:'
While this is not a queer collection (its queer contributors are limited to Louise Rafkin and Rebecca
Walker), housework is one topic that cuts across the
divides of gender and sexual orientation. It can split
up couples, tear up households, enable roommate
discord, invoke fear in children and provoke contempt in those who judge the cleaning standards of
Dirt:TheQuirks,
Habits,andPassions
ofKeeping
House, others. The essays in Dirt do reflect these topics, but
also the small amusements and compromises that we
ed.MindyLewis(SealPress):
What could be tempting
must make to cohabit successfully with others-and
about a collection of essays devoted to the physical
their dirt. Thus, what could be merely an attempt to
and mental manifestations of dirt? Isn't it enough to
capture the drudgery of housework well surpasses
have to do housework? As it turns out, there is much
that easy aim. Instead, most of the essays revel in
to savor in this recent collection.
the shifting middle ground between annihilating
The essays are both astute and funny in this exhausdust bunnies and considering them part of the
tive exploration of the world of housework. No topic
family. ( www.sealpress.com) ■
is left untouched, including a feminist's aversion to
AfterEden
ValerieMiner
(TheUniversity
of
Oklahoma
Press)
Headlong
KatheKoja
(Farrar,Straus
andGiroux)
A Historyof
U.S.Feminisms
RoryDicker
(SealPress)
In anAbusive
State
KristinBummer
(DukeUniversity
Press)
The essays revel in
the shifting middle
ground between
annihilating dust
bunnies and
considering them
part of the family.
Transgender
History
SusanStryker
(SealPress)
Preying
onGenerosity
KimberlyLafontaine
(IntaglioPublications)
A sequelto PickingUp
A studyofAmerica's
thePace,this mystery
trans
community,
this
More
textbook
than
Hit
the
books,
girls.
Grief,environmental- A grippingtale
focuses
on reporter
groundbreaking
book
light
read,
this
study
of
This
enlightening
work
of
friendship
and
ism,immigration,
beginswith post-World AngieMitchell,who
feminism,sexualvioacceptance
at boarding recountsthetime
homelessness
and
lenceandneoliberalismWarII eratransvestites findsherselfonthe
lineof ourforemothothersignificantissues school,summedup
written
byanAmherst anddetailsa timeline trail of a murderer
ers,
from
the
19th
areeffortlessly
woven well in thesefew lines:
who'llstopat nothing
College
profis a dense, that reachesall the
century's
suffragettes
"When
I
saw
Hazel
in Miner'slatestbook,
While
wayto today'shuman for attention.
to the modernRadical causticargument
comingupthe aislewhichdealswith a
rightslawstheirimpact shestrugglesto put
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With
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response
to rapeand
detailedaccountsof
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California.
Heavyand
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viduals.
Written
with
sexual
violence.
events
and
snippets
T-shirt
for
the
first
hopeful,it's a mustpreserveherrelationa
decidedly
feminist
(www.dukeupress.edu)
from
powerhouses
like
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didn't
laugh,
read.
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shipbeforeit's too late.
slant,Transgender
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Meridel
Le
Sueur
and
we
didn't
not
laugh;
(www.oupress.com)
LU
d,
(www.intagliopub.com)
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LU
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activism
at
its
best.
truly
turns
history
and
I
caught
hers.
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(www.sealpress.com)
intoherstory.
~
thatwasenough."
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(www.sealpress.com)
(us.macmillan.com)
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July/August 2009
I55
REVIEWSIn The Stacks
JACQUELINE
HASSINK:
CARGIRLS,Tim
Dant:A subversively
fun lookat gender,power
andcommodification.
(www.aperture.org)
•
GRAFFITI
WOMEN:STREET
ARTFROMFIVECONTINENTS,
NicholasGanzand NancyMacDonald:
Over1,000illustrations
surveythe workof the badasschickswhowereamongthe earliest
pioneersof the graffitimovement.
(www.abramsbooks.com)
LOSTCONSTELLATIONS:
THEARTOFTARA
MCPHERSON
VOLII, TaraMcPherson:
Love,lossand
loneliness
meettransfigured
ideasfromthis stunningrock
starof a visualartist.(www.darkhorse.com)
NERVE:
THEFIRSTTENYEARS:Fromthe groundbreaking
websitecomesessays,eroticaandphotosof realbodieswomenandmen-includingstufffromAliceSebold,
AimeeBender
andJocelynElders!(www.chroniclebooks.com)
•
FLAGRANTE
DELICTO,
Will Santillo:Explicit
bookthat includesbothsexes.Positsrealpeople
in unrehearsed
sexacts,withtonsof lesbiansin
the mix.(ww.w.santilllophotography.com)
•
SHELTER,
LuckyS. Michaels:A rivetingphotoessayfromthe
kidsat Sylvia'sPlace,NewYork'sfirst emergency
shelterfor LGBT
youthandyoungadults,with eye-opening
factsabouttransand
queerkids'lives.(www.trolleybooks.com)
•
FRIDAKAHLO:
THESTILLLIFES,SalomonGrimberg:Oneof the
greatestwomenartistsof all timeis celebrated
in thisfirst-of-itskindbookreleased
onthe centennial
of herbirth.(www.merrellpublishers.com)
•
•
THECOLOR
OFLOSS,Dan Burkholder:Usinghighdynamic
rangeimagingBurkholdercreatesphotographs
thatlooklike
paintings,
offeringa newwayof lookingat post-KatrinaNew
Orleans.(www.utexas.edu/utpress)
SEXPOTS:EROTICISM
IN CERAMICS,
PaulMathieu:Exploring
sexandsexualityin ceramics
throughout
historyoffersanenthralling
lookat worksby lesbian,gayandstraightartists.(ww.w.acblack.com)
FEMALE
BODYBUILDERS,
MartinSchoeller:
Callthem
freaksor callthemchampion
athletes
whoarecreating
, newmodelsof femininity-eitherway,thismuscled
pictorialis compelling.
(www.pondpress.com)
KICKASS
KUTIES:
THEARTOFLISAPETRUCCI,
' LisaPetrucci:Fromdewy-eyed
pinupsto
switchblade
sistersto titularcuties,
Petrucci-whosejournals,dollsand
otherswagyou'vealreadyseenin
thesepages-offersupfeministart
nostalgiaandamazingculturalkitsch
all in one.(www.darkhorse.com)
[DAM]
The Caveman Mystique, Martha Mccaughey
(Routledge): Ah, the caveman defense: The urge
to rape women is an unavoidable part of the
human male psyche, along with bipedalism and
language capability. Mccaughey strips the fur
unitard off the archetypal club-wielding subject
of this theory to reveal the same entitled, white,
straight dude who's been making excuses for his bad behavior
for centuries. (www.routledge.com)
Fixing Sex: lntersex, Medical Authority, and
Lived Experience, Katrina Karkazis (Duke
University Press): Sex designation: a multitude of
genes, anatomical shapes and personal interactions, all reduced to two boxes, marked "M" and
"F." Karkazis explores the process the medical
establishment uses to assign sex to infants whose
anatomy deviates from the norm-and the consequences for
those involved. Her research with clinicians, parents and intersex
individuals provides a chilling look at an issue that deserves
further critique. (www.dukeupress.edu)
11
=
Finding Iris Chang: Friendship, Ambition and
Loss of An Extraordinary Mind, Paula Kamen
(De Capo Press): Journalist Paula Kamen's book
about her friend and colleague Iris Chang is half
FINDIMGllll(HANG
biography, half personal narrative. Professionally,
Chang is known for her dogged pursuit of the story
behind her book The Rape of Narrking. Her personal life is recounted as a navigation through bipolar disorder
leading to her eventual suicide. Throughout, Kamen is a brazenly
subjective narrator. As kind as she is exacting, she speaks
to all sides of a woman whose name came to signify activist
journalism. (www.perseusbooksgroup.com)
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Blood Lines: Myth, lndigenism, and Chicana/a
Literature, Sheila Marie Contreras (University
I\ I l) 0 D
of Texas, Austin): Contreras traces the genealogy
L I N I:
of modern Chicana/a cultural formations through
critical analysis of texts. She looks at the selective
appropriation of indigenous myth in literature and
history, leaving no stone unturned, from the Zapatista
movement's identification with Indio experience, to the ambiguity
of romantic treatments by D.H. Lawrence to legal tracts from U.S.
border regions, where references to Aztec human sacrifice are still
found. Her closing is a dogged pursuit of the conquista in contemporary gender and race issues, revealing new complications to
centuries-old problems. (www.utexas.edu)
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scene starts to look just like another for detective
Devon McKinney-until her girlfriend is murdered.
Full of grief and pain, Devon knows she's losing
it when she starts hearing voices. Is someone
attempting to contact her in her time of need or
is she just going batty? Add the requisite beautiful forensic anthropologist, Brid Merrigan, and things start to
get interesting. Zastrow's experience as an investigator shines
through the carefully detailed descriptions. A tight, pleasurable
read. (www.iuniverse.com) [Andrea
Millar]
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Rose Beecham
In 2005, after a 10-year hiatus,
Rose
Beecham ( the "mystery" pen name of bestselling romance novelist Jennifer Fulton)
reappeared to write Grave Silence, followed
by two more mysteries, Sleep of Reason and
Place of Exile. In the groundbreaking Grave
Silence Beecham introduced detective Jude
Devine who infiltrates the Fundamentalist
Church of the Latter Day Saints. Beecham
herself went undercover to research this
polygamist cult long before the mainstream
media exposed the group-and
its leader,
Warren Jeffs-for
criminal activity, which
included rape and child abuse.
Yourresearchisverythorough.
Tellmeabout
yourprocess.
I live in the West and spend a lot of time in
the Four Corners area, where the series is
set. Research is what makes crime writing
so fascinating for me and I do a great deal
of it firsthand-there's
nothing quite like
wandering around a white supremacist event
or polygamist compound for a glimpse into
an alternate universe. The seedy actions of
the real people mentioned in my stories are
a matter of public record ... such as declassified CIA and FBI documents and National
Security archives. I also have extremely help-
"There'snothingquite
likewanderingarounda
whitesupremacistevent
or polygamistcompound
for a glimpseintoan
alternateuniverse."
ful contacts in law enforcement, the FBI and
counter-terrorism who advise me. However,
it is not my aim to write nonfiction; my first
goal is to serve the interests of my plot and
the journeys of my characters. I want to write
stories that are compelling and entertaining,
and sometimes a bit disturbing, because so
much of the detail is authentic.
Howhaveyouevolvedas an authorsinceyou
wroteyourfirstmysteryin theearly'90s?
A couple of things leap out. The Jude Devine
mysteries are darker and more gritty, and, of
course, Amanda Valentine was femme, and
Jude Devine is butch. I work with a bigger
canvas in the Jude Devine stories, so there is
more room for a complex plot and prominent
secondary characters, like Sandy "Lonewolf'
Lane, who tries to assassinate the VP in Place
of Exile. In some ways I think the evolution
of my writing between the two series is more
a reflection of changes in reader expectation
than any special growth as an author.
Whatis a "message
mystery"?
The term "message mystery" is used informally to identify works in which a social
issue is a strong theme, not just wallpaper,
and the author takes a non-neutral position
in her treatment of the topic. As a reader I
don't like being preached to, but I do like to
be credited with a conscience and curiosity.
My stories are unified by the social themes
that each murder brings into focus. I've
covered quite an assortment-prostitution,
polygamy, child abuse, hate crimes, the mental health issues of veterans ... all of which I
ought not admit in an interview, since they
are not exactly beach reading. I try to make
up for that by writing multifaceted characters and injecting plenty of humor.
JudeDevineis unluckyat love.Willsheever
getthegirl?
I can't imagine writing a fully dimensionalized character while ignoring who she
is as a sexual being and a woman who is
seeking personal happiness, albeit with
questionable judgment. So, yes, romance
is a continuing subplot. From the letters
I receive, it's clear that many readers have
had in their lives at some point a woman
who completely derails their common
sense, and they can relate to Jude's hapless
thing for Mercy Westmoreland. Jude has
to grow before she will truly be happy in a
relationship. Meantime, she'll just have to
settle for hot sex. Oh, tragic. [Laughs]
What'snextfor RoseBeecham?
Two mysteries are on my writing schedule for
2010. Ghost Canyon, the fourth Jude Devine
story, picks up where my last story left off,
taking some very twisted turns. Despite
some reservations about adding another
female forensic pathologist to the wellstocked ranks, I'm kicking off a new mystery
series with Fatal Mourning featuring Dr.
Portia Darling. Portia arrives in Savannah as
a newly appointed regional medical examiner
to inherit a trail of botched cases waiting for
a fall guy. [Kathilsserman]
July/August 2009
I57
REVIEWSMusic Watch
TalkAbout S nth-sational!
The synthesized sounds of the 1980s are back. By Margaret Coble
HowtoBea LadyVol.1,
ElectrikRed (DefJam):
ThissexyfoursomeNaomi,Sarah,Lesleyand
Binkie-hailsfromCanada
andNewYork,wheretwo of
themwerebackupdancers
for hotartistslike Mariah
Carey,UsherandCiara.But
theyall lefttheirrespectivecareerpathsto form
ElectrikRed(sonamedfor
their"collectivesensuality"),
preppedanalbumandsetout
ontheirown.Withthis debut
release-producedwith help
fromTheDreamandTricky
Stewart(theproductionwritingteambehindRihanna's
"Umbrella")-ElectrikRedis
hopingits brandof streettemperedR&Btakeslisteners
to newheights.
"Youknowhowbackthen,the
SpiceGirlshadgirl power?"
asksSarah."Withus it's lady
power-girl poweron crack!"
Lesleyadds:"I'd likepeople
to hearfourstrongwomen
whoareverycomfortable
with
theirsexualityandwithwhat
we canbringto the world.We
will be heard,damnit!"
Dotheysucceed?
"Drinkin
MyCup,"theirfirst single,
certainlydoes;expectto
hearit at lesbianclubsall
summer.
Andexpectto see
postersof theseflannel-and
stiletto-cladhottiesthere,too.
(www.defjam.com)
[Diane
Anderson-Minshall]
58
Icurve
Will the '80s ever go away:' I hope not. Whether it's
Von Iva's soulful electro-rock, MYNX's dirty-glam
electroclash sound or Miss Kittin & the Hacker's
artsy disco-tech, synthesizers are the main ingredients in their '80s-inspired sounds.
Girlson Film EP,VonIva (self-released):
While anxiously awaiting the release of their forthcoming new
full-length, I'm finally getting around to mentioning
this latest six-song EP from the sexy San Francisco
synth-rockers. My first exposure to Von Iva was at
the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, and I've been
hooked ever since. This EP is both a great introduction for the uninitiated as well as essential
for hardcore fans, offering three older cuts from
their 2007 disc Our Own Island ("LALA," "Birds
of Prey" and "Guise"), as well as three new bangin'
tracks. "Livin' for It;' which opens the 21-minute set,
is an infectious dance-rock anthem anchored by a
booming, fuzzed-out bass synth line and lead singer
Jillian Iva's powerhouse vocals. "Electricity" turns
Flashdance-era synth-pop on its ear, with that trade-
mark distorted bass synth and funky as all hell drum
patterns that will get your ass shaking uncontrollably.
The set-closing "Emerald Eyes" shows a softer, mellower side to the band, but is no less compelling, with
its hypnotic heartbeat and emotionally raw lyrics. I
think the throbbing "LALA;' a scathing anti- Los
Angeles tale, is still my favorite, but really, every song
rocks! (www.voniva.com)
Iz
Outof Sight,Outof Mind,MYNX(self-released):
You ~
can't really get more '80s-throwback than the straight- ~
girl-gay-guy, glitzy, new wave duo MYNX, hailing ~
from glam central, Los Angeles. Their satirical L.A. ffi
(/)
send-up 'Tm So L.A.;' included here as the set-closer, rrl
::?
became a YouTube sensation and got them a culdike 6
w
fan base. With its B-52s beats and campy lyrics, it's ~
a no-brainer for any '80s-lover. "Kissie Show" gets a ~
little more electro, with dirty bass synths and loads ~
of sexual innuendo, while the EP's tide track is a ~
moodier, sultry affair, better for the bedroom than the ~~
(.)
dance floor."Wolfgang Bang'' is more of a disco-house ~
groove, recalling Lady Gaga with its swirling synths ~
Q+A
Girl in a Coma
Girl in a Coma (www.girlinacoma.com)
won critical acclaim in 2007 with their
debut album Both Before I'm Gone, winning
attention from major labels and guitar legend
Dave Navarro, who said the all,female
indie band was his favorite. They've come
a long way since opening for queer,fave
Morrissey-they played at this year's South
by Southwest festival and they plan to be at
the Michigan Womyn's Festival. With their
sophomore album, Trio B.C., the girls widen
their repertoire without compromising their
art. Out lesbian bassist Jenn Alva tells us
about life on the road.
Whatwasit likeopening
forTeganandSara?
AndtouringwiththeTrueColors
tour?
With Tegan and Sara, when we jumped on,
and right away Sara came up to us ... and
welcomed us and she was just really, really
sweet. Then we started talking to Tegan a lot,
and she'sjust so cool and down to earththey both are, really. And True Colors, we
did two shows on the tour, it was wonderful
to meet Cyndi Lauper and she was great
with us. We just wanted to do a great job. It
is still an honor to play on stage with those
amazing acts-Rosie O'Donnell, Margaret
Cho-it is just a fun tour to be on.
HowwerethosetoursdifferentfromWarped
Tour?
Warped Tour was so cool when I was start,
ing out. Not so much anymore. There are
some great acts on it. I just feel like they
pretty much get these kids, these young
bands and say,"Here, you won. You are going
to be on Warped Tour:' But basically these
young bands are working their butts off with
their own money, you know, they paid for it,
driving from town to town. I think Warped
Tour will always be around. They will have
changes, and whatever the kids want, that is
what they will do.
Youareheavilyinfluenced
bytejanomusicbut
yournewalbumalsohassomenewinfluences.
We mix up a little rockabilly influence and
a lot of rock and a lot of grunge '90s, Sonic
Youth and, of course tejano. We love San
Antonio and that is what it is about.
Whatisthebiggest
change
you'veseeninyour
musicfromyourlastalbumtothisalbum?
There are a lot of new songs and it is just
about us getting a little bit better and a little
bit more comfortable and knowing when to
say"yes" and"no:' [KatiePeoples]
) Readmoreabout Coma'slife on the road at www.curvemag.com.
and filtered vocals. Light, trashy fun for
your next mix CD. (www.wearemynx.com)
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Two,Miss Kittin & the Hacker{Nobody's
Bizzness):
Finally back together again after
pursuing their respective solo projects,
Caroline Herve and Michel Amato return
for a second synth,filled collaboration that
does not disappoint. They've thankfully
dropped much of the electro,clash irony
that epitomized their first effort and seem
more focused on offering quality grooves.
After the aggressive opening blipfest, "The
Womb;' the melodic "1000 Dreams" is a
soaring-well, dreamy, synth,pop anthem,
while "PPPO" gets downright techno
with a cacophony of electronic noise over
a bouncy beat. A surprising cover of Elvis
Presley's "Suspicious Minds" is fairly faith,
ful to the original while amping up its
electronic quotient-sounding
rather like
vintage Pet Shop Boys-and the Giorgio
Moroder beats of"Party in My Head" put
it squarely in the "space disco" category.
Definitely the most abstract and least pop
of the three synth discs reviewed here,
but still worth a listen if you're a fan of
the genre or instrument. (www.misskittin
andthehacker.com) ■
TimeSpentLost
KatieSawicki
{Bend)
Dangerous
Fruit
Stephanie
Schneiderman
(self-released)
Thisthirdsetfromthe
nowNorthwest-based Onhersixthsolostudio
(Portland,
Ore.,byway release,
the iconoof Brooklyn,
NewYork) elasticNorthwest
perbi singer-songwriter formerbestknownfor
is assolidas canbe,
herworkwith Portland,
showcasing
herwarm Ore.,buzz-band
Dirty
voice,from-the-heart Martiniteamsupwith
lyrics,delicately
DJKeithSchreiner
layeredinstrumentationfor a setthatgingerly
andpristineproduction. balances
organicand
Fromquieturbanfolk
downtempo
electronic
to bluegrass
to edgier elements-think
rock,it's all a gorgeous BethOrtonor Feist.
backdropto Sawicki's Theslinky,trip-hoppy
soul-baring
lyrics.
"TwentySlivers"and
(www.katie
guitar-tronica
cut
sawicki.com)
"Oxygen"aremypicks.
(www.stephanie
schneiderman.com)
Boleros
RaquelBitton
{self-released)
(a)spera
Mirah
{K)
Singingin bothSpanish
andFrench,
the
Moroccan-born,
San
Francisco-based
jazz
chanteuse
offersupan
exquisitecelebration
of the bolero,featuring
theworkof several
legendary
Latincomposersof the genre
andaccompanied
by
a 20-pieceorchestra.
The12-songset is
romanticandsultry,
anddefinitelymakes
youwantto dancepreferably
cheek-tocheekwitha partner.
(www.raquel
bitton.com)
Theopenlyqueer
PacificNorthwesterner
deliverswhatfans
expectonherfourth
solodisc:somber,
atmospheric
indiepop
andfolk poetic,confessionallyricsdealing
with loveandloss.
Therearea few musicalsurpriseshereincluding
the uptempo
percussion-fest
"TheCountryof the
Future,"andthesaxswinging"GoneArethe
Days"-but eventhese
experiments
fit right
in.Simplybeautiful.
(www.krecs.com)
July/August 2009
I59
REVIEWSSapphic Screen
Out in the 0 en
Say goodbye to secrets with these authentic films. By Candace Moore
Intelligence,
Seasons
One
andTwo(AcornMedia):
Canadian
TVdoesn'tget
muchplayin the United
States(exceptonthe Sleuth
channel),
whichis a shame
becauseoftenit doesa much
betterjob at placingwomen
in positionsof powerand
lettingthemshowthe gamut
of emotions.
Casein point:
Intelligence,
whichrevolves
aroundMarySpalding,
played
pitch-perfect
by KleaScott,
a butchy,sexyactorwho
comesacrossonscreenlike
These two films feature queer heroines who reject
a delightfulmashupof Halle the binding shackles of secrecy and shame to find
BerryandGlennClose.Asa
love and authenticity.
top playerin the Canadian
SecurityIntelligence
Service,
sheformsalliancesonoppo- She'sa BoyI Knew(OutcastFilms):Gwen Haworth's
sitesidesof the law,proverbi- autobiographical documentary is one of the most
allykeepingherfriendsclose tender, witty, forthright and accomplished films to
andherenemies(generally portray the experiences of a trans
somedouble-crossing
male lesbian. Hailing from Vancouver,
underlings)
evencloser."For
Canada, film school grad Haworth
me,asa womanof color,
offers her life as a complex intertext,
playingsomeone
whois
slightlyyoungerthansome Sandy Stone-style. Praxis-savvy,
of the menI haveto boss she follows Stone's imperative to
fellow trans people to "take responaround,it's something
we
haven'treallyseen,"Scott sibility for all their history" and to
told Jam!.A wonderfully
dark
"write oneself into the discourse by which one has
series,blendingelementsof
been written:' The film draws from a deep well of
TheSopranos
and TheWire
family home movies, photographs, sound recordings,
(thefirstAmericanshowto
featurea blacklesbiancop), quirky animated clips, personal voiceover and-most
effectively-interviews with the family members and
Intelligence
positsthat inforfriends who supported Gwen through her transition
mationis the newdrug
of choice.Wecertainly from hetero man to sexy dyke. Never didactic, sensawantto knowmore. tionalistic, or simplistic, Haworth carefully places her
(www.acornonline.com)self-narrated story of wanting to change her gender
[DianeAnderson-Minshall]
identity from the age of 4 (and swallowing this feeling long into adulthood), alongside the expressions
of hurt, misunderstanding, anger, insight and pure
60
Icurve
love that her loved ones expose to the camera. Most
touching and emotionally difficult are the segments
with Haworth's ex-wife, Malgosia, who stayed with
Gwen for years after the transition yet realized she
was no longer sexually attracted to her. We experience Gwen's utter heartbreak during their divorce.
Importantly, the film makes clear the distinctions
between sexuality and gender identity.
In this case, Gwen remains as hot for
women as Steven was. She also realizes
she's not comfortable living as a traditional girly girl. She identifies more with
queer feminist subculture and comes
into her own as a punk-inspired lesbian
who occasionally throws on army boots.
Watching this charming film feels like befriending someone you really want to know and being
intimately welcomed into her life-her whole life.
(www.outcast-films.com)
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(Monterey
Media):In Hebrew and French,
~
this coming-of-age lesbian love story takes place in a
girl's Jewish seminary, where Naomi (Ania Bukstein)
and Michelle (Michal Shtamler) beoin
as roommates
band arch-enemies. Michelle smokes indoors despite
her roommate's disgust, while Naomi is the good
girl, hair pulled back, well-versed in biblical texts and
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A Different Kind of Greek Lesbian
The sorority-centered college drama-rama adds a Sapphic twist.
ABC Family introduced a
lesbian character on its
hit teen show Greek this
past season. The dramainfused college series that
streams into televisions
everywhere on Monday
nights has young adults
working their way through
personal relationships,
family problems and issues around coming out
{there was already an
openly gay male character
on the show), as well as
going to classes.
It all began when the
spoiled, bratty and, up
'til now, straight Rebecca
Logan got her first Sapphic
taste, with an older woman
who came to Cyprus-
Rhodes University to visit
one of Rebecca's sorority
sisters.
Sparks flew between
the two after a kiss at a
bachelorette party. While
Rebecca spent loads of
airtime sorting out her
thoughts on the matter,
her actual coming out
story is quite matter of
fact, according to Dilshad
Vadsaria, the actor who
plays her.
The complete opposite
of Rebecca, Vadsaria
began her life in Pakistan,
where she lived with her
extended family in Karachi,
before her parents immigrated to the United States.
The difference between
Kabbalah. Thrown together on a project to bring food to a pale, slowly dying
French woman, Anouk (Fanny Ardant),
an ex-convict who murdered her lover,
they argue their way into a partnership
to help the woman find peace, and then,
of course, into each other's arms. Michelle
acts as translator while Naomi, who longs
to be a female rabbi, performs intricate
rituals-dipping
Anouk in sacred baths,
having her wear a coat made of sackcloth
to experience pain and find remorse and
undergo other tikkun (cleansing rituals)
that require choruses of chanting and
invocations. Bonded through their efforts,
Naomi and Michelle begin rubbing each
other's backs and soon entangle, bringing each other to orgasm. This is one of
the more original, subtle lesbian-themed
films of the past year, yet it also relies on
over-worked tropes-the
girl's school, the
fumbling into sex at a sleepover and the
agonies of one partner feeling more ambivalent about her sexuality than the other.
The acting, setting and main plot, however,
are fascinatingly fresh and well-executed.
(www.montereymedia.com) ■
TheWomen's
Kingdom
{German
Camera
Productions)
her character's life on
the show and Vadsaria's
actual college experience
is striking. She worked
two, sometimes three
jobs {McDonald's, selling windows and siding
over the phone) to put
herself through school.
After college, Vadsaria
attended the Producer's
Club, where she honed
her craft. Her first gig was
a commercial for Country
Music Television. But her
big break came when she
landed her role on Greek.
Vadsaria said she had
fun playing a lesbian
character, and that the
girl-on-girl smooching got
her curious about how her
Passion
andPower
{FirstRun)
other costars kiss. And
yes, girls' lips are much
softer, she admits.
So who would Vadsaria
like to try kissing next?
Look out, Portia.
"Oh, Ellen!" she said.
[KatiePeoples]
TheyKilled
SisterDorothy
(JustMedia)
BOLT
{Disney)
Fromthe subtitle,The
Technology
of the
At the heartof this
youknow
award-winning
Thisshortdocumentary Orgasm,
this documentary
will
documentary
is Sister
byXiaoliZhoutakes
DorothyStang,an
a lookat China'sonly betitillating.Basedon
environmental
activist
matriarchal
society,the RachelMaines'bestMosou.Mosouwomen sellingbook,it follows andCatholicnunfrom
Dayton,Ohio,whowas
thestoryof a simple
scornmarriageand
killedin the Brazilian
insteadlivein women- invention-thevibrator-as
well
as
the
rainforestin 2005.
centricfamilyunits,
Thisrivetingfilm tackchoosing
theirpartners famouslymisunderastheyplease.A lovely stoodfemaleorgasm. lesthe battlebetween
It tacklesa topicthat's the havesandhave
film abouta rural
as muchaboutpolitics notswiththe world's
culturechallenging
as a
as it is aboutthe power largestecosystem
the assumptions
of
backdrop.
mainstream
Chinese of women'ssexuality. devastated
society.(www.german- (www.passionandpow-(www.theykilledsister[DAM]
erthemovie.com)
[DAM] dorothy.com)
camera.com)
[RB]
I'mtemptedto call
BOLTthe
greatest
interspecies
girl-power
animated
flick.Nowon
DVD,BOLToffers
up
notone,buttwostrong
femaleleads-Miley
CyrusasPennyand
SusieEssman,
asthe
streetwise
Mittens.
WhileBoltandthe
hyperactive
hamster
Rhino,plodalong
mixingfantasywith
reality,it's Mittenswho
keepsthe intrepidtrio
grounded.
(www.disney.go.com)
[DAM]
July/August 2009
I61
REVIEWSTech Girl
I Want to Rock
Which musical game is right for you?
,ne curvettes
in character
RockBand2
Cringing at the thought of yet another Blockbuster night, but too
broke to hit your favorite girl bar? Rock Band 2 is the perfect cure for
the (not so) quiet night in.
Players have a choice of instruments, including a mic, guitar, bass
(sold separately) and drums on which to strum and bang their way
through 24 globe-spanning cities. They also have the option of going
on a solo tour or joining up with friends to create a band (either in person or via Xbox Live/PlayStation Network) and embark on a quest to
earn fans and cash; and-if they're really good-become a virtual legend. Which shouldn't be too difficult with a playlist that includes the
THESOUND
OFSILENCE likes of Joan Jett, Blondie and Bikini Kill, and additional downloadable
songs from kick-ass ladies including Sleater-Kinney and Siouxsie
I've beenwaitingfor a
and the Banshees. It's like a rock 'n' roll fantasy-hot groupies not
pairof headphones
likethe
included. ($60 and up, www.gamestop.com) [RachelShatto]
Audio-Technica
QuietPoints.1----------------------------___._
Hey,whenyoucommute
everydayon a loud,crowded Lips
trainthroughSanFrancisco's You've always dreamed of showing your special lady exactly how you
transbaytunnelyouwanta
feel by serenading her with that perfect, obscure indie bootleg b-side,
pairof thesesoft,over-thebut no matter how hard you look, you just can't find it on a karaoke
ear headphones
that drown
song list. Well then, Lips is the game for you.
out 85 percentof all noise.
Otherwise similar to other vocal-based games (a la SingStar or
Howbig a differencedoesthe
Karaoke Revolution), Lips has one very exciting function that sets it
noise-canceling
factormake? apart from its predecessors: It's the first to allow players to sing (and
Well,with my standard-issue be scored on) any song on their MP3 player. It also boasts a healthy
earbudsI usedto crankupthe
song list, plenty of downloadable content and even a few spiffy new
iPodto full blastjust to hear
mini-games, including "Time Bomb" and the disappointingly hetanything.Nowit's at the nexteronormative "Kiss." The game comes bundled with two swanky,
to-lowestsetting.Andthat
motion-sensitive wireless mies-complete with multicolor flashing
makesa big difference lights-so all you have to do is pop it in, start singing and watch your
to my eardrums.($220,
girl swoon! ($50, www.gamestop.com) [RS]
www.amazon.com)
t------------------------------------------[KatiePeoples] Guitar Hero World Tour
Real guitarists might be disappointed with the Guitar Hero series, but
that's not stopping the popular cross-platform games from eating into
hours of after-school (and after-work) time. And World Tour is nothing
if not a great addition to the series, with a full band kit available (that
includes a guitar, mic and drum set, sold separately) for the whole
family to rock out to "Barracuda" with. It's not as easy as it looks, and
we in the office take pride in getting up to the blue button. The game
includes an optional lefty flip orientation, which gets it extra brownie
points in my book. ($60 and up, www.gamestop.com) [KP]
Wii Music
Nintendo's awesome Wii Music lets you play music the way I play music:
with other people, on a variety of sometimes strange instruments and
without any real skill. Sure, turning the remote and nunchuks into a
sitar or drumming out like you're in Congo Square takes some practice but you never feel bad while trying to master any of Wii Music's
60-plus instruments (from the popular guitar to the more obscure
banjo). No buttons, no sheet music, no competition. Love it, love everything about it. ($50, www.gamestop.com) [DianeAnderson-Minshall]
62
Icurve
_________
_
Sex continued from page 3 7
See www.adili.com and www.enamore.co.uk
for more.
AdmirableAmbiance.Lowering the lights is
always important for romance and there are
several ways to do it more conscientiously. If
you're the handy type, try installing a solidstate dimmer switch to minimize power
usage. If you're the romantic type, use pure
beeswax or (for vegans) vegetable oil-based
candles to set the mood. Also, check out the
Active Trax audio player from L.L. Bean. This
solar-powered (or crank-charged) speaker for
your iPod helps you set the tone sustainably.
props of principle
------
So, the stage is set, but do you have your
props? Get it on guilt-free with the suggestions below:
Natural Lubricant.My favorite sexy
store,
www.babeland.com,
offers
water-based Naked lube, which is free
of parabens and petrochemicals, and is
not tested on animals. Also, check out
www.yesyesyes.org for water- and plant
oil-based lubricants that are certified
organic. (Remember not to use oilbased lubes with latex condoms, dental
dam or gloves.)
SaferSex,Sustainable
Style.Condoms complicate the effort to have greener sex, but
there are a few options that can better the
soul of the planet. Latex condoms are, to
some degree, biodegradable. However, they
do not biodegrade when under water (so do
not ever flush them), and the lubricants and
spermicides used in the creation of some latex
condoms will impact their biodegradability. I
am loathe to recommend lambskin because,
while they are biodegradable, they are porous
and do not protect against STDs. So, French
I
''•k•d
Letter Fair Trade condoms may be the best
overall option. All of the above applies to
their biodegradability, but for a more ethical
choice, they can't be beat. Check them out at
www.french-letter.co.uk. Latex gloves, thankfully, are biodegradable, and recyclable as
medical waste.
SolarSex.While sex toys are a great way to
keep the buzz going, recharging the batteries
still uses electricity. Luckily, California Exotics
comes to the rescue with its Solar Sensations
solar-powered vibrator. The charge lasts up to
two hours, so it may fall short in a full-day
marathon, but will certainly help fuel a short
run, and you can take it camping.
Recycled
Relations.
Got a bike tube and some
time? Surf www.instructables.com for "recycled harness" and learn how to make your
own strap-on harness from recycled rubber.
Mmmm, sweat equity!
DutifulDildos.These toys are another complex
issue for green sex. If you are a puritan, and
not looking for compromise, then your best
bet will be glass or stainless steel dildos. The
benefit of these toys is that they last indefinitely, are easy to clean and are 100 percent
recyclable. Also, glass toys are often quite
beautiful-functional
art at its best. For other
options, try www.babeland.com for several
phthalate-free, "hard material" toys that lend
themselves well to recyclability. For those of
you who prefer a more realistic feel, your next
best bet is silicone. It is not biodegradable, but
it is the most durable of the realistic options
and will minimize waste by lasting longer.
Don't forget, too, that a good ol' cucumber
can be the most environmentally friendly sex
toy. Just be sure to use a condom. And compost afterward. ■
Worms continued from page 38
And remember, they don't eat food. They eat
food slime. Give it a chance to break down
a little, then they'll be all about it:' She reassured me that she'd started a worm bin once,
given up when she didn't see any results and
then checked it again after three months, only
to find it full of soil.
I went home feeling a little better and
checked on my worms. Nothing had changed.
So, I left them alone for a whole week. Then
one of my roommates and I decided to take a
peek. We opened the bin and I peeled back the
top layer of paper, which was doing a great job
of holding the smell in. "Is anything happening?" she asked. I responded by scooping up
some of the shredded newspaper. Underneath,
where the worms had made their home, was a
big, fat, loamy pile of soil. "Looks like it;' I said.
We moved the soil to find the worms underneath and in my head I thanked them. We fed
them some more scraps and then my roommate went to wash her hands. "You smell like
dirt;' she said. I took it as a compliment. ■
ieminine1)rincip~
Fertility and life is the rose. the sublime blossom.
the womb from which all enter the world.
Embrace your magnificent feminine self.
Enjoy family.
Enjoy life.
www.feminineprinciples.com
July/August 2009 j 63
TOPTENREASONS
WELOVE
...
JulieTolentino
This performance artist has got us looking. By Tania Hammidi
Julie Tolentino is an artist of
Filipino and Salvadorian heri,
rage who has been working
for lesbian visibility for two
decades. Tolentino first came
onto the scene in 1989 as a
figure in the "Kissing Doesn't
Kill: Greed and Indifference
Do" campaign by the AIDS
awareness artist,activist col,
lective Gran Fury. The ads ran
on buses and billboards across
the country and were later dis,
played at the Whitney Museum.
In 1990, Tolentino founded the
Clit Club, the legendary New
York City nightclub where punk, queer and
pro,sex girls danced and got very hot,and,
bothered for over a decade. Tolentino also
posed with Madonna in a series of homo,
erotic photos in the superstar's controversial
book, SEX. These days, she is most visible as
a durational performance artist, performing
pieces for many hours at a time. But it usu,
ally only takes 15 seconds to seriously crush
out on her, so be warned. Here are the top 10
reasons we love her.
1. Julieis a liveartisttrainedin yoga.From the
early '90s, Tolentino studied Ashtanga yoga
with Eddie Stern, the guru some credit with
introducing this super,athletic form of yoga
to the West. She was a member of David
Rousseve's dance company REALITY for
12 years and she collaborated and performed
with Ron Athey. She now creates what she
calls sculptural endurance events-solo. Her
latest large,scale work, CRY OF LOVE, com,
missioned by the House of World Cultures
in Berlin, came out last month.
2. Sheknowslesbiansex.An ACT UP AIDS
activist in the 1980s and '90s, Tolentino co,
wrote the first Lesbian Safer Sex Handbook
in 1993 (with Cynthia Madansky) and was
responsible for grassroots education in the
dyke community. She appeared in the "Safe
Sex Is Hot Sex" Red Hot & Blue posters
64 I curve
shot by Steven Meisel. "We were the most
consumed couple image, to everyone's sur,
prise;' she remembers. "Being tattooed and
pierced, androgynous, bald, kinky-these
were major, on and off the gay scene:'
3. She runsa bootcamp.Each summer, she
and Ron Athey run the PRAXIS Mojave
Boot Camp For Performance Artists. Her 5
a.m. punk,rock yoga is the best.
4. She reads Walt Whitman.The art critic
Jennifer Doyle has described Tolentino as "a
literary artist" -and for good reason. There
is a classic Tom of Finland drawing tattooed
on her cal£ her surname across her abs and
poetry by Whitman along her bicep. "Look
closely;' Tolentino teases. "There is also 'yes;
another 'yes' and a hidden 'more:"
building a home in California's Mojave Desert
emphasizing low,impact, long,term sustain,
ablity using solar energy, native plants and
tankless, propane,charged heat and refrigera,
tion. She educates visitors while she builds,
and everyone who stops by lends a hand, con,
tributing toward green,living practices.
8. She'sfoundwaterin the desert.A practitio,
ner of Watsu (a form of aquatic bodywork)
and the manager of a natural mineral springs
spa on the western edge of California's Joshua
Tree National Park, Miracle Manor Retreat,
Tolentino offers a destination for queer trav,
elers and artists.
9. Sheis loyal.The Sky Remains The Same is
an ongoing performance project in which
Tolentino creates a performative archive of
other artists' work by mirroring it as they per,
5. Hercolleagues
gushabouther-truly gush. form. This means housing, holding and dis,
David Rousseve says, "She is not only one
cussing the information from a safe placeof my favorite people on the planet, she is a her body. "I will preserve their archives until
deep,seeking artist of utterly profound capa,
my last breath;' she vows.
bilities:' DJ Aldo Hernandez agrees: "She is a
woman for all times, elegantly turning survival 10.She'sgotsavoirfaire.Far be it from us to
into a rich source of do,or,die activism:'
say who has shared her bed, but by her own
6. Sheis to the point."Fierce, brutally honest,
lovable, gets things done;' says artist Franko B.
7. She doessolar.Tolentino designed and is
account, Tolentino has wholeheartedly sup,
ported, collaborated with or partnered some
of the most edgy, culture,shaking butches in
queer and trans history. One glimpse of her
smile will show you why. ■
Si:
~
OJ
z
UJ
0
UJ
NCLR
NATIONAL
CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS
Since 1977, the National Center for Lesbian Rights has been at
the forefront of nearly every legal gain won for LGBT people
and their families.
THE AUDACITY TO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE.
THE PERSEVERAN-CE TO WIN.
NATIONAL OFFICE
870 Market Street Suite 370
San Francisco CA 94102
415.392.6257
info@nclrights.org
JOIN US TODAY.
www.nclrights.org
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September 20-27, 2009
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October 15-22, 2010
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THE BEST-SELLING
JULY/AUGUST
2009
I
LESBIAN MAGAZINE
VOLUME 19 NUMBER 6
Publisher and Founder Frances Stevens
EDITORIAL
Editor in Chief Diane Anderson-Minshall
Managing Editor Katie Peoples
Assistant Editor Rachel Beebe
Book Review Editor Rachel Pepper
Music Review Editor Margaret Coble
Web Editor Rachel Shatto
Contributing Editors Julia Bloch, Victoria A. Brownworth,
Gina Daggett, Sheryl Kay, Gretchen Lee, Stephanie Schroeder
Copy Editor Katherine Wright
Editorial Assistants Ariel Messman-Rucker, Yana Tallon-Hicks
PUBLISHING
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ART
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Art Director Stefanie Liang
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Production Manager Ondine Kilker
Production Artist Kelly Nuti
Web Producer Nikki Woelk
The Mighty Quins
Singer-songwriter twins Tegan and Sara Quin started out as a dyke duo
in Calgary, Alberta, playing under the moniker PLUNK and using their
school's recording studio to create demo albums. After their mom entered
the twins in a Canadian music competition ( when they were only 17) they
quickly became fulUledged rock stars.
Today, the Quin girls call themselves socially awkward, but put them
on stage with a guitar or a mic in their hands and women's undergarments
start flying their way. What was once a small local audience has become
a huge international fan base and, even if you don't recognize them from
their appearances on Leno or Letterman, you've probably heard their music
on hit TV series like Greys Anatomy, Ghost Whisperer, Veronica Mars and
One Tree Hill.
Though they've hit the big-time, Tegan and Sara say they owe their fans
everything, a statement our editorial team heard time and again as they compiled this massive music issue, which includes interviews with the legendary
Janis Ian, rising stars God-Des and She and hot new solo artists Fannius III
and Amanda Palmer as well as articles broken down by region (New Jersey,
Portland, Ore.)-and
even a quiz to determine what kind oflesbian rocker
chick you are (page 47).
That's not all we have this issue: There's our annual Go Green section
(with a great budget how-to) and a great take on the traditional American
road trip.
Mix it, tune it, sing it, play it. However you rock out, do it loud and do
it proud.
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Kathy Beige, Kelsy Chauvin, Jennifer Corday, Lyndsey
D'Arcangelo, Beren deMotier, Michele Fisher, Tania Hammidi,
Jodi Helmer, Kathi lsserman, Gillian Kendall, Kate Lacey, Charlene
Lichtenstein, Karen Loftus, Candace Moore, Aefa Mulholland,
Alison Peters, Catherine Plato, Aimsel L. Ponti, Laurie K.
Schenden, Kristin A. Smith, Dave Steinfeld, Edie Stull, Robin
Miner-Swartz, Kyra Thomson, Jocelyn Voo, Alison Walkley,
Melany Walters-Beck
CONTRIBUTING
ILLUSTRATORS
& PHOTOGRAPHERS
Paul Michael Aguilar, Michelle Bart, Erica Beckman, Phil Cho,
Cheryl Craig, Tony Donaldson, Sophia Hantzes, Gabriela Hashun,
Janet Mayer, Maggie Parker, Elisa Shebaro, Leslie Van Stelten,
Katherine Streeter, Kina Williams, Misty Winter
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bridgestonetire.com tiresafety.com
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Features JULY/AUGUST
2009
32
Skater Girls
These chicks are leveling the playing field, er,
skate park. By Stacy Bias
52
American Road Trip
A lesbian mom takes her daughter on
the classic family vacation. By Rachel Pepper
40
43
44
46
47
Onthe Beat
Tegan and Sara
We get a behind-the-scenes look at life
on the road with these lesbian rockers.
By Melany Walters-Beck
The Queens of Lesbo Rap
Rap duo God-Des and She dish on their
musical partnership. By Rachel Shatto
On the Scene
A look at two lesbian music hotspots: Asbury
Park, New Jersey and Portland, Oregon.
Third Time's a Charm
Fannius Ill goes from Disney soundtracks
to Dinah Shore. By Jeff Katz
What Kind of Lesbian
Rocker Are You?
Take the test! By Melany Walters-Beck
48
49
50
Killer Lyrics
The Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer tries her
hand at a solo album. By Katie Peoples
Into the Woods
Dar Williams talks about the forest- and
why it's such an inspiration. By David Steinfeld
A Lesbian Legend
Janis Ian has seen and done it all-and
now she's telling the tale. By David Steinfeld
I\"\'
FanniusIll: FromDisneyto Dinah
36
GoGreen
Environmentalism on the Cheap
Small, mostly free things you can do to be
eco-friendly. By Jodi Helmer
37
How to Go Green-in
the Bedroom
Gettin' down and dirty while keeping your
conscience clean. By Stacy Bias
~
15
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£'!,
Making The Most of Your Trash
How worms can recycle your garbage.
By Lina Swislocki
. '
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COVER
PHOTO
BYGREYLOCKWOOD
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Departments JULY/AUGUST
2009
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IN EVERY ISSUE
2
10
11
12
15
18
19
20
26
64
Frankly Speaking
Letters
Contributors
This Is What a Lesbian Looks Like
Scene
Open Studio
Out in Front
22
Relationships: Dating when you're no
longer a spring chicken.
24
Health: Want better sex? These five natural supplements can help.
27
Money: How to protect your nest egg.
Dyke Drama
28
Planning a staycation this summer?
30
Politics
Lesbians: Green before it was cool.
Lipstick & Dipstick
AstroGrrl
Top Ten Reasons We Love ...
54
Books: TheSlow Fix and Dirt get us thinking about gender and chores. Plus, Rose
Beecham talks mysteries.
58
13
Miss Kittin & the Hacker and MYNX will
get you moving. Girl in a Coma's Jenn Alva
takes our questions.
Curvatures
The National Women's Music Fest is about
to kick off! Plus, slang terms for boobies
and where Miss California landed on our
Gaydar.
16
Music: Synth-sational cuts from Von Iva,
Celebrity Gossip
Lilo pokes fun at herself, Ellen joins the
Twittersphere and Suze Orman on SNL.
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Fold this pillow in half.
If your pillow at home bends like this
and stays bent, it's time for a new one.
If it bounces back, you're good to go.
A bad pillow can mean a bad night's sleep. If your pillow doesn't
provide proper support, it can lead to pain and sleepless nights.
TYLENOL®PM Rapid Release Gels can ease the pain and contains
a sleep aid that, when used as directed, is non-habit forming.
How's that for being supportive?
Feel better,
TYLENOL.
PM
tylenol.com/glbt
Use only as directed.
Do not take TYLENOL® with other products
containing
acetaminophen.
COMING
UP
From the Editor
When I told
my teenage
foster sons that
Bridgestone, one
of curve's longtime
supporters, had
created the first
"green" tire, they
both said, in
unison, "Gross!"
Apparently lingo
like "green" and
"eco" are lost on
them-even after much explaining
of what it means to be green (see
our Go Green section on page 36)
they barely got it. But when I take
them to the beach for cleanup
day, as we do each month, they
understand that we all have to do
our part in saving the planet, and
pronto. For the Curvettes, finding
ways to go greener and lessen
our impact on the planet is a
consuming passion, and everyone
from copy editor Katherine Wright
to advertising executive Diana
Berry gets in on the action. (Just
ask our art director Stefanie Liang
whose tireless devotion to reuserecycle takes the whole mantra
to an absurd new level). Some,
like production manager Ondine
Kilker, have pushed for more digital
enterprise-the no-paper way to
read the same great magazineand thanks to her we're having
great success with our new digital
edition of curve. I can't imagine a
world without print magazines but
I do love to get the digital version
in my inbox, replete with videos
and song downloads, knowing that
it's a little bit greener than the print
edition. It's just one of the small
ways we're trying to help out.
~
Diane Anderson-Minshall
Editor in Chief
s Icurve
•
High Fidelity
Can't get enough of the hot queer musicians rockin' out in our annual
music issue? Neither can we. Read uncut exclusives at
www.curvemag.com. Synth-rock sensations Von Iva define
success, up-and-coming indie trio Girl in a Coma (pictured
above) talk tejano and voluptuous madam Amanda Palmer
(right) cuts through the bull.
•
Little Green Houses for You and Me
"Green building goes from your personal health, to the community's health to the planet's health," says Iris Harrell, who
started her own eco-conscious construction company after
hitting her hammer one too many times on the glass ceiling
of the male-dominated industry. Read her
green building tips online now.
•
Seeing Through
the Greenwashing
Soap. Shampoo. Lotion. Moisturizer.
Makeup. Everyday your skin absorbs about
60 percent of the products you apply to
your skin-do you know whether they're
safe for you, or the planet? The U.S. government does not review the ingredients
used in the personal products sold across the country, or the eco-claims
made on their labels. Get the real story at www.curvemag.com.
•
The Secret to Happy Relationships
Helen Fisher, a developer of Chemistry.com and author of Why We Love
and Why Him? Why Her?, explains the link between brain chemistry, personality and successful relationships on page 23. Still not convinced? Get
the full story at www.curvemag.com and learn how to meet your match.
Love what looks.
a little like you.
■■
Stylish. Sassy. And the right size for every adventure. The Subaru Forester has what
ou love, including curve hugging Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and a powerful SUBARU
OXER®engine. No wonder Forester was named Motor Trend's 2009 Sport/Utility of
SUBARU.
he Year. It's as individual as you are. Love. It's what makes a Subaru, a Subaru.
ion fees. Dealer sets actual price. 2009 Forester 2.5X w,tn Prem1urr.Pa"KUge p1cturod abuVE:hd& an MSHP of $22,495
LETTERS
The Ultimate Sex Workout 10 Powerful Lesbian Politicians
L Word. Not all of us are watching The L
Word. After years of parties and debate, my
partner and I don't care anymore. At least
we have some other media to watch here in
Denver but what about the girls in Middle
America or who can't afford Showtime? Or
Logo? Please stop. Get over it. Diversify.
- Jenna Reulbach,Arvada, Colo.
Writer's Block
Curve magazine is, without a doubt, my
favorite magazine today, but I was wondering
why you never included a Writer's Corner. It
would be something that would help connect fans and make them feel involved and it
would add another dimension to your magazine. It would also appeal greatly to your
audience because, let's face it, what lesbian
has not, at one point or another, written a
done-me-wrong poem or penned a naughty
love note for her partner?
- Allura Danielle Dean, Enid, Okla.
Editor's Note: Jenna, it's funny you bring up
diversifyingbecausethat's exactly what we had
in mind when we put Pam Grier on our cover.
We'reproud to be able tofeature such a talented
woman of colorwho has beenafeminist iconfor
over 30 years. And as you can seefrom June's
cover with suifer Amee Donohoe, and this
month with Tegan and Sara, we do feature lesbians on our cover.Our overarchinggoal is to
coverall women-queer or straight-who have
an impact on the lesbiancommunity.
Still Hot and Heavy
Just wanted to drop you a quick note from
the cornfield, Illinois, to assure you that not
all lesbians in a committed relationship suffer from lesbian bed death. My fiancee and I
have been together about two and a half years,
depending on who you ask, and still have passionate, hot sex. I'm not trying to brag, but I
don't want all the ladies out there to get discouraged. Do whatever it takes to keep that
spark alive. Life's too short not to share passion with the one you love.
More Otalia!
I renewed my subscription to your fabulous
magazine. However, I really hope that you will
include more coverage of the GuidingLight actors Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia.I would
love you all forever and ever if they would grace
the cover of your magazine as they are the next
lesbian super couple. 1ba, lk., for your time and
I impatiently await you1 ut=xtissue.
- ConnieB. Cervantes,.LosAngeles
Where Can I Find It?
I recently saw the article tided "Our Lady
Parts, Ourselves" in the newest issue [Vol.19
#2]. I am wondering how I can find the book
that is discussed, Woman? It sounds fabulous and I would love to see it but I can't find
anything about it. Any way you can help?
- Nicole via email
Editor'sNote: The book has not beenpublished
yet, but go to www.picturesforlucy.comto find
more informationand tojoin the mailing list.
Vay for RugbyGirls
I really enjoyed reading about the different
sports in the May 2009 issue [Vol. 19 #4]. I
think an important sport in the lesbian community that is often overlooked is rugby. I
joined my university team my freshman year
of college and was exposed to one of the most
open communities of women in the nation.
My teammates' acceptance was instrumental
in my coming out. The rugby community is
Editor'sNote: Don't get us wrong,we lovea good - Lauri, fllinois
bleeding-heartballad as much as the next dyke,
but we like to stick with what we know here and
that's nonfiction. If you're lookingfor exclusive
Smack Down!
interviews, cutting exposes and tell-it-like-it-is
Webraced
fortheKatyPerryhaterade
to hitourinboxes
afterourAprilcover,
butwerepleaspersonalaccounts,you'rein the rightplace.
antlysurprised
to getpositive
lettersinstead
aboutmusician
JenFoster
andher"I Kissed
A Girl"
response,
"I Didn'tJustKissHer."Sowe'reputting
thesetwolady-smoochin'
musical
titans
Get Over The L Word
head-to-head.
Gotowww.curvemag.com,
listen
tothetunesandtelluswhichoneyoulikebetter!
Stop featuring straight women who play lesbians on the cover of your magazine. Interpret
this as: Get over The L Word. Is curve the
L Word newsletter? You featured lesbian
politicians inside of the magazines with little
blurbs and small pictures, and these are out
lesbians who are trying to change our world
and likely getting some flack for it and who
do you offer up for us in a three-page article?
Foxy Brown-a straight woman who plays a
straight woman who once fell for a transgender man [Vol.19 #4]. And this is the third or
fourth cover this year that has featured The
10
I curve
I kisseda girlandI likedit
Queen
LESBOLICIOUS
LYRICS
MUSICAL
INFLUENCES
Rompers,
candy-colored
palette
PERSONAL
STYLE
Twentysomething
sorority
girls
MYFANBASEIS...
Tryingto getfamous
IF I WASN'T
FAMOUS
1'DBE...
I didn'tjustkissher
BobDylan
Bluejeans,sensibleshoes
Thirtysomething
womyn
Playing
the guitarin
a coffeeshop
CONTRIBUTORS
extremely close and my straight teammates are
some of the strongest allies the lesbian community has. One teammate recently wrote on
Facebook, "I love lesbians. Ninety percent of
my best friends are gay and I wouldn't have it
any other way:' Not to mention, it's a great way
to find women if you are single!
- Issa Braman, Kalamazoo,Mich.
America for the Win
I have subscribed to curve for quite a few
years now, and it seems appropriate to pass
on to you my heartfelt thanks and congratulations for staying true to my experience of dykedom. Unlike the British equivalent, you have
managed to speak with sincerity and verve,
educating and entertaining us with heart. I get
a sense of a real community spirit, rarely in evidence over here in the U.K., where one could
easily replace the leading lesbian magazine
with 10 other boring, all-style, no-substance,
traditional women's magazines, (with each
issue I become more and more convinced it is
heterosexual led, masquerading as lesbian). If
there are ways we can support your survival in
difficult times, just let us know.
"Whenever I go out with my friend Sommer, she insists on introducing me to the ladies
as 'My friend Nina, who writes for curve magazine; as if she thinks people are going to
break into 'oohs' and'ahhs;" laughs editorial assistant NinaLary,who admits that interviewing strong females like French graffiti artist Mademoiselle Kat and Bay Area balls-to-thewall rock band Dolorata may not get her ogled at the local girl bar, but
has connected her to dynamic women from all walks of life. Scouring
endless stacks of books and DVDs to find the best of queer pop culture
for readers has introduced her to the heavy "real-New York" world of
Sarah Schulman's characters and educated her on the struggles of Texas'
iconic female musicians. "Curve has allowed me, and its thousands of
readers, gay, bi, trans, or even-gasp!-straight,
not only to see, but feel,
how others are living, loving and struggling everyday;' says Lary.
"Welcome to life on the road;' says contributing writer MelanyWalters-Beck
who spent 48 hours with Tegan and Sara during The Con tour to write "On
the Road With Tegan and Sara'' (page 40). "It was so amazing to be a part
of that energy again;' she admits, referring to her own ill-fated career as a
singer-songwriter. "I love music and I love travel, but there's so much pressure, to be 'on' all the time. Even on my days off I was having anxiety about
small details like chord changes and lyrics-and
remembering to wear
underwear. I decided it would be better for me to write about this crazy
world than to live in it;' she says. Profiling such artists as Northern State, Team Gina and
Lez Zeppelin, Walters-Beck has remained on the move. ''I've lived in L.A., Phoenix and
Chicago, this year alone;' she reflects nostalgically.
- Sue Robinson, United Kingdom
Marital Bliss?
Why all the focus on marriage and babies? It
seems, with every issue, there is less and less
content for younger, single women. Even the Sex
Issue [Vol. 19 #1) was all about motherhood
and marriage. As someone who is not currently
interested in getting married or parenting, the
only thing sustaining my loyalty to curve is
the hope that it will get interesting again.
- Jonna Witbeck, Portland,Ore.
Editor'sNote: It'sfeast orfamine when it comes
to sex. Last year we got complaintstherewas too
much aboutyoung singlewomen and not enough
about moms or women over40. Alas, when your
readershipis 18 to 80 you end up needingto cover a lot of topicsin a mere 64 pagesa month!
Corrections:
Our June cover girl lesbian surfer Amee
Donohoe ["Too Foxy for Roxy?" Vol. 19 #5)
is No. 5 in the world, not No. 9. In "Top Ten
Reasons We Love... " [Vol. 19 #5), Kebo Drew
is the festival manager for the Queer Women
of Color Film Festival, not the Corona Queer
Women of Color Film Festival. ■
"I can't skate worth a lick;' admits contributing writer Stacy Bias, a
long-time queer and body image activist from Portland, Ore. "But I'll
chase most any girl on wheels-two or four:' The mischievous twinkle
in Bias' eye doesn't entirely overshadow the fact that she's very serious
about the kind of grassroots activism embodied in the Skate Like a Girl
organization (SLAG), which she wrote about for "Skater Girls" (page
32) "I think that the only difference between those who make change
and those who don't is a good idea and the tenacity to try. Folks like
Jessie Haungs and the rest of the SLAG crew saw a need and filled it
passionately, despite the adversity they faced. As a result, a new generation of female skaters
are taking to the ramp with a new level of advocacy and empowerment:' Bias is no stranger
to grassroots activism, hersel£ As the founder of the former TechnoDyke.com online community, FatGirl Speaks, DykeTees.com and, most recently, TaprootHosting.com (a new,
queer-owned, green web hosting company) Bias is quite the need-filler hersel£ Find out
more at www.StacyBias.net. ■
Sweet Sounds
Rock goddess and curve contributor Jennifer Corday (right) is
celebrating the release of her fourth studio album, Superhero. An
award-winning musician, Corday has also been busy producing her
vlog "Girl Rock!" Log on to www.curvemag.com for the latest episode. Jenny
Sherwin aka Sheena Metal, our illustrious entertainment writer and a seasoned
talk radio host, is now on KLSX (97.1 FM) wth The Sheena Metal Experience.
Raw, unscripted and unpredictable, this is not your mother's talk radio show.
Tune in weekdays 5 to 7 p.m. (PSTI at www.latalkradio.com. Better yet, stay
tuned for a future issue of curve where Metal goes man-o-man with girlfriend,
rock star Danielle Egnew.
Actor, drag
performer and
model Lauren
LoGiudice.
cur~atures_~~~,-----
-
Your Chance to Make Out and Rock Out
"This festival is like meeting up with family again, only
it keeps on giving and you get to make out with some
of them;' says musician Martine Locke, and given the
audience I saw last year, it's not just the performers
who feel this way about the National Women's Music
Festival. Maybe Locke was kidding about getting laid
but hey, it could happen, especially since you get to
stay in a comfortable hotel and attend concerts in
a nice theater setting. No pine needles in my hair:'
Where do I sign up:' (www.wiaonline.org)
This long-running festival is no musty folk-singer
jam-fest. Sure, if folk music is your thing, you can
hear Lucie Blue Tremblay and Zoe Lewis, but the
lineup also includes Sarah Bettens, Erin McKeown
and Patrice Pike. You can also laugh your ass off with
comics Lisa Koch, Vickie Shaw and Roxanna Ward.
If that's not enough, get energized with poet Alix
Olson. Or go to one of the many other activitiesthey offer workshops, crafts, open mies, dances and
theater presentations. Even fundraising is a scream
at the festival's annual auction, where you can bid on
trips and other prizes, with festival performers playing the role of Vanna White.
Who's the nun:' That would be singer-songwritercomic extraordinaire Lisa Koch as Sister Mary
Agnes. And if you're lucky, you'll catch her with her
puppet Sister Mary Mike Tyson.
The National Women's Music Festival started
back in 1974 when a group of women in ChampaignUrbana, Ill., got angry that their local music festival
featured mostly men. Getting nowhere with the
organizers, they decided to have their own event
and hired a producer. The producer made big promises about bringing in Roberta Flack and Yoko Ono,
but instead, she skipped town. Undaunted, organiz-
ers forged ahead and held the festival with women's
rock bands, folk singers and string bands.
In the years since that awkward beginning, the
festival has featured speakers and performers like
Tracy Chapman, Angela Davis, Melissa Ferrick,
Ferron, God-Des and She, Janis Ian, Laura Love,
Sweet Honey in the Rock, Tribe 8, Cris Williamson,
All The King's Men and hundreds more. The audience members come from all walks of life, cutting
across ethnic, racial, sexual,
age and ability boundaries. In an email statement
from God-Des and She, the
hip-hop duo said, "National
is an amazing festival that
welcomes everyone and has
incredible music:'
Drag
king
performer
Leighsa Burgin of All The
Kings Men says, "It was
meaningful and exciting to
be part of a monumental and
historically significant event
put on by, and for, women:' Go, be meaningful-or
just to get laid.
This year's festival is July 2-5 in Madison, Wis., at
the Marriott Madison West Hotel and Conference
Center. [JamieAnderson]
SWEETER
DREAMS
FORHOMELESS
KIDS
A 2009reportbythe
WilliamsInstituteshowed
that povertyratesare
twiceas highfor children
of lesbianandgaycouples
thanfor childrenof married
heterosexual
couples.In an
effortto makea differencein
the livesof childrentouched
by poverty,ProjectNight
Nightdeliverspackages
of
"childhoodessentials"
to
25,000homelesschildren
eachyear.A security
blanket,a stuffedanimal
anda storybookcomplete
the gift,whichis designed
to improveemotionaland
cognitivewell-being.
(www.projectnightnight.org)
[YanaTallon-Hicks]
Fashion and Function
Ride Off Into the Sunset
Tied on by cowboys, break dancers, bank
robbers, leather-dykes and more, there are
few accessories as versatile as the humble
bandanna. The Bandanna Book (Cider Mill
Press} illustrates 103 ways this calico critter
can be used to make your life better-from
an emergency feminine napkin to do-it-yourself throw pillows. The
,11•-*
Ill
book also contains a humorous, whirlwind his-
...
tory of neckwear (which, sadly, fails to mention
the hanky code} and even a bright red ban-
ii!:--,...~
I
danna to get you started. The book is bound
to get your creative juices flowing-which
you
can then wipe up with your bandanna. (www.
cidermillpress.com) [Heather
Robinson]
July/August
2009
I 13
the rundown
There's been plenty of speculation about
what's next for bombshell Lindsay
Lohan
since her public split with Sam Ronson.
Now, betting sites bookmaker.com and
betus.com are getting in on the action,
placing odds on whether the starlet
will stick with the ladies or return to
dating men ... More than 5,000 schools
participated in Dayof Silenceon April
17. Organized by the Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network, students
remained tight-lipped throughout the
day in an effort to call attention to antiLGBT name-calling and bullying
in schools ... Following the release
of the National Organization for
Marriage's ludicrous, propagandist anti-gay marriage TV
commercial, "Stormis Coming"
a number of skewering parodies
have popped up on The Colbert
Report and FunnyOrDie.com.
A storm is, indeed, coming, and
we like the look of the forecast .. . Eve
Sedgwick,
a founding pioneer of queer theory, lost her
longtime battle with breast
cancer in April. Brilliant,
witty and frequently scandalous, Sedgwick authored a
number of books including the groundbreaking Epistemology of the Closet.. . New
YorkCitytourism officials rolled out an
LGBT marketing campaign this summer.
The Big Apple is a top vacation destination for gays and lesbians and they aim
to keep it that way... The men's magazine
Esquire
issued a formal apology for its
advocating of the pejorative "shit-sniffing
faggot" in its May article, "How To Be a
Man;' insisting, "the parody
was profanity itself and
not the various people who
might be its object ... we are
sincerely sorry"... There's
no love lost between comic
JamieFoxxand tween star
MileyCyrus.In a recent broadcast of his
radio show, The Foxxhole, he implored the
actor to "Do like Lindsay Lohan and start
being a lesbian and get some crack in
your pipe. Catch chlamydia on a bicycle
seat:' Poppa Billy Ray Cyrus was not
amused. [RachelShatto]
14icurve
What Did Grandma Call It?
Avocados,
bazookas,
bazooms,
beestings,bombs,
bubs,buffers,
bumpers,
casabas,
cupcakes,
funbags,
gazongas,
grapefruits,
hangers,
headlights,
jigglies,
jugs,knockers.
If youhaven'tfigured
it outyet,allowmeto spellit outforyou:I'mtalkingbreasts.
And,whileit wouldbefunto write
anodetothoselovelyorbsthatcannursetheyoungandinciteriotsinthestreets,
thisis notmy
intention.
AllthesetermscamefromTheRoutledge
Dictionary
ofAmerican
Slangandbelieve
me,
I'velistedonlya fractionoftheeuphemisms
thatcanbefoundthere.
It wasfun,fora while,to pagethrough
thebookandsmileto myselfovereachnewentry.
But,aftercomingacrossonetoomanyvariations
ontheC-word(Idon'tcareif we'vereclaimed
it, it stillgrindsmygears),
I realized
thatwhilesuchterminology
doesadda certaincolorto the
language,
it alsodetracts
fromandoftendemeans
whatit describes.
Take,
forinstance,
"able
Grable"
a popular
phrase
fora sexygirlinthe
'40s2---if
sounds
benignenough,
butthereis
anunmistakable
undercurrent
of
objectification
thatalsoruns
througha lotoftheslang
popular
today.What'sVl{rong
withcallingthingswhatthey
are?Theword''vagina"
dMsn1t soundsexyto
you?Getyourea!'$
checked,
because
it
sounds
greatto me.
[Rachel
Lastra]
The Gaydar
Here's a taste of lesbians in pop culture this month.
Who missed the mark and who was right on target?
nderLuna&
ut Bliss:coconut
rganic,vegan,
ious
AmberRoseJoinsOtherTeamLeaves
girlfirendTre(from TheAggressives)
for Kanye
Westwhocalledhimself"the fuckingend-all,
be-allof music."Whatwasshethinking?
SCENE
1 Uh-Huh Her's Camila Grey at The Dinah 2 Missy
Higgins rocks The Fillmore in San Francisco 3 Exes and
Ohs star Megan Cavanagh (right) and her wife, Anne
Chamberlain, at the GLAAD Media Awards in SF 4 Amy
Ray at The Dinah 5 Jenny Shimizu and Susi Kenna at
the GLAAD Media Awards in New York City 6 Booby
Trap party at the Bolt Underground, Minneapolis 7 Suze
Orman speaks at GLAAD SF 8 I Want to Work for Diddy's
Laverne Cox accepts the award for Outstanding Reality
Program at GLAAD SF 9 Partygoers at curve's third
annual Ladies' Night for Dine Out for Life at Charanga
in SF 10 Suede performs at the Dinah Weekend 11 Dr.
Betty L. Sullivan celebrates her birthday at Orson restaurant in SF with the burlesque troupe Twilight Vixen Revue
July/August 2009
I 15
LESBOFILE
I.
Thinkingthe Unthinkable
Ellen fails, Suze Orman gets mocked and LiRo split. By Jocelyn Voo
Americato LiRo:R.I.P.
LindsayLohanand SamanthaRonson's
relationship has had massively rumored ups (did
you hear that Lohan supposedly wanted to
convert to Judaism to prove her commitment to Ronson?) and downs (how about
that Lohan upset Ronson by unexpectedly
showing up at the Las Vegas club Ronson
was DJing at, only to have Ronson take off,
with Lohan chasing her all the way back to
Los Angeles?). But now there's been confirmation: The little train-wreck that could is
officially over.
Lohan's official comment on the breakup
was textbook damage control: "We are taking
a brief break so I can focus on myself;' she
told E! News.
But, you know, it's hard to "focus on yourself" when you keep getting asked about
someone else-on
national TV and the
World Wide Web, no less.
"I think [the breakup has] been really
good for me;' Lohan told EllenDeGeneres.
"I
thought it would be so much harder and it
hasn't been ... I've had great people surrounding me and I've just been working every
single day:'
And part of"working" includes an eHar1.1:1 ny video prnfile
for lwmor weh<;ite
16 j curve
FunnyOrDie.com that pokes fun at her
failed relationship.
'Tm recently single. I think. And I'm looking for someone who I can spend the rest of
my life with. Or at least the rest of my probation with;' she says in the clip. 'Tm looking
for a compatible mate who likes a night out
on the town-as long as he or she has driving papers. Likes ankle-monitoring bracelets
and doesn't have family members quick to
issue restraining orders:'
Since the breakup, Lohan has been partying with the boys, according to the New York
Post. Lesbian fans are hoping that's just the
rebound talking. Uh, Linds, call us.
Imitationas Flattery
With the country in its current econorruc
state, you can't get away from SuzeOrman.
And
though she's a New York Times bestseller, has
her own eponymous show on CNBC and has
won two Emmys for the PBS specials based
on her books, Orman has finally hit the bigtime ... at least in her mind.
Having KristenWiig impersonate her on
Saturday Night Live was the 'greatest honor
of my career;' the money guru says.
"I love it;' Orman told WWD.com. "Tue
real problem is that now I do my own show
every Saturday night and I start doing all
these things that make me go, 'Ugh. I'm playing Kristen Wiig: I mean, it's just very good.
She has got me down:' Watch out-this
could be 2009's TinaFey-Sarah
Palinskit.
Followthe Leader
Everyone and her mother (hi, Mom!) has a
Facebook page now, but some folks are just
jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. Enter
EllenDeGeneres,
who gave herself the lofty
goal of achieving a million "followers" in 24
hours. (For those also late to the tech party:
Twitter is a social media platform where
users are encouraged to send 140-character
messages, called tweets, to update their followers on what they're doing or thinking.)
Though she now has over a million
followers, DeGeneres failed in her mission,
even after she posted a pie of hot wifey
Portiade Rossi.Unsurprisingly, her Twitter
(www.twitter.com/TheEllenShow)
is actually pretty funny. But it is surprising that
she follows some 20-odd feeds, which
include the New York Times, Barack Obama,
Martha Stewart and ... MC Hammer? Well,
he does have quite a few more followers
than she does ... ■
SUBSCRIBE
□ 2 years (20 issues) for $34.95
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OPENSTUDIO
A Photo Field Tri
One lesbian finds beauty in her own backyard. By Heather Robinson
Inspiration can be an elusive mistress and even talented
photographers sometimes can't make those sparks fly.Trish
Tunney (www.trishtunney.blogspot.com) once roused her~
self from a creative slump by taking pictures of the same
block every day for two weeks straight.
"It helped me to relax, stop judging and start playing
again, to start seeing it as the joyful meditation I have done
my whole life;' she says.
Tunney most often finds inspira~
tion in new light hitting old things
as she haunts the streets around her
studio in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.
'Tm drawn to things from another time;' Tunney says.
"I like to see things that have lasted. Most things that are
old show the effects of time. It seems to me like they have
stories to tell:'
Lately, she has been mixing it up by taking pictures
through the viewfinders of old cameras from the '40s and
'50s. The effects are ghostly and unnaturally aged. "It feels
like looking through a time machine;' she says.
When Trish isn't capturing San Francisco, she is taking
pictures of chickens for her wife, the artist dk hass. ■
You don't need an expensive camera or a degree in art to enjoy taking pictures,
just a desire to see your world with fresh eyes. Tunney offers the following advice:
Signyourown [creativity]permission
slip: "I thinkwe'reallcreative,
butsome
peoplehaveideasthatgetinthewayof
thinkingthattheyare."
Findyourthing:"Forme,it'sreallyabout
shadows
andpatterns.
Foreveryone
it's
a differentthing...youjust[haveto]go
lookingforyourthing."
Doit for yourself:"Somepeopleareshy
aboutgettingintothatplacewherethey
canrecognize
beautywhileotherpeople
arewatching."
Bea goldfish:"Don'tthinktoomuch
aboutwhatyou'reseeing,
justseeit.Try
to seeit forthefirsttime,evenif it'sthe
thousandth
time."
Waitfor it: "Therearelotsandlotsof
interesting
thingsto photograph,
butit's
notrightuntilthelighthitstheminthe
rightway."
Rulescanbefun:"I
likehavingparameters.
I willpickonelensand
walkinonedirection.
Thatworksforme,to
pushmeintolooking
andseeing."
Explorewithoutjudgment:"You'regoing Thinkoutsidethe box:"If youfind
to makesomelousypicturesbeforeyou
something
reallyinteresting,
try puttingit
gettothegoodones."
anywhere
butthecenteroftheframe."
1s
I curve
OUTINFRONT
Doin Their Part
Queer women advocating on the home front and in the wider world. By Sheryl Kay
MinorityReport
writes for www.mombian.com, a lifestyle
For the past four years, MarcieFisher-Borne blog for lesbian moms and other LGBT parhas studied the HIV/ AIDS epidemic and ents. Although the original arrangement was
its impact on young gay and bisexual African for her partner, Helen Maynard, a semiconAmerican men as part of her work toward a ductor engineer, to stay at home with their
Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at newborn son, plans changed.
Chapel Hill. There, as a research associate for
"When I tell this to straight friends, they
Project STYLE (Strength Through Youth look at me like I'm from Mars;' she says.
Livin' Empowered), she has helped develop "That's one advantage lesbian couples havecultural competency training for healthcare
without rigid gender expectations, we may
providers to improve their capacity to work with this underserved
population.
Fisher-Borne first got turned on to
activism as an undergraduate. As a
Point Scholar, she was the first student to major in women's studies at
Louisiana State University. "It was in
these classes that I began, for the first
time, to find a language to articulate a
critique of social inequality and injustice;' she recalls.
She's also been involved in two
notable studies that have looked at
youth issues-one
examining the
strengths and challenges of different kinds of families, including the
working poor, parents with cognitive
limitations, gay and lesbian families
and grandparents raising grandchildren; and the other involving a five-year, $1 feel freer to form our own roles and be more
million Federal Children's Bureau grant to flexible in child rearing than opposite-sex
develop training to enhance the effectiveness couples:'
Overall, however, the similarities between
of child welfare workers and supervisors who
serve rural communities.
straight and gay parenting far outweigh the
"So often, we set the tone for how people will differences, Rudolph says. "There's not a lesengage with us;' she says. "If you are proud of bian way to change a diaper;' she jokes.
Still, there are some critical differences
who you are, connect to people with as much
love as possible and give folks a chance, they between straight and gay parenting, parare likely to surprise you:'
ticularly involving legal issues that might,
for example, impact which partner can visit
a sick child in the hospital. There can also
GaybyBooming
X:
For almost a decade, DanaRudolph
developed be tremendous financial burdens involving
5
5 marketing and business strategies for various
health insurance and IRA contributions.
~
"I think there can be great pressure on
i:l online services and served as a vice presi:i::
5 dent at Merrill Lynch, where she also led an LGBT parents to be perfect, as if we need to
prove to the world that we are good parents;'
~:> LGBT employee network.
t
Today, she's a stay-at-home mom and says Rudolph. "That can lead to pressure on
our kids to be perfect as well. Being a good
parent doesn't mean being perfect, however;
it means trying our best, learning from our
mistakes and realizing that most of parenting is on-the-job training:'
A Revolutionary
AmongUs
At 13, she volunteered at the local draft
resisters' office and, after weeks of stuffing
envelopes, she asked if there was something
more important she could do.
"They told me there's nothing
small in a big movement;' says Donna
RedWing,58, who today is a senior
advisor to the Interfaith Alliance
in Washington, D.C., and to the
National Crittenton Foundation in
Portland, Ore. Over the years, Red
Wing has held executive positions
with grassroots activist organizations such as the Child Assault
Prevention
Project of Central
New England, the Gay & Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation, the
Human Rights Campaign and the
Gill Foundation.
All lesbians, she says, have a part
to play in the work for equality and
that part can be as big or as small
as the individual wants it to be.
Simply being out is a great and courageous
beginning. And while she believes the LGBT
movement has made some real "atmospheric,
cultural and attitudinal changes;' many issues
are still unresolved.
"I would like to see an equality revolution,
a strategic, grassroots, not AstroTur£ movement, that engages our friends, our adversaries and those in the middle, connecting
houses of worship, academia, government,
the independent sector, Madison Avenue,
Wall Street, Main Street, Hollywood and
our families;' says Red Wing. "Our goal
is simple-equality-nothing
more and
nothing less:' ■
-.."-'
Know anyone who's
.
Email us at oif@curvernag.com.
July/August 2009 j 19
~f
ADVICE Lipstick & Dipstick
Making Your Move
DearLipstickandDipstick:I've beenin a rela- girlfriend didn't do a thing to help me get
tionshipgoingon two years.In the beginning, out, not only would there be no more nooky
it was nice.She did thingsfor me, like give for her, but there would also be no more
me moneywheneverI neededit, and bought roof over her head-because I would have
me things.We usedto go out.Now,it's totally burned it down. Mom's house would have to
different.Lastsummer,my motherkickedme go, too. Dump the deadbeat girlfriend now
out and my disabledsonand I hadto go to a and start rebuilding your life.
shelter.Myfriendscamethroughfor mebutmy
girlfriendneverhelpedme or did anythingfor Dipstick:I don't know, Lipstick. I think
me whileI was there.SheknowsI needhelp, maybe this one is not simply a sucker-she
especially
withmyson.I feel likeI'm justthere sounds like a leech. In what world would a
forshow,likea "trophygirlfriend,"
butshesays homeless lesbian mom with a disabled son
shelovesme,that we're nevergoingto break and no money be considered a trophy girlupandthatshewantsusto getmarried.I don't friend? What's the backstory here?Whywere
get it. Shegetsso mad if my friendsgive me you mooching off Mom in the first place?
money,buymethingsor offerto help,butshe Why do you need to be bailed out so much?
doesn'tdoit, so I'm kindof trapped.-Sucker
A little help now and then is fine, but friends
in SouthCarolina
giving you cash and buying you things? Look
at yourself and see if
Lipstick:The first thing you need, Sucker, it's really your girlis some self-respect. If not for you then for friend who needs
your child. If I ended up in a shelter and my to change.
I'm having crazed
th ghts about
packing it all up,
leaving my current
career path and
relocating to
Portland, Ore., or
some other lesbian
mecca. Is that
crazy talk?
20
Icurve
DearLipstickand Dipstick:I'm a 27-year-old
professional
witha coupleof graduatedegrees
anda lotof spunk,butI'm havinga reallyhard
time meetinginteresting,single lesbiansin
myfairlymetropolitan
area.I'm havingcrazed
thoughtsaboutpackingit all up, leavingmy
currentcareerpathandrelocating
to Portland,
Ore.,or someotherlesbianmecca,outof sheer
frustrationand demoralization.
Is that crazy
talk?- Makea MoveonMe
Dipstick:I was just your age when I packed
my bags and moved to Portland. I think it's a
great idea. What do you have to lose?
Lipstick:
I did the same thing, too, but learned
the hard way that your troubles somehow
get into your moving boxes, no matter how
vigilant you are at keeping them out. I'm not
saying you shouldn't move-I like the idea,
actually-but these issues you're having will
be with you in Portland, too, only with more
rain, organic food and trendy coffeehouses.
Let's face it: It's hard to meet a good woman,
one who not only blows your skirt up, but also
keeps that other important organ stimulated-your brain. If a great relationship were
easy, it wouldn't be so coveted. Stop obsessing over meeting someone special, Mover and
Shaker, and live your life with intention. That
may mean a big move to Portland, one of
the greatest cities on Earth, but it also might
mean sitting down and thinking about what
you want in life. So, focus on yourself and
creating what you imagine, and one day the
woman of your dreams will come sauntering
in-whether you're in Portland or Peoria.
Dipstick:There you go again, guru Lipstick,
with that New Age jargon-"intention;'
"organic food:' Mover and Shaker, Lipstick
is wrong. I think you're being called to
Portland because your soul mate awaits
you there. Follow your instincts. You're
young and, remember, you only live once.
Throw your dog in the back of the Subaru
and head to the Northwest. If things don't
work out in Puddletown, you can always try
the Peace Corps.
DearLipstickand Dipstick:I cameout about
sixyearsago.Myfamilyis veryaccepting-my
dadis evencomfortable
talkingwith me about
women.I am well-likedby myco-workers
and
I'm continuing
my education
by takingcollege
classes.Theoddpartof all this is that I work
as the after-school
programcoordinator
at my
church.I am not outat work,for obviousreasons.My bossis a minister,
mydadis a minister andmostof thepeopleI goto meetings
and
conferences
withareallministers!
Mydadhasa
positionof authorityin thechurch,soeveryone
inthisareaknowsme.I reallycannotbeoutand
workhere.I dolovemyjob,though.
Thekidsare
great,andtheparentsloveme.Inthatrespect,
it
is awesome.
In myheartI feelsadthatI cannot
havea full lifehere.It is a rural-ishsmalltown,
andif I hada sociallifeeveryone
wouldknow.I
wouldneverdoanything
to hurta child.I amnot
a dangertothem,butI knowthatnotalltheparentswouldfeelthatway.I lovemylifebutI just
don'tfeellikeit'sfinishedyet.I wanta wifeand
LIPSTICK
& DIPSTICK'S
FAVORITE
FASHION
ACCESSORIES
DIPSTICK
Peacesignnecklaceon a leathercord
VintageMontgomery
Wardbluedownvest
"RockStar"leathercuffby
RIGGED
OUT
/FITTERS
Dykesin TheCitycap
LIPSTICK
Dolce& GabbanaCiclaminobustier
S ucon}Gridrun ingshoesandTime
IRONMAN
triathlon30 lapwatch
JeaninePayer'sMarinathumbring
prised if you come out. With your dad leading
the flock, maybe you'll be just fine where you
are. Times are changing. Just go on and keep
living your life in a way that makes you happy.
If you meet someone you want to settle down
with, then do it. You don't have to make a big
announcement. Just live. Give your community the opportunity to support you. Maybe
they will. But if they don't, fight it sword and
plowshare! Make a stink. Call the press, organize protests, blog about it, get the ACLU
involved. Either you'll find a new career path
as an activist, or childcare centers across the
country will be lining up to offer you a job.
Dear Lipstickand Dipstick:My girlfriendis
reallysensitive.I say a lot of stupidthings,
anddothingsthat I thinkare meaningless
but
that hurt her.How can I be moresensitive?
theoptionto at leastattemptto adoptor foster - Barbed-Tongued
Barbie
somekids.ButI don'tseethathappening
inthis
town.AmI doomed?
AmI mentallyunstable
for Dipstick:I, like you, often let things fly out
beinghappyhere?- ChurchLady
of my mouth that I wish I could retrieveespecially ifI've had a drink or two. For some
Dipstick:No, you're not insane or doomed.
reason, tequila is the worst. Just ask Lip. She'll
There's nothing wrong with you and you never have margaritas with me again. But
know it. Your dad knows it and God knows
when I'm sober and sensitive, I try to take a
it, too. The problem is not with you but with
few breaths before I spout whatever is on the
bigotry and dose-minded people. We would
tip of my tongue. You've taken the first step by
all love to be out at our jobs, but the truth is, realizing this is a problem for you. Now follow
some of us don't have that luxury. Think of Dipstick's four-step process to avoid insulting
the military. You're out to the people who are those you love. Step 1: Count to 10. Step 2:
important to you in your life. That is good.
Take a deep breath. Step 3: Ask yourself if the
statement you're about to make will get you
Lipstick:
What? Dipstick, are you taking those
closer to or farther away from her jewelry box?
herbal sedatives again? Church Lady, get out
Step 4: Keep your mouth shut anyway. Works
of that closet! You can have the life you're every time.
dreaming about, but you're going to have to
Lipstick:Dipstick, did you have to bring up
pay the price for it. You have something that
the margaritas in Manhattan incident? I
other people from religious families don't
was trying to put that behind us. I have the
have: a father who supports you. Consider
opposite problem, Barbie, believe it or not-I
yourself lucky. There may be consequences
tend to be too nice. I wouldn't say I'm a patsy,
when you come out-ignorant
people judgbut when it comes to someone I love, I can be
ing you or treating you differently-but
that
quite a softie. Well, until I become a pushedis their baggage, not yours. Think of it this
way: What's the worst they can do to you? over-the-edge, I'm-out-of-here Barbie, that
Gossip? Treat you differently? Cast stones? is-which is what I suspect your girlfriend
We are on the front line of this fight and it's will eventually morph into. Maybe you two
never been more important for queers to live just aren't right for each other. ■
their lives out and proud. The time is now to
Get more advice! Watch
stop living in fear.
new episodes of The
Dipstick:
Yeah, sorry. I just threw the sedatives
Lipstick & Dipstick Show
away.You never know-perhaps
you'll be surat www.curvemag.com.
July/August 2009
I21
ADVICE Relationships
Sex and the Single Girl-Over 40
Oh, the perils of midlife lesbian romance. By Stephanie Schroeder
I'm on a date with a woman very close to my age (I'm 45, she's
42), and one of the first things out of her mouth is: "My ex... " I
squirm and halflisten to the litany of affronts and offenses she
says the woman has perpetrated. Not that I don't believe her,
but this chick is giving me a rundown about a previous lover
who obviously started as ... a date. Not a good sign.
She is yammering about her most recent ex, a writerjust like you;' she says. Great. And her ex before that was an
attorney ( thank God I am not practicing!). It turns out she
is not over either one of these women, which I find ironic,
since I met her on an online dating site. "Dating" being the
operative word.
The worst thing I can think of doing on a first date
is dredging up a parade of my exes. I have been a serial
monogamist since I was 24. Now, 45 and single, the last
thing I want to discuss with another woman who is almost
a stranger-but
with whom I am trying to enjoy a meal-is
how one ex beat me, another cheated on me and yet another
was nice, but we just didn't work out.
My experiences with other, supposedly date-ready dykes is
that they are often so mired in drama at work, at home, with
friends and, yes, former relationships that their emotional
capacity to make a romantic or even a personal connection,
let alone commit to a monogamous or open relationship, is
dubious at best.
Women over 40 have a lot of baggage, for sure, but one
positive note is that we are still putting it out there. I see
all types of women willing to post or send photos, proving
that we've got the style, personality and confidence to back
up a few wrinkles, some gray hairs and an imperfect body.
After 40-plus years, our sensibility is mature, and 20- and
30-year-olds can't compete. We are willing to make bold
statements about exactly who and what we are looking for.
We persevere, undeterred.
Being ready to dive headlong into the future is what it's all
about. After all, we 40-somethings are in our prime, and wallowing in former drama only holds us back
from experiencing the
here and now. We need
to plan for the next 40
years. When we're open
and honest, and emotionally and physically
available, it's time to
have fun-go out and
play. Just remember not
to stay out too late! ■
22 I curve
MIDLIFEDATING
DOS...
ANDDON'TS
...
• Dobeupfront
aboutyourage.Hey,
sheis goingto findoutsooneror later.
• Don'tfeelbadaboutbeing
singleafter40.Noteveryone
is
cutoutto havea lifelongrelationship.Beingaloneis neithera
punishment
nora crime.
• Dodressandactyourage.Fortyis
thenew... whatever,
andit's perfectlyacceptable
to beanurbanor
ruralhipster.But,don'tactlikeyou're
stuckin the'80sortryingto bean'09
punk-you mightgetseriously
injured
in a mashpit incident.
• Dolearnfromexperience.
If you
haveunhealthy
patterns,
don'trepeat
them.If youconsistently
makeunwise
decisions,
changeyourperspective,
see
a therapist,buysomeself-helpbooks,
worktheroom-whateverit takesto
beableto (finally)engagein healthy
intimaterelationships.
• Dobe outrageous.
We'renowold
enough-andboldenough-nottoworry
aboutwhatothersthink.Beyourself,
be
freeandbecarefree.
• Dohavesafesex.HIV/
AIDShas
notbeencured,STDsstill exist.Yes,
female-to-female
transmission
mightbe
low-risk,butwhytakeanyriskat all?
• Don't(andI meandon't)
talkaboutyourex(es)onthe
firstdate.Oreventhesecond.I
meanit.
• Don'tevenfudgea little
aboutyourage.Especially
to
muchyounger
women-it will
comebackto hauntyou.
• Don'ttrymakingit workwith
a chickunder32.It's a setup
for certainfailure.Trustme.
• Don'tconfuse
sexwithlove.
Yes,weare40-plus,butsomeof
ushaven'tworkedthroughour
"issues"withsexandlove.Too
manyrelationships
arebasedon
sexalone,whichis finewhennot
confused
withlove.Makesure
youknowthedifference
before
youreservetheU-Haul!
Relationships ADVICE
This Is Your Brainon Love
Best Domestic
Gay Resort Town
-2006,2007,2008,
Out Traveler /PlanetOut.com
The woman behind Chemistry.com explains. By Katie Peoples
Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist
and the developer of Chemistry.corn's gayfriendly compatibility survey, has recently
released a new book on human attraction,
Why Him? Why Her? (Henry Holt and
Company). The follow-up to
her 2004 book, Why We Love
(Holt Paperbacks), her latest
work explores the brain chemistry behind all things amatory.
Focusing on four major hormones in the brain (testosterone, estrogen, dopamine and
serotonin) and the four major
personality types they produce
(director, negotiator, explorer and
builder), Fisher explains how our
brain chemistry expresses itself
in our personality and why the best matches
are usually between people with compatible
chemistry.
"People would always say, 'Well, we had
no chemistry' or 'We had chemistry: And I
thought to myself-because I do study brain
chemistry-maybe there really is that kind of
chemistry and were naturally drawn to certain
people because of their body chemistry;' Fisher
says. "And then I thought to mysel£ Well you
know, if I were to design a questionnaire to
see to what degree you express these chemical
systems... and then on Chemistry.com watch
who's drawn to whom, maybe I could find
some of nature's patterns:'
What she found was that certain personality types are drawn together. For example, an
explorer will do well with another explorer, a
builder will do well with other builders and
negotiators seek out directors.
While her book focuses on heterosexual
relationships, Fisher says the same rules apply
to LGBT people, as these hormonal differences cross the sexuality spectrum (i.e., having
higher testosterone levels does not necessarily
make you a lady lover). "Who you are drawn
to is very different from how you feel when you
are drawn to somebody;' she says."For example,
we all have a fear system in the brain. It doesn't
matter if you're gay or straight, you're still going
to be scared of something and not scared of
others in the same way when you're in love.
It's the same brain system. So, I really don't see
gay and lesbian people as any different from
heterosexual people. I match them exactly the
same way, and I think I tend to
be accurate:' And just how do
we know if the one we're with
is The Oner
"The brain is the very best
computer for finding love. You
feel that this person might be
right or wrong for you;' Fisher
says. "The brain was built millions of years ago with what
we call 'mate choice; and we're
pretty good at sizing somebody
up and having almost instant
feelings of whether this will work for us or not.
and then of course, all during the conversations
theres the escalation and de-escalation points.
I mean somebody-you're talking to them and
they, you suddenly realize, they are a religious
zealot and you're an atheist and you say I don't
think so. You know, so were walking billboards
of who we are:' ■
Just Between GirlzN
) Formoreof ourinterview
withHelenFisher,
gotowww.curvemag.com
TRY FOR FREE!
1.800.616.6113
CODE 1508
lavenaer line™
North America's Lesbian Chatline
lavenderline.net
Reduce your
carbon
footprint!
ADVICE Health
FiveWaysto BetterSex
Natural supplements to kickstart nooky. By Nina Lary
...
e
Flip through the pages of the
digital edition and use keyword searches then bookmark
your favorite stories
e Forward pages to friends
e Click from the page directly to
the women artists we cover
e Watch video clips and hear
songs embedded in your
digital copy
e
Download and save your
magazine on your hard drive,
(no more stacks of magazines
to recycle!)
Looking to amp up your sex life without all
the icky side effects of prescription drugs r
Dr. Ray Sahelian has been studying the
benefits of natural supplements for years. In
his most recent book, Natural Sex Boosters
(Square One Publishers), he draws on personal trial runs, female and male patient
feedback and medical research to assess the
true erotic qualities of over 20 different natural remedies.
0 Diffuse Anxiety With Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is an ancient ayurvedic shrub
root that helps diffuse anxiety, which can
allow you to be more open to lovemaking.
We've all let everyday stresses, insecurities
and anxieties get in the way of nooky. So
while ashwagandha is not necessarily a libido
booster, it brings a sense of calm and well-being,
so that your inner eroticism can emerge.
8 Pregnelolone Stimulates the Senses
Pregnenolone is a steroidal hormone that
can increase sensory stimulation including
sight, hearing and touch. So, those normally
ho-hum kisses or suggestive grazes from
your lover just might have you crackling with
sexual energy-a good time to bust out your
arsenal of sexual sights and sounds.
@ Gear Up With Tongkat Ali
Tongkat ali, also known as long jack, is a
tree root from Southeast Asia. It takes several hours to kick in, so take it with breakfast or at your midmorning coffee break and
you'll be ready to rumble by the time you
get off work.
8 Yohimbe Gives an Instant Boost
Anything that worked for Bantu tribes during "extended orgiastic mating rituals that
would last up to two weeks" has got to do I
something smokin' hot for your love life.
Sahelian reports that the bark of the yohimbe
tree, which is an evergreen native to Western
Africa, and its active ingredient, yohimbine,
is one of the most immediate, intense natural
sexual boosters on the market.
0 Andro's Great for Mature Love
Sahelian calls andro, a natural steroidal hormone, "the father of testosterone:' Though
often equated with male sexuality, testosterone also impacts the female libido, and its
levels drop as we age. Andro is most effective
for middle-aged and older women and works
best when taken a couple of days in a row,
leading up to a weekend of passionate sex. ■
Botanicals for Your Breath
Ayurvedic mouthwash is an acquired taste, which I have
not yet managed to acquire. I'm going to keep trying,
though, because this stuff works miracles for your mouth,
including stronger gums, less cavity-causing plaque and
fresher breath. Though it tastes like licorice schnapps,
Auromere doesn't have alcohol or any of the yucky
artificial stuff usually found in mouthwashes. Gargle
a shot today. ($11, www.auromere.com) [HeatherRobinson]
j
One is good. Two is better. Three is a party.
<¥OURIS
SWEET,.
••
don'tm~s
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ASTROGRRL
Turn Up the Heat
Charming, flirtatious and irresistible-Cancer and Leo rule this summer. By Charlene Lichtenstein
Missy Elliott
turns 38 on
July 1
Cancer(June22-July23)
Sex:You have your eye on someone special but haven't
had the courage to make your feelings known. See if
she feels the same and then feel it together. Career:
Make it your mission to clean out your closet and
remove any barriers to your eventual success.
Leo(July24-Aug.23)
Sex:You find that a certain gal pal fans the flames
of your passion. Will you get singed, burned or well
done:' Career:Lionesses can use their considerable
influence to move and shake the movers and shakers.
Uh-oh, I'm getting dizzy!
BETWEEN
THE Virgo(Aug.24-Sept.23)
SHEETS
WITH Sex:Sleeping your way to the top may not be the best
CANCER
ANDLEO way to move up the corporate ladder, but it is easier
than working a full week. Career:You need to move
Old-time
astrologers
saythat
Cancerwomentendto be someone out of the way in order to advance. Use more
themothering
type,which than half your wits to outmaneuver this competitor.
conjures
upallsortsof Oedipal
fantasies.
Factis,thesegals Libra(Sept.24-0ct. 23)
justsimplyloveto playhouse Sex:Sexy Libras find love with an exotic strangeranddon'tnecessarily
carewho and the stranger she is, the better. You bore easily...
playsthenurturingmamaand
much to her sensual delight. Career:Expect to travel
whoplaysthehungrybabe.
for business throughout the summer. It will be more
Buttheyaremoreaffectionate
thanpassionate.
Cancer
rules fun if you can convince the bosses to send you to Paris
thebreastsandthestomach, instead of Podunk.
andSapphic
Crabstendto have
amplebosoms
(thebetterto Scorpio(Oct.24-Nov.22)
snuggle
you,mydear).Leosare Sex:Be especially generous and thoughtful to your
firesigns,soit'sa goodbetthat girlfriend this summer. You will reap what you sow, so
yourLeoenjoysa robustsexual
become a sexy and giving so-and-so. Career:
Scorpios
appetite.
You'rea luckylovergrrl
know
how
to
wheel
and
deal.
Use
the
summer
to lay
to havethisbigcatinyourpen
down
some
corporate
tracks
so
you
can
chug
to
sucbecause
whenshe'shot,she's
outto demonstrate
thatshe cess. Start your engine before you run out of steam.
isthenumerounostokerand
poker.However,
you'llbesecond Sagittarius(Nov.23-Dec.22)
incommand:
Leogalsareposi- Sex:Relationships become lovey-dovey if you can
tionedto bethequintessential
pry yourself away from your assorted personal projpillowqueenswhoexpectto be
ects. Make time for your lady or she will find time
serviced
first.Andif she'snotin
for
someone else. Career:You rule the roost when it
themood,neitherareyou,babe.
comes to career momentum. But will you "fowl" out
when it comes to employee motivation:' Who cares
about them anyway.
Capricorn(Dec.23-Jan. 20)
Sex:Be nice to your body and it will be nice to you.
26
I curve
Even better, be nice to her body and hope she reciprocates. Career:
Watch for unpleasant job assignments.
Fob them off on someone else and get out of the way.
Aquarius(Jan.21-Feb.19)
Sex:Aqueerians are charming and cajoling throughout the summer. Use this newfound talent to your
advantage ... or to take advantage. Career:It might be
hard to stir up the motivation you need to get the job
done. There are too many fun things going on that
divert your attention. Save her for a rainy day and get
back to work.
I,.
~
Pisces(Feb.20-March20)
Sex:Feather your love nest with plush decorations.
Then invite a sexy bird over and crack a few eggs
together. Career:
You may be asked to travel for business but try to find an excuse to stay close to home.
Tell them you'll be more effective, then leave early.
Aries(March21-April20)
Sex:All talk and no action won't get you anywhere.
All action and no talk will get you into trouble. Use
your tongue wisely this summer, young lady! Career:
Ask your neighbors for advice about a certain job
issue. They've been gossiping about it behind your
back anyway.
Taurus(April21-May21)
Sex:Find ways of spoiling your lovergrrl this summer.
The heat you two create will warm you all through
the fall and winter. Career:
Even with the lousy economy, Sapphic Bulls could see a raise in income or job
status. Become a queen bee of the office by spreading
your honey and stashing your stinger.
Gemini(May22-June21)
Sex:You have loads of sex appeal and charisma this
summer. Hurry up and make it work for you before
it dries up and peels off. Career:
You make a powerful
first impression on bosses and other people of influence: Is that spinach in your teeth:' ■
Astrologer Charlene Lichtenstein is the author of
Herscopes: A Guide to Astrology for
Lesbians. Get more at www.thestarry-
eye.comor go to her blogat www.thestarryeye.typepad.com.
Money ADVICE
Kee
Your Nest E
Warm
Five financial tips to make sure you don't get left out in the cold. By Heather Robinson
Whether your nest egg has recently been
shrunk by the market downturn or you
haven't even begun to feather your retirement
nest, there are some financial planning tools
that you should be aware of. We recently
called on two experts who specialize in help,
ing lesbian couples to give us the inside line on
maximizing retirement assets.
e A littleegghelpsprotectthebigegg
Christie advises everyone to maintain an
emergency cash fund that will cover at least
six months of living expenses. This fund will
tide you over in case of an un,
expected job loss, or health or
family crisis. "If you don't have
that and an event does occur,
people tend to draw down
on those retirement assets,
and then they're paying a
penalty;' she says. In these
uncertain times, Christie
recommends contributing
less to your long,term retirement fund, until
you've built up a comfortable emergency fund.
0 Leaving
youreggbehind
Another uncomfortable topic is what hap,
pens to your assets when you die. Yeldell's
No. 1 piece of advice to her clients is to
create a legal will. "It's not that if you die
nothing will happen. A lot of stuff is going
to happen based on the laws of your state;'
she says. If you don't have a will, your assets
will most likely be distributed by familial
lineage, which does not recognize nonmar,
ried partners. ■
A greattimeto investin yournest
For some reason, the common,sense
shopping instinct that has most of us lung,
ing at half price shoes does not transfer to
our investments. "If I were to tell you that
Banana Republic just put everything on sale,
most people would say, 'I want to go in and
buy while the prices are really, really good:
But the stock market is exactly the opposite;'
says Yeldell."People are scared to death when
the prices are low and greedy when the prices
are high:' Today's market is the equivalent of
an after,Christmas clearance sale, and Yeldell
encourages anyone with a long,term outlook
to invest as much as she can.
@
July/August 2009 j 27
DYKE
DRAMA
l.-.
__ S_a
____
p____
p_h_ic_S_t_ay.-L,.._c_a_ti_o_n_S
___
_
How to have a happy homo home vacation. By Michele Fisher
In these trying economic times, everybody is
cutting corners and sacrificing. For many, one
of the first things to go is the annual family
summer vacation. There is even a name for
not going away for vacation; it is called a
"staycation:' It is cute and catchy and way too
long in coming.
I wish my parents had known about staycations when I was a kid. We were lower
middle class, teetering on poor, and yet my
parents thought it their right and duty to
take my sister and me on a vacation
every year. It was always a camping
trip but it was no picnic: hot car ( airconditioning was for rich people),
bugs, bad food (forget s'mores-we
had no-mores, which was anything
my dad burnt in a cast-iron pan over
the campfire) and a lack of any fun
activities.
Somehow, my parents thought that
taking a couple of kids from smackdab in the middle of urban blight and
plopping them out in the woods for
a week with nothing to do but stare
at each other was going to be relaxing. It was anything but. At least in
the city we had our friends and our
bikes, but out in the woods with our
well-intentioned but unimaginative
parents, boredom reigned supreme.
That is, except for a couple of minutes of sheer terror per day, courtesy
of some creepy crawly that was supposedly more scared of us then we
were of it.
The upside of these family getaways
was that home, as homely as it was,
looked awfully good to us when we
got back.
I have spoken with my sister about
the staycation concept and she agrees
that our parents would have been
much better off just leaving us at home
for a week. She even suggested it would
have been kinder for them to leave us at
a laundromat for a week. That way, we
would at least have had clean clothes
28
Icurve
and been able to watch them spinning around
in the machines for entertainment.
I am geographically blessed as an adult.
I live in San Francisco. There is so much
to see and do here that I could take staycations the rest of my life and still have plenty
to do. Back when I was single, my whole life
was a staycation. Most of the time I was too
broke to leave, but I never minded being
stranded where all the birds were flocking.
I thought of the San Francisco airport as a
delivery service for women. They were on
vacation and by extension, so was I, several
times a year.
I think I could cope with a staycation as a
single lezzie just about anywhere, as long as I
had a computer. Women are just a few clicks
away, so a gal could set it up ahead of time,
with a date every night of her vacation. If
being on vacation is not all about women for
you, then ... well. .. go to the library or take up
a new hobby, like tole painting or fly tying.
It isn't the single gals I worry about when
it comes to staycations-it
is the couples.
You won't save any money by staying at home
during your vacation if you have to spend
thousands on vodka and couples counseling
just to get through it.
Don't just assume that you two are going
to stay home together for a solid week and
everything is going to be Shangri-la. What
are you going to do with that time? Where
are you going to go? Are you going to sleep
in or chase the dawn on the jogging path
each morning, while the oil in the car needs
changing, the kitchen cupboards need painting and the garage is threatening to spew its
entire contents onto the driveway?
A successful staycation requires careful planning and honest communication.
Is your holiday going to be all about lazing
around, or home improvement or personal
enrichment?
For me, a working vacation is hunting
truffles in France or counting fish in Hawaii.
The little lady, on the other hand, can't help
working, no matter where we go. We took a
tour a few years ago through colonial New
England. We stayed one night in Delaware
and when I woke up the next morning, she
had already swept the entire state.
We staycationed last year and we are doing
it again this year, but this year is going to be
even better than last, because we know what
works and what just works our nerves.
Before our staycation, she makes a list of
the "projects" she has to get done in order to
have any peace at all on her time off. We go
through the list together and negotiate how
the tasks will be accomplished, who will do
them and how long we are going to devote
to each.
I make a list of all of the places and people
I want to see during our time off together.
She looks it over and lets me know who I will
be visiting on my own and what wondrous
sights she is willing to take in.
We also talk about how much we are willing to spend on our staycation. I love trying
new restaurants, seeing first-rate entertainment and having an adventure that I'll be
able to reminisce about in my old age. My
wife would be content to just live off whatever is in the pantry, scrub her days away and
read junk mail by candlelight at night. If you
ever want the Amish vacation experience, she
is your woman.
I think the best part of not being at work
is not being at work, so we always try to keep
that in mind.
A staycation can be a restful and frugal
alternative to the madness that vacation
brings. But if you are set on having a real
vacation experience, I could bring my dad
over and he could take you out to the backyard, throw a scorpion in your lap and tell
you Army stories while he burns a can of
potted meat in his cast-iron pan. ■
July/August 2009 j 29
POLITICS
Green BeforeGreenWas Cool
Lesbians have always been at the forefront of the eco-movement. By Victoria A. Brownworth
Coincidentally, environmental consciousness
and sun poisoning struck me at the same time.
The date was April 22, 1970. It was the
first Earth Day and I was one of 20 million
participants worldwide.
I was a high school sophomore, an antiwar
activist, an out lesbian and, like other young
hippies of my generation, I was cause-hungry.
I wanted to change the world. Saving the
planet seemed a good place to start.
In Philadelphia, the Earth Day celebration was outdoors at Belmont Plateau, a hilly
enclave overlooking the city in Fairmount
Park. It was an extraordinarily beautiful
spring day-hotter than usual for that time
of year. There were speeches and music and
no doubt a lot of people smoking pot. We all
left with a greater knowledge of the importance of sustainability as we tossed away our
trash and felt good about it.
By that evening, I had been infused with
environmental purpose, and I'd also overdosed on sunshine. It took two full weeks to
recover from the sun poisoning my Nordic
skin got that day (I chalked it up as an example
of the power of planetary forces), but I never
recovered from the fear that humans might
destroy the earth in my lifetime if we didn't
all get on the environmental bandwagon.
Environmentalism was slow to take hold
in the majority community, but among hippies, queers and other cause-mongers, going
green became a way of life early on.
For lesbians, it seemed a natural coalescence of form and function: How could we
worship the Goddess and not reclaim the
planet she had given us?
There's some dispute over whether or not
Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and acclaimed science writer,
was a lesbian. She never married
and had no romantic relationships
with men. She did, however, have
a long and deep romantic relationship with Dorothy Freeman, which
lasted for 11 years, until Carson's
untimely death from cancer in
1964.
30
Icurve
Carson was one of the first to signal the
canary-in-the-coal-mine nature of environmental catastrophe. Like Al Gore's film, An
Inconvenient Truth, Carson's 1962 book, Silent
Spring, was groundbreaking science. Carson
took on the chemical industry, spurring a generation of activism; her work resulted in the
banning of DDT, a destructive and dangerous pesticide that may even have been linked
to her own cancer.
Carson's work was slow to be accepted
on a large scale. Unlike Gore, she didn't win
a Nobel Prize for her contribution to the
planet, although Jimmy Carter did award
her the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
posthumously.
Today, however, Silent Spring is
required reading and the word "sustainability" has not only become
common parlance,
it has spawned its
own field of study at
noted universities.
The
environmental alarms Carson
sounded nearly 50
years ago echo daily
in talk about going green, reducing carbon
footprints, buying local, eschewing chemicals
and lowering the planet's temperature.
The hardcore members of the lesbianfeminist movement of the 1970s were
intensely connected to earth issues. They
lived a lifestyle that respected the earth,
heeded Carson's warnings and embraced concepts like recycling and reducing carbon footprints long before these ideas were accepted
by the larger culture.
One area where lesbians broke ground
was in food. Scientists like Carson have
long posited that the disruption of the food
chain is one of the first signs of that injury
to the planet. In the 1970s, lesbians like Tee
Corinne moved to women-owned land and
created their own eco-friendly communes
and communities, many of them in the Pacific
Northwest, like Corinne's home in Oregon.
As an early environmentalist, I was also
deeply impressed by the work of Wangari
Maathai, an environmental activist from
Africa who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize
for preaching sustainability on the continent
most damaged by deforestation.
The sustainability of the planet begins
locally, as Maathai's work so clearly demonstrated. We can't save the polar bears and
the ice caps without stopping needless waste
wherever we live. All those landfills give off
gases that make our planet hotter and more
dangerous. Deforestation means a hotter
planet and more extreme weather.
Growing their own food and reforesting land-these
were early green initiatives
among lesbians that have now become so
widespread that even the Obamas have a vegetable garden at the White House ( the first
since Eleanor Roosevelt's victory garden) and
the first lady has discussed the importance of
buying locally grown food.
Each of us addresses the green issue individually, but we all need to embrace it and
teach it, as those lesbian mentors I met in the
1970s taught me.
We can recycle everything now: clothes,
food, paper products, glass and cans. And
composting and growing your own has never
been easier. Whatever you cannot grow, you
can probably buy locally. And if you can't
buy it locally, do you really need it? Consider
where products come from, who produces
them and what else the company produces
that might be damaging.
Going vegetarian helps too, because raising animals for food can be highly inefficient.
Think of switching to clothes made of natural materials like cotton, linen, flax and wool.
Cut out the chemicals in the garden and the
house (vinegar, baking soda, salt and lemons
are the best cleaners around, are incredibly
cheap and don't harm the environment). Use
compact fluorescent bulbs in lights and LED
lights outside. Unplug all unused appliances.
Don't buy or use things without thinking
about what will happen to them after you are
finished with them.
Part of going green is talking green. Not
everyone can be a scientist of Carson's caliber
or a mover and shaker of Maathai's intensity,
but everyone can explain the impact of buying
locally versus buying from states or countries
far away. Everyone can explain why we must
recycle. Everyone can talk about the perils of
too much waste.
I like to think that lesbians helped to form
the movement that is so vital to our planetary
survival. But even if we didn't start it, we can
certainly do everything in our power to sustain it-and our planet. ■
News Notes
MarriageDebate
Sweepsthe Nation
Followingswiftly in the
footstepsof Vermont
andIowa,statelegislaturesin Maineand
NewHampshire
voted
in favorof same-sex
marriageon May6.
WhileMaineGov.JohnBaldaccisigned
his state'sbill lessthan an hourafter the
legislatureapprovedit, at presstime it
is unclearwhetherGov.JohnLynchwill
do the same,thoughhe haspromised
to "makethe bestdecisionI canfor the
peopleof NewHampshire."
NewYorkGov.
DavidPatersonannouncedin Aprilthat
he wouldintroducea same-sexmarriage
bill in his state'slegislature.Meanwhile,
onApril 21,the NevadaSenatepasseda
domesticpartnershipbill. Thebill will not
legalizesame-sexmarriage,whichis outlawedby Nevada'sConstitution,but it does
givedomesticpartnersthe samerights
as marriedpartners.However,
Gov.Jim
Gibbonshaspreviouslythreatenedto veto
the bill whenit reacheshis desk.State
lawmakersin Washington
approvedthe
Senate-passed
domesticpartnershipbill,
whichwill expandon existinglaws made
whenthe state'sdomesticpartnerships
becamelegalin 2007.Thebill is expected
to be signedinto law by Gov.ChrisGregoire
despitethe referendumfiled by opponents
in May,whichwouldallowvotersto uphold
or rejectthe decision.
HateCrimeLawsExpand
Washington's
Legislature
hasexpanded
the
state'shatecrimebill to includeprotection of transgender
people.Previously,
the
bill onlyincludedlesbian,gayandbisexual
people.And,a Colorado
jury foundAllen
Andrade,32,guiltyof
a hatecrimeandfirstdegreemurderin the
killingof AngieZapata,
an 18-year-old
transgenderwoman.Theruling,
believedto bethe first
in whichhatecrimelaw
hasbeenappliedin a
murdertrial wherethe
victimwastransgender,
setsa nationalprecedent
for hatecrimelegislation.
Colorado
Beneficiary
Law
Coloradopassedthe Designated
BeneficiaryAgreement
Act in April,which
expandsthe rightsof same-sexcouples
in areasincludinginheritance,medical
decisionsandhospitalvisitations.Although
Coloradovoterspasseda same-sexmarriagebanin 2006,the beneficiaryagreement,whichwent into effectJuly 1, brings
same-sexcouplescloserto havingthe
samerightsas marriedcouples.
Tennessee
Schools
BlockLGBT
Websites
TheACLUhasthreatenedto bringsuit
againstTennessee
publichighschools
that haveblockedwebsitescontaining
the keyword"LGBT."
Websitessuchasthe
HumanRightsCampaign
andGLAAD
have
Custody
BattlesRage
Thespreadof civil unionsandsame-sex
beenblockedby a filter that administrators
marriageis leadingto anotherkey debate
canreportedlycontrol,whilesitesclaimin lesbiancivil rights:the lawssurrounding ing to provideinformationabout"curing"
child custody.InApril,TVadsbeganairing
homosexuality
havenot beenblocked.
in Virginiathat targeta Vermontresident's
rightsto visit the daughterof her ex-civil
GayConservatives
LaunchNewPolitical
Organization
partner,who is a Virginiaresident.The
GOProud,
a
adssuggestthat the June2008Virginia
Republican
SupremeCourtrulinggrantingvisitation
www.goproud.org
organization
rightsto the Vermontresidentviolates
aimingto give
Virginia'sconstitutionalbanon same-sex
gayconservativesa voice,was launched
unions.Andin NewYork,a courthasruled
in April.Accordingto the group'sleaderthat a womanwhosecivil partnergave
ship,GOProud
supportsgay marriage
birth to a sonafterthe womenwere
but believesthat it shouldbe achieved
joinedin a Vermontcivil unionhasno
throughstate-by-statelegislation,not
parentalrights becausesheneverlegally
court precedence.
adoptedthe child.
GOPROUD
July/August 2009
I31
'
Jessie Haungs walks into the coffee shop where
I sit, huddled over a cup of steaming chai. She is fe(f.•
fresh-faced and joyful, even after spending her
entire day dragging an enormous skate ramp to
the driveway of her new home. This is a girl who
loves to skate-loves it enough to heave heavy
chunks of wood across Portland, Ore., loves it
enough to commit a good portion of her life to
making the skating world accessible to girls.
Her infectious enthusiasm is most accurately
measured by the fact that in just a little over one
year, she's taken the idea of building a community
of female skaters-Portland's Skate Like a Girl
(SLAG)-and brought it to fruition with the help
of 15 volunteer coaches and organizers, many of
whom are queer.
Back in 2005, Haungs ran across a flier for the
original Skate Like a Girl organization in Seattle
and was immediately smitten. A true go-getter,
Haungs says she immediately contacted Fleur
Larsen (one of the original founders of SLAG)
and said, "This is awesome! What can I do to
help?"
SLAG started in Olympia, Wash., at Ladyfest
and now has chapters in Seattle, Portland and
San Francisco. When Haungs called, SLAG
Seattle was already in full swing, hosting skate
clinics and summer camps for girls. Haungs
dove in, providing tons of raffle prizes from
Portland-area skate shops and going back every
year to coach. But she still wanted to do more.
"I was so moved by what they do, and with
the skate scene here [in Portland]," she admits.
"There's so many girls, I just decided that it
had to happen." In 2007, Haungs started the
Portland chapter of SLAG with an all-girl skate
clinic, held at the city's only indoor skate park,
Department of Skateboarding (www.departmentofskateboarding.com). About 10 girls showed
up for that first clinic, and the growth has been
exponential since then. Now, 30 to 40 girls come
every month. They are of all ages and abilities
(though the majority are between 8 and 12 years
old) and learn from volunteer coaches.
"Local women's Roller Derby players sometimes show up to the clinics," says Haungs.
"They come to expand their skating skills from
boots to boards. We have a lot of women showing up that haven't touched their boards since
they were 10. You're never too old to learn."
The ultimate goal for SLAG Portland, she
admits, is to continue once-a-month clinics and
to do summer camps with Portland Parks and
Recreation. "The whole idea behind SLAG is to
empower women in a male-dominated arena.
The ultimate goal in general is to be able to go
to a skate park and see half girls, half boysequality on the ramps!"
Wantto rampup?Goto www.skatelikeagirl.com
"It's not just a sport for males. Females get in
there and tear it up with them-and just as good,
but with a little extra flavor because we are girls!
I love teaching the kids and adults how to skate.
We get them to cheer for each other, help each
other, and work with each other to be better not
only at skating, but as people, too."
"It's amazing to be part of something that creates a feeling
of empowerment in girls and women. We are not only working to dismantle the stereotypes of gender connected to
skateboarding, but bust the boundaries of what we think we
can and cannot do. I love to skate and I came to it later in
life than most, but I never would have gotten this far without
finding SLAG along the way." (pictured on page 32)
"I love the inspiration and support I get from
the SLAG women and girls. For being such
a male-dominated sport, it's great to have a
group of girls who will lend a helping hand and
give you the moral support that you need to
keep achieving your goals in skateboarding."
(pictured on page 32)
itS easy
beingg
ee
Want to do the right thing for the environment but hate the idea of spending
$200 on a pair of bamboo jeans, eating organic wheatgrass or trading your
beloved VW for a Prius? You don't have to. It's possible to be an environmentalist without investing big bucks or spending a lot of time making changes.
Going green is easier than ever. Want proof? Here are eight simple changes
that don't cost much but pay big dividends to the environment.
Stopjunkmail.Catalogs from Doilies R Us and
Fisherman's Supplies are going straight from
the mailbox into the trash, right:' Put a stop
to
unwanted
catalogs, which
require 8 million
tons of trees to produce, at www.catalog
choice.org. Use the
free service to unsubscribe from mailing
lists. Don't fret about missing the fall Victoria's
Secret catalog. You'll still get the ones you
want, minus the junk mail.
Giveold sneakersnew life. Your used sneakers, with their broken laces and worn treads,
shouldn't be donated to Goodwill. Instead,
drop them off at a local running shop. Nike
collects used athletic shoes and turns the
rubber soles into a surface material called
Nike Grind, which is used on basketball
courts, athletic fields and running tracks all
36
I curve
over the United States. To date, the program
has kept over 21 million pairs of running
shoes out of landfills. Go to www.
letmeplay.com/ reuseashoe to find
a drop-off location.
Rethinkbottled water. It takes more than
1.5 million barrels of oil-enough
to fuel
100,000 cars-to manufacture the amount of
bottled water Americans drink on an annual
basis. To make matters worse, those bottles
often end up in landfills where it takes up to
Eight simple tips for making
eco-friendly changes that
won't break the bank.
By Jodi Helmer
1,000 years before they start to decompose.
Tap water is safe, is less expensive and uses far
fewer resources.
Switchlaundrydetergents.Look for detergents labeled "phosphate-free" to help
protect marine life. Phosphates can cause
algae blooms, which deplete the oxygen
in water and kill marine life. Seventh
Generation, Caldrea and Shaklee all make
phosphate-free detergents.
Unplugappliances.Appliances, like
your coffeemaker, is drawing power
even when they' re of£ It's called
standby power, or vampire power,
and it accounts for 10 percent of all
residential energy use and 1 percent
of global CO2 emissions. Take a
second to unplug appliances that
aren't in use; it's a small act that
will make a huge difference.
Dry clothes faster. What
happens when the spin
cycle starts? Your favorite
jeans and well-worn fleece
cling to the edges of the
dryer. The less those clothes
tumble around, the longer it takes them to
dry. Given that the average clothes dryer uses
close to 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per
year, speeding up drying time will save a significant amount of energy. The solution: Put
a few tennis balls in the dryer. The weight of
low-iDlpact cruising
Whether vehicletechnologycan make cars truly eco-friendly
is up for debate but, while we wait for an efficient,affordable
solutionto America'sauto-dependencyproblem,we can at
least make the cars we already have a little greener.This
spring Bridgestoneunveiledthe latest in their Ecopialine
of tires, the EP100, which providesbetter fuel economyby
reducingrollingresistanceon the road. The line targets fuelefficient vehicleslike BrightAutomotive'slatest concept car,
the IDEA plug-in hybrid(right),which gets 100 milesto the
gallon. Designedfor the fleet market,the IDEAwill be on the
roads by 2012 and will come equippedwith Ecopiatires.
the tennis balls will help the clothes move
around, speeding up drying time.
Sortthetrash.Recycling is one of the first
tenets of going green and it does make
a difference. According to the U.S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency,
recycling one aluminum can (instead
of sending it to a landfill) saves enough
energy to power a computer for three
hours, run a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours
or operate a TV for two hours. Recycling
can also help divert the amount of waste
sent to landfills by up to 83 percent. Place
a recycling box in every room in the house
to increase your odds of success.
Shapeup in the shower.You can feel less
guilty about taking those long hot showers
if you install a low-flow showerhead. It can
cost as little as $10 at a home improvement
center and can help you save up to 50 percent on water heating costs. For maximum
efficiency,look for showerheads with a flow
rate of less than 2.5 gallons per minute.
Not sure if you already have a low-flow
showerhead? Put a bucket, marked in
gallon increments, in the shower. Turn it on.
If it takes less than 20 seconds to reach one
gallon, it's not a low-flow showerhead. ■
Jodi Helmer is the author of The Green
Year: 365 Small Things You Can Do to
Make a Big Difference (Alpha). Visit her
onlineat wwwJodihelmer.com.
seeking
ore
sustainable se
Learn how to get dirty with a clean conscience. By Stacy Bias
You're a good girl. You compost, you bike
everywhere you can and take public transportation when you can't. You keep chickens
in the backyard, in a coop you built yourself
out of cob (like adobe, but trendy on the ecoscene ). You use chicken poop to fertilize your
organic garden and barter the eggs for vegan
cupcakes from the bakery down the street.
You rinse your recyclables. You cut up those
plastic-ring thingys from your Nature's Soda
because you once heard that they get caught
around the necks of sea critters and it gave
you nightmares. You don't flush the toilet
every time, your deodorant is a crystal and
you actually have a vegan tattoo.
You are virtuous-a
pink-cheeked, wellhydrated, dirty-fingered poster child for
urban environmentalism. Also, I'm pretty
sure something you're wearing right now is
made of hemp.
So, what more could you possibly do?
Green your sex life. From what you wear (or
don't) to what you use ( or don't) to how you
wrap it up, here are some suggestions on how
to make your sex life more eco-friendly.
fair trade fore play -----While there's nothing more natural than
naked, sometimes you want to spice up the
presentation a bit. Luckily, there are several
options available for eco-embellishment:
EthicalAesthetics.
Makeup is an excellent way
to bring all your role-play characters-from
the black-nailed, gum-popping tawdry teen,
to the ruby-lipped, sponge-bathing naughty
nurse, to the mono-browed, ruler-wielding
school marm-to
life. Check out the wellrounded selection of botanically based
products at www.futurenatural.com to wake
up, decorate and refresh your skin for the sensual stage. Also, check out the organic lines
from Sephora (www.sephora.
com) and www.kaiahouse.com.
Eco-Lingerie.While I'm fairly
sure that "fair trade;' "hemp" and
"bamboo" aren't often applied to things you'd
like in your pants, I hope that the adorable offerings at www.greenknickers.org will
change your mind. Sexy offerings for janes
and jocks, all made with their ethics intact.
Sex continued on page 63
July/August 2009
I 37
One enterprising gal takes on
some wriggly new roommates.
By Lina Swislocki
and the city
Like most things in my life, all this started
with reading and ended with worms. Let
me explain: As a Californian transplanted to
Boston, I was struggling to find ways to bring
the outdoors and a sense of environmental
awareness with me to the East Coast. Little
did I know that my solution would hit so
close to ... well, home. Inspired by the plethora
of recent articles and books by people who are
growing their own and getting off the grid, I
wanted to find a way to make my home more
sustainable. I decided
to research the ways
in which I could
significantly reduce
my impact on the
environment. There
was just one snag in
my plan-I
live in
an apartment, with
three roommates. I
found a lot of great
eco-solutions
for
people with backyards, or with roofs
that solar panels can
be attached to or with
terraces to grow potted tomatoes on, but not a
lot of info aimed at city-dwellers living on the
salary of a freelance writer-grad student.
I did-briefly-consider
getting a composting toilet kit, but after imagining trying
to convince my roommates that "humanure"
is the way to go, I decided to scale back my
eco-ambitions a bit and make my own worm
bin instead. I'd seen it done before, when my
self-identified "crazy" roommate in Vermont
made one over the summer we lived together.
Since then I'd been wanting to try it on my
own, especially after I read that worms are
easy to care for and will just love you more
for letting chem eat your vegetable scraps.
38
I curve
I wanted to get started right away, so I
wasn't too picky about the bin that I bought.
Because of that, I may have gotten the wrong
one. Worms don't like light, so the fact that
my box was clear plastic was a downside.
However, at $6, I went with it. I plied my
friend Anna with whiskey and hot chocolate,
and convinced her to come over to hammer
nail holes into the bottom, sides and lid of
my bin. The lid was easy and even fun to
pound into, but the bin itself was prone to
cracking, so I patched it up with duct tape,
leaving the holes themselves open. It wasn't
pretty, and I could only hope that the "tea;' or
liquid produced by the worms, wouldn't leak
out and that there would be enough air flow
to keep things besides worms from growing
in the bin.
I ordered my worms online-$17 a pound
for "red wigglers:' I had no idea what that
meant, but presumably they would be as
competent at eating my trash as any other
worm. When they arrived, I took some of
the "advertising newspapers" from the foyer
of my building and shredded them. Worms
like a damp bed, so I dunked the strips in
water and squeezed them out. The shredded
paper went in the bottom of the bin, then the
worms, then a whole sheet of newspaper over the top, to keep the
smells in.
I decided to let the worms
get used to their surroundings
before I fed them, then I went out
of town-after
asking my roommates to feed them while I was
gone. I made sure they knew that
worms are vegans, that they don't
like oil or salt and that they shouldn't
be overfed. There can't be too much food in
the bin at once, because if the worms can't
munch fast enough the food scraps start
to mold. I gave the girls clear instructions,
stashed the worm bin under the counter by
a window and took off.
When I got back, the bin was scarily empty.
The worms, poor dears, were trying to escape.
I panicked, grabbed a bag of spinach from the
fridge and dumped it in the bin. Then I cut up
an apple and put that in, too. I decided that
maybe the whole "let them get used to it, then
feed them" strategy was a pretty poor idea.
I looked at them and apologized (silently,
because only crazy people talk to worms),
then closed the bin and walked away.
In class that night, I asked a girl who had
a worm bin what she thought. "Don't worry;'
she said. "Worms are the easiest pets ever.
Worms continued on page 63
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Whencurve's MelanyWalters-Beck
hittheroadwithTeganandSara,
thebandgaveherunprecedented
accessto theirworld-openingup
abouttheirtourbus("It'sjusta reallynicecamper.
You'restillpissing
in a porta-toilet"),
howtheyfeelaboutmeeting
fans("Wearethemost
sociallycrippledpeople")
andwhatit'sliketo bepopicons("Evenif we
neverdoanything
else,at somepointin ourfuture,I'll tellpeopleI played
JayLeno'').Headbackstage
withexclusive
photos
oftheband,rehearsal
shotsandcandidcommentary
fromtheCanadian
twins.They'reat the
topoftheirgame-and thequeermusicscene-andthey'resurprisingly
downto earthaboutit all.
Minutes before showtime in Tegan and Sara Quin's musty
Madison, Wis., dressing room, Tegan, the twin with the chin
piercing, cracks open a brown bottle. She takes a dropper,
throws her head back and swallows. The concoction is 40 per~
cent alcohol and smells like whiskey, but it's a lot less rock star:
Tegan is drinking a homeopathic herbal remedy to ease the
toll of almost two years of near~constant touring. "If you can't
put it right on your tongue;' she says, swishing the stuff around
in her mouth,"you can put it in a little bit of water:'
Welcome to life on the road. With the release of 2007's
The Con, Tegan and Sara have established themselves as
an international pop act, following up the formidable Juno
Award~nominated So Jealous with more critical acclaim and
fan adoration. "I spent a year writing and recording;' Tegan
confesses. "It's different and it was intense. Sara and I played so
many instruments. We went to work every day for 18 hours:'
The result was a taut, smoldering elegy to lost relationships
that cemented their status as one of the hottest acts in
the country.
And they're about to do it all over again. With another
album on the way featuring Death Cab for Curie's Chris Walla
handling production duties, and with over 40 songs in the can,
the sisters Quin can afford to coast, but they don't. They can't.
They're still worried about what their fans think about the
new tour bus.
"I don't want people to think we're big rock stars and we're
in a bus;' contends Tegan, tapping away on the MacBook that
has become another appendage whenever she isn't onstage. "It's
just a really nice camper. You're still pissing in a porta~toilet.
You're still sleeping in a tiny little bunk that's, like, the width
of your shoulders. The only time you sleep is when you're in a
hotel room. But, I was really worried that people thought we
had changed or something:'
Stretched out on a patch of grass behind the venue, Tegan
40
I curve
still makes plenty of time for the fans. "We're really open and
not trying to be mysterious;' she maintains after signing a shoe
and accepting a box of homemade cookies. "I feel like some~
times people do get obsessive and crazy, and we just put out a
vibe to have people not be like that. We're not the Beatles or
the Jonas Brothers. We don't need a thousand girls running
after us, screaming:'
But it happens. An hour later, during one of their more tren~
chant ballads, an orange bra sails over the first four rows of the
audience and lands between them onstage, where it glows like
a neon sign, a testament to the fact that, despite their protests,
they're still working some serious teen~idol mojo.
"The other night we were bowling and we were so awkward;'
giggles Sara, quick to maintain the girl~next~door humility
that's become part of their trademark. "We didn't know where
to get the shoes. We were running into each other. We are the
most socially crippled people, the geekiest unlikable people;'
she adds, cradling a cup of coffee and looking just the slightest
bit tired. "It's the opening band's fault;' she confesses with a
BYMELANY
WALTERS-BECK
PHOTO
BYGREY
LOCKWOOD
nod to her Australian tour mates, An
Horse. "I think this is the worst hangover
I've ever had:'
To prepare for the show, Sara talks
books. Tegan browses mortgage rates.
Aside from a couple of nights out on the
town, the two could easily be considered
role models, a label eschewed by many
celebrities. The twins embrace the responsibility with enthusiasm. "I really like it;'
shrugs Tegan on being a role model for the
growing masses. "First it was, like, young
queer girls then it was just young alternative girls and now it's,
like, people of any age:'
Both women are quick to discuss their own experiences on
the other side of the autograph line. 'Tm a fan, first and foremost;' declares Tegan with a smile. "I grew up in a household
with gigantic framed and lit photos of Bruce Springsteen on
the walls. I respect artists and musicians and the whole culture. I buy the DVDs. I get why our audiences are interested.
The fact that were twins and we're gay-there are so many
things about us. I think over the years people have gotten over
the fact that, 'Oh they're twins' and we're lesbians and that's
totally cheesy or whatever. I think once they get past that, they
realize it's not a gimmick. But, it's weird and interesting and
fascinating. I get it:'
A glance into the audience on any given night confirms
the band's broad appeal. Frat guys mingle with baby dykes
and cool parents dance along with their kids to music that is
almost universally accessible. "I always tell people I'd rather
walk on stage in front of somebody else's fans, like 20,000 of
someone elses fans, than go to a house party;' admits Sara,
brushing a strand of that famous hair out of her eyes. 'Tm so
much more comfortable when I know that I have a guitar and
I'm playing music:'
"My life all day, whether it's boring or bad or hard, whatever, it's still, like, my show;' Tegan explains. "I think I am really
comfortable when it's about me, because when it's not about
me, that's when I get really uncomfortable. Like, I'm not sure
how to be. [With music], it's like I'm getting up and functioning and doing something important every day. And I have a
purpose. When I'm at home, I give away that purpose:'
But Sara admits that, though she loves her job, it isn't always
the best for maintaining relationships. "I know it's hard for
the people aroµnd me sometimes;' she says. 'Td been going
through this breakup and I hadn't bought any new clothes
in, like, a year. My hair was practically in French braids. [A
friend of mine] was like, Tll take you out. We'll go shopping:
Teenager after teenager [approached us] and, I mean, they are
not casual about recognizing [us]:•
Many individuals in the public eye seek solace with fellow
performers. From Brangelina, to Ellen and Portia, to the newly
split Samantha and Lindsay. But both Tegan and Sara have
managed to avoid celebrity-couple drama. Of course, theres
42icurve
no harm in looking.
"In my relationship, there's a whole bunch of girls I'm
allowed to make out with;' laughs Tegan, immediately thinking better of it. "It can't be people I'll ever meet, of course, or
people that would ever make out with me. Scarlett Johansson's
on the list:' Apparently The Other Boleyn Girl does pretty
well with female rockers, after providing the inspiration for last year's
Katy Perry hit, "I Kissed a Girl:'
Lindsay Lohan is another possibility."I want to adopt her and be her
friend;' Tegan offers generously. "I
could help her:'
With high-profile guest appearances, coverage in the major indie
press and two lines of shoes (with
Macbeth and DC Shoes), Tegan
"ITHINK
and Sara have already had their share of surreal moments. "It's
OVER
THE
difficult to completely step outside of what you're doing and
YEARS
what is happening to you in your life and actually look down
PEOPLE
HAVE on it and go, 'Wow, this is happening to you; ,, muses Sara,
GOTTEN
recalling her first taste of late-night television.
OVER
THE
"I hear Jay Leno's voice, and hes introducing us, and I have
FACTTHAT,
this moment, which doesn't happen very often. It would be too
'OHTHEY'RE
distracting to have these kinds of moments. You need to just get
TWINS'
through it. When you're performing or meeting someone, you
ANDWE'RE
can't have, like, your 'Wow, this is happening to me moment.
LESBIANS
ANDTHAT'S That's ridiculous. It's like feeling insanely in love throughout
TOTALLY
your life. You would die. You would never get anything done:'
CHEESY
OR
She contemplates the idea further, glancing at another plate of
WHATEVER.I fan-made cookies. "Even if we never do anything else, at some
THINKONCE point in our future, I'll tell people I played Jay Leno:'
THEYGET
But the odds of either of them staying still for very long
PASTTHAT,
are slim to none. In addition to the new album and a rigorTHEYREALous round of touring, they regularly lend a hand to causes like
IZEIT'SNOT
PETA and the fight for marriage equality in the U.S. But their
A GIMMICK.
biggest
contribution is probably simply their existence. "I don't
BUT,IT'S
think being gay or being twins is a negative thing, so bringing
WEIRDAND
it up isn't a negative thing either;' says Tegan as a fresh group
INTERSTof nervous teens approach. "We put this record out and ...
INGAND
FASCINATING.mainstream magazines did six-page features on us and didn't
I GET
IT."
mention our sexuality once. And I was like,'cool: Not 'cool; like
I wish everyone would do that, but cool' like these are more
mainstream, boy-centric kinds of magazines and, like, were
making some progress in the world. Not that people aren't
identifying us as lesbians, but that it's not that relevant. It was
an article about our music and so they just didn't think it was
that relevant-and it is, in a lot of ways, but it isn't:'
For Tegan and Sara, what is relevant, above all else, is the
ability to get their music to the people who want to hear it.
"If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound, if no one is
there to hear it?" Sara asks, taking the last sip of her lukewarm
coffee."The answer is no. Because the sound isn't perceived by
anyone;' she smiles. "It's just vibration:' ■
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&,ov•11'Yo"&ttttr
THEDYNAMIC
HIP-HOP
DUOGOD-DES
ANDSHEKEEPIT REAL(QUEER).
BYRACHEL
SHATTO
The lesbian hip-hop duo God-Des and She met at a National
Organization for Women benefit. At the time, She was playing with a rock group when God- Des approached her in
hopes of kick-starting a collaboration. "I had never really
thought of doing hip-hop, to be honest;' laughs She. "I mean,
I liked it, but it wasn't something I was thinking would be my
path, but I was like, 'Well, I'll try it. I'll see what's up:" Two
albums and one L Word appearance later, there's no doubt
that She made the right choice.
The pair's latest album, Stand Up, has spawned two hits,
the R&B anthem "Love You Better" -a mainstay of Logo's
New Now Next, the station's weekly music video programand "Lick It" the lyrically graphic cunnilingus instructional
music video (which MTV banned). In the video, the ladies
commandeer a sex education class to impart their "expertise;'
and the results are hilarious. "Everything we do, we like to
have fun;' explains God-Des. "Even serious topics, we kind of
like to bring humor into it and just never take ourselves too
seriously-life is way too shore:'
Maybe it's this attitude that keeps the ladies constantly
moving forward. In addition to appearances at South by
Southwest and Dinah Shore, they are working on their
third album. Teaming up with Public Enemy producer Brian
Hardgroove, God-Des and She are
excited about the new direction their
music is taking. "She and I have always
just recorded in our house. We've never
really had any help-we write our own
music. So, it's going to be nice to have
some other ears and some really trained
musical people to help us with it;' says
God-Des. God-Des goes on to explain
how their sound is constantly evolving,
saying, "We don't ever like to be boxed
in to one style or sound-we
kind of
like to really push the envelope. On this
record, it's going to be ... on another level
of sound. Is this pop? Is this lock? Is
this hip-hop? Is this soul? Ir's going to
be really good:'
The group's diverse sound is the result
of equally diverse sources of inspiration.
"We really take influences from so many
different things and people, we have
such a wide musical taste. I mean, we
listen to anything from Lupe Fiasco to
Neil Diamond ... to Wynnona Judd to
Tu-Pac. We like music that makes you
feel;' explains God-Des.
Describing the duo's writing process,
She says,"We critique each other-like, for example, the song
'Love You Better: I wrote a hook for that song and [God"WEKINDOF
Des] was like, 'Man, that hook is not good enough: I rememLOOK
ATOUR
ber going across the park in Brooklyn and being pissed-I
CAREER
AS
was walking with my headphones on, and I was singing out
ACTIVISM,
loud like a crazy and writing a new hook for that song ... !
BECAUSE,
IT ISN'TTHE came back and was like, 'I wrote the best hook ever!' and laid
it down and that's the current 'Love You Better' hook. We
EASIEST
ROUTE
TOBE definitely challenge each other to be our best:'
The out artists have also faced challenges from unexpected
OUTANDTO
BEVERYVIS- places, namely closeted gays in the music industry. "The
IBLE.THERPS people that really think it's going to work ... are middle-aged
SOMANY
white guys who aren't gay, that are totally like, 'Oh, yeah!
FEMALE
Totally! Great! Cool;" She says, admitting, "We're always so
ACTORS
fucking flabbergasted that it's these dudes that totally think
OUTTHERE
it'll work. The people that are the most scared are the ones
THATARE
that maybe have to hide, that maybe have to be worried about
TOTALLY
GAY
them being found out. Therefore they're like, 'Well, there's no
ANDWILL
way
you could be our: And the truth is-we're out. There's
NEVER
SAY
no going back:'
THATTHEY
Ir's no mistake that they are so open about their sexuality.
ARE,AND
THATHURTS "We kind oflook at our career as activism, because it isn't the
EVERYBODY."easiest route to be out and to be very visible. There's so many
female actors out there that are totally
gay and will never say that they are,
and that hurts everybody;' She adds.
Their pride is not lost on their fans,
as God-Des and She receive a mountian of mail from people affected by
their music. "We get emails all the time
that literally make me tear up;' says
She. "They are just so heartfelt-from,
like, girls in super-small communities
that can't be out-that,
if they didn't
have our records to listen to every
day, they don't know how they'd get
through ... it just makes me bawl. Bur,
it's really cool and I'm so happy that
I'm able to affect people in a positive
way like that:'
But at the end of the day, despite
their growing success and bright
future, She pledges to stay humble
and keep it real. "When we win our
Grammy next year-that's my planwe're totally going to be having barbecues and Budweiser at the crib, you
know what I'm saying? Because that's
how we roll as people. I don't foresee
that changing. Ever:' ■
July/August 2009
I43
!tr..Sty E,i,rl..s
QUEER
GIRLROCKERS
FLOWER
IN THEGARDEN
STATE.
BYSTEPHANIE
SCHROEDER
This New Jersey scene is a big to-do. No, it's not a pile-up on
Route 3, that unfortunate part of the New Jersey Turnpike
known for a treacherous merging lane-it's a March evening
at legendary music venue the Stone Pony in Asbury Park,
an artsy Jersey Shore town about 60 miles south of New
York City. The star is Christine Martucci, a diva of the Jersey
lesbian music scene headlining at the Paramount Theater in
Asbury Park in July.
Martucci is a rock goddess with long flowing curly auburn
hair, custom denim jeans and a sexy rocker grrrl T-shirt.
She belts out her anthems more ferociously than Melissa
Etheridge, though she's constantly being compared to that
performer because of her smoky voice and loving devotion
to her fans. But Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt come more
quickly to mind when Martucci sings the poignant "There
You Are" and "Waiting on the Rain;' as well as her songs that
honor her past as both a homeless youth and a member of
the military.
Martucci was thrown out of her family home at 18 after
corning out as a lesbian to her father. She ended up homeless,
a queer throwaway, and some of her experiences are chronicled in her haunting song "Child Inside:' She made peace
with her father just two weeks before his death, but in the
meantime Martucci found a home in the Army. "I am really
passionate about the cause of homeless gay youth;' she says.
"I have experienced being disposed of because I am gay, and
I understand the loss of purpose and self-esteem:' Martucci
44
I curve
regularly plays charity gigs to raise money for causes rang1DON'T
LABEL
ing from supporting cancer research to supporting the troops
MYSELF.
THE and their families.
ONLY
LABEL
Because of her experiences as a young person without
11
I WANTIS
ARECORD
LABEL.'
-ASTER
PHOENYX
resources, Martucci has taken it upon herself to mentor
younger performers. "It's hard in this world, especially if you
are different. But different is good. We need to embrace diversity, instead of being afraid of it;' she says. One of Martucci's
proteges (as well as her No. 1 fan) is Aster Phoenyx, a
22-year-old singer-songwriter who often opens for Martucci.
Phoenyx plays manic guitar and sings hard songs about
broken hearts and love gone wrong, but without the cheesy
angst so common in lesbian art.
In fact, Phoenyx doesn't identify as a lesbian. "I don't label
myself;' she says. "The only label I want is a record label:'
She's of the generation where hetero-flexibility and bisexuality are realities, not political sticking points. Phoenyx only
picked up the guitar at 19 and began writing songs "as a way
to get through a particularly painful breakup:' Phoenyx has
had no musical training or exposure to music theory; she's
totally self-taught. She's nervous yet pleased about being
interviewed-and
she says she's the same on stage until she
melts into her music. She's got a lot of bravado and a tough
exterior, but Phoenyx is really sweet and pretty, covered with
tattoos, her hair streaked pink and blonde.
She's also got a philosophy about songwriting: "It's a therapeutic process to write out my feelings. I wake up hearing
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songs and write them down. I make myself vulnerable on
stage by singing about stuff I am going through, and if people
want to pay for my therapy, it's a good deal:'
The crossover in the Jersey queer girl music scene is impressive, if sometimes confusing. The Christine Martucci Band
has several new band members. Phoenyx
plays both solo, often opening for Martucci,
as well as with her own band, Aster Phoenyx
and the High 5 Revolution. On occasion,
Phoenyx also fills in on guitar-or
air
guitar-for
Kathouse, a Jersey-based allfemale rock cover band.
Mare, Kathouse's lead guitarist and the
default spokesperson for the group (including Gwen on bass, Jo-Jo on drums and Jaki
on lead vocals), quips, "We are a band of illrepute. A female version of Motley Crue:'
The tagline on the group's MySpace page is "We're not here
for a long time, we're here for a good time:' On the more
serious side, Mare cites influences ranging from Jefferson
Airplane and AC/DC to Janis Joplin and Melissa Etheridge.
The ladies of Kathouse describe themselves as two queers,
a karate mom and the new straight girl. While Mare and
Jo-Jo identify as lesbians or
queer, Jaki, who, along with
Jo-Jo, was in the original allfemale, heavy metal band
Missdemeanor in the mid'80s, is straight and married
and Gwen, the new girl, is
also straight. Jaki says she has
a very supportive husband
(with whom she also has a
band), although she does have
to work around her kid's busy
school and activity schedule.
Both Jo-Jo and Mare ride bikes (motorcycles, that is) and
generally appear to live the rock star life. However, as with all
the Jersey girl performers, they have to schedule band practice and gigs around their day jobs.
These lesbian musicians are becoming more and more popular outside Jersey as well, spreading into the tri-state area,
with Martucci also playing in the Southwest and Midwest
and Phoenyx doing shows in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, back at the Stone Pony, the audience is rapt
when Phoenyx performs, warming up the crowd. Then
Martucci takes the stage and the audience goes wild. Cheering
and jumping on and off the stage, Martucci's informal fan
club and regular followers, the "Tucci Train;' are all over her
as she belts out her newest song. She's known to have personal stage divers! Both Phoenyx and Martucci are sensations. Now it's Kathouse's turn to take to the stage and rock
the place. Everyone is having fun, most of all these fabulous
musical women. It's just another party at the Jersey Shore for
these musicians and their growing fan base. ■
FANNIUS
Ill TALKS
ABOUT
MAKING
MUSICSHE'D
ACTUALLY
LISTEN
TO. BYJEFFKATZ
The story of Fannius III (a.k.a. Fan 3 or just Fan) is the stuff
of rock 'n roll history. Knocking down doors. Getting lucky
breaks. Major label deals. Getting dropped. Doing drugs.
Getting dropped again. Getting second and third chances.
It's a story you've probably heard before, all part of the lifelong struggle to become a rock star. Typical, really. Then again,
Fan is just 21. A 21-year-old, white, bisexual female rapper
from a cookie-cutter Los Angeles suburb.
Not so typical anymore, huh?
These days, Fan is making music on her own terms. Her
solo EP ( technically her third album, but her first to ever see
46
Icurve
the light of day) is garnering her big attention, propelling her onto coveted stages, including this year's
South by Southwest festival and Club Skirts
Dinah Shore Weekend. She packed Los Angeles'
legendary Viper Room early this year and has
become a formidable presence on the indie music
scene. And, to top it all off, she's working on a
reality show concept. But it all could have been
very different.
"I made a couple of songs using studio gear in my
house and literally sent out 500 packages to managers and agents:' she reaclls over coffee in Los Angeles.
"I had my whole spiel:'Hi, my name is Fan 3 and I'm
a white female rapper from Sherman Oaks:"
Out of those 500 pitches, she got just one
callback, but that was all she needed. Soon, Fan
found herself in the middle of a bidding war
between Geffen Records, Def Jam Recordings and
Hollywood Records. She went with Geffen, and
before she knew it the teen had a big record deal.
She was in the studio making an album and on her
way to stardom.
Then she encountered a snag. Geffen knew they
had a great new artist, but had no idea what to do
with her. Fans knight in shining armor came in the
most unlikely of forms-a mouse.
"Disney called and said, 'Well, if she cleans up
her lyrics a little bit, covers up her tattoos, we could
probably do a lot with her: So I went back into the
studio, rerecorded and they put me on tour with
Aaron Carter. From a business perspective, it was
like, I didnt really fit in anywhere else;' she recalls.
But, it turned out it wasnt a great fit for her,
afterall. "Call it being young and reckless, I like to
push it about as far as I can, and by the end of that
tour they had Disney staffers approving outfits the
second before I would go on stage. They made me
take out my lip piercing, wear longer shirts:'
Fan managed to get a few songs on the Lizzie
McGuire soundtrack, but post-tour, Disney
couldn't handle the rabble-rousing. Without that
support-and
the tweens that came with it-Geffen was at
a loss for a marketing angle, and Fan was dropped. "The last
six to nine months I was signed at Geffen was kinda like a
mourning period;' she adds. "When they say people lose your
number, people lost my number. And being 16, 17, it was lots
of soul searching:'
But, it didn't take long for Fan to find her next venture,
and this time she wouldnt be going it alone. Fan had been
approached to join a new girl band, Shut Up Stella. The group
already had two young vocalists, and a female rapper would
supply the missing piece.
Within months of leaving Geffen, Fan had deal No. 2
when Shut Up Stella signed with Epic. It was a huge growing
opportunity, creatively and professionally, for Fan. She sud-
0
~
5
LU
~
~
denly found herself writing melodies and, for the first time,
making music she would listen to.
Unfortunately, no one else would. The band was dropped
from Epic with an album recorded but not released. These
struggles would probably have sent most young hopefuls pack~
ing, but instead, Fan became even more determined to make
it. Now, a little more than a year after the demise of Shut Up
Stella, Fan has an unbelievably mature and candid outlook
on it all, turning her feelings into one of her album's standout
tracks,"Major Label Blues (Been Caught Stealing):'
"I love music. I love making it. I love playing it. I love the
shit storm that is the music business. I don't know how to do
anything else:' she says. "This shot is going to do it or not:'
And the Fan that is free from the suits is better, indeed. Her
upbeat, infectious personality radiates off the tracks-and
"I LOVE
THE
SHITSTORM
THATIS
THEMUSIC
BUSINESS.
I
DON'TKNOW
HOWTODO
ANYTHING
ELSE."
comes to life on stage-as she takes on both guys and girls
when it comes to love and life. Her song "Girlfriend (I can)"
became the Dinah must~play track, and her video was even
shot amongst the Sapphic madness of Dinah '08. While she
says the attention from the lesbian community is unexpected,
everyone is welcome at her shows because the game has taken
on a new meaning on this, her third go~round.
"Now it means making music I'm really proud of and
having people like it and come to my shows;' she says. How
is it different, this time around:' 'Tm much more present for
everything that is happening. Before, I was kind of along for
the ride, whereas now, I'm manning the ship. If it works out,
if it doesn't work out, at least now I know I gave it everything
I could;' Fan says. And then with a coy smile she adds, "But I
think it will:' ■
ByMelany
Walters-Beck
Think you've got what it takes to be a rock icon? Take this quiz and find out which dyke diva is your double.
0 Shaving is:
'I. A throwback to the patriarchy
I,. A necessary evil that I endure to rock my
sleeveless tees
e,. To be done daily for silky-smooth, touchable legs
,I. Something I could do to my head and then get
a great tattoo
0 You pull up for a date in:
'I. A Volvo, a Subaru or a veggie diesel 1978 Mercedes
I,. A Mini Cooper or maybe a Scion (not the boxy
one, the other one)
e,. Um, you'll be picking me up, thanks
,I. A motorcycle or a pickup truck
@
8 Where is your ideal home?
"· A small, liberal hamlet with great hiking trails
I,. A metropolitan area with rail service and hot clubs
e,. Bi-coastal, N.Y.C. and L.A.
,I. Anyplace I can really let my hair down and be myself
@
In high school:
'I. I staged a protest and began eating vegan
I,. I had a ton of friends who looked just like me
e,. I had big hair and a lot of shoes
,I. I lit something on fire
O Which word would most people use to
describe you?
'I. Earthy
I,. Trendy
e,. Feminine
,I. Intimidating
0 Which deadly sin is most likely to land you
in hot water?
'I. Sloth: Give me some herb and a good book
and I'm couch-bound
I,. Lust: There's a part of me that craves novelty
e,. Vanity: I work hard to look good-and I do
most of the time
,I. Gluttony: I will consume the world
(without apology)
Describe your ideal woman.
'I. Warm, curvy and real
I,. Witty and cutting-edge
e,. Absolutely fabulous
,I. Immune to my antics
"8o.st&y'I'.si Melissa Ferrick
You're a crunchy granola chick with
a penchant for chords and corduroy. Get yourself a big, fat
acoustic guitar, light up that campfire and stage a sing-along.
"8o.st&y&'.si Tegan... or Sara
The sisters Quin pretty much set the thennostat for young
queer fashion and you're a fashionista. So slip on your hot
pink Vans, adjust the drum machine and write about
your heart breaking.
"8o.sc&y'-''.si Leisha Hailey
OK, she wasn't always draped in satin, but lately Miss
Hailey's the poster child of rock glamour and you
could teach her a thing or two with your collection of
Jimmy Choos.
"8o.st&yD'.si Beth Ditto
Punk rock and living to shock. There's probably
already a six-string in your bedroom and a warrant out for your arrest. Careful, your riot gm1 is
showing.
,cj,ttWtca.,
It-I Softly
AMANDA
PALMER'~TESTSOLO
ALBUMBRINGS
OUTOURINNERGOTH.BYKATIE
PEOPLES
Amanda Palmer, the XX-chromosomal half of the Bostonbased Dresden Dolls, has had a whirlwind year, from her
breakout solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, to her
belly-baring "Leeds United" video, to her collaborative photo
book with Neil Gaiman (www.whokilledamandapalmer.com),
to her performance in Washington, D.C., on Inauguration
Day. And Palmer's time on her "solo" tour has been packed
with more musicians and cabaret performances, (with the
likes of curve favorites Vermillion Lies) than you can shake
an Edwardian cane at.
l'VEFACED
FARLESS
BACKLASH
First,howwasperforming
in D.C.onInauguration
Day?
ASAWOMAN
It was magnificent. Every single person in that city that day BEING
BISEXUALTHANI
just felt like they were this little thread in this huge historiAS
cal tapestry, and you could just feel the electricity in the air WOULD
everywhere you walked and everywhere you went. It was AMAN.NO
ONESEEMS
just awesome.
TO
Yourworkmixescabaret,goth,steampunkandEdwardian-era CARE
ANDTHAT'S
styling.Whatinspiresyouto combineall thoseinfluences?
THEWAYIT
That's a very hard question for me to answer, because I don't
SHOULD
BE.
think I know. I mean, I think if you pulled the dossier on
BECAUSE
I
everything in my life that I've absorbed, it might make sense, DON'T
WANT
but it's not like I can point to one thing or another and say, PEOPLE
TO
"Well, this is obviously why I wound up this way or obviously THINKOFME
why I dress this way:' It's such a wide variety of things that AS'AMANDA
PALMER,
THE
make an artist what they are. And I think it's actually boring ...
BISEXUAL.'
"
if you can nail it down that easily.
You'vecoveredloneliness,
mentalillness,rapeandabortion.
How
muchof that is yourpersonalexperience
andhowmuchisjustmusicalstorytelling?
I think, like all art, it's a combination of
truth and fiction, and everything definitely has an emotional truth, and not
every detail in every song is real. But I
tend to write about the darker things that
fascinate me or that confuse me, and since
it's art you can take it anywhere you want.
But that can get a little sticky and turn
into a problem when, you know, people
start making assumptions about who and
what you are because of what you've written. That's actually been a pain in my ass
lately, because the songs of the Dresden
Dolls and Amanda Palmer are so dark
that [people assume] I must be this really
psychotic, fucked up person, and actually
it couldn't be further from the truth. It's
the songs and the music itself that I think
make me a pretty well-balanced person.
Youidentifyas a bisexualwoman.Hasany-
48
I curve
11
onein themusicindustry
triedto exploitthat?
No, luckily. There's a lot of things that you have to deal with as
a woman, obviously, in our culture and in the music industry,
but I dare say I've faced far less backlash as a woman, being
bisexual, than I would as a man. No one seems to care and
that's the way it should be. Because I don't want people to
think of me as "Amanda Palmer, the bisexual:' I'd like them to
think of me as Amanda Palmer, the performer, or the musician, or whatever role I happen to be in during that moment,
unless they' re in bed with me. Then they can think of me as
Amanda, the bisexual. That's fine. I'll allow that.
Youalsoparticipated
in Oufs 100People
oftheVearphotoshoot
withotherfamousqueerwomen,likeRachelMaddow,
Teganand
Sara,andJaneLynch,butwhatdidyouthinkaboutKatyPerry
beingtheonlywomanonthecoverofthatissue?
You know, it was pretty confusing. I was chatting with Tegan
and Sara about that, and she [Perry] has said specifically that
she is not bi or gay. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. And I
wouldn't necessarily call the song"I Kissed a Girl" an anthemic
call to arms or anything like that. So, I don't know if she's a gay
icon. If she is, then she's part of the cultural story. She kind of
rubbed me the wrong way-so calculated and so commercial.
It's generally not the kind of thing that I'm into.
That'sbeenthecomplaint
in thelesbiancommunity
andthebisexualwomencommunity,
thatsheis trivializing
thosethings
withonesong.
Yeah. I mean, it's a catchy pop song. But once I saw the video,
I heard the song and I was like, Oh right, that's the single
I've been hearing about, and I did a little
research on her, and she seems really
smart. She obviously knows what she's
doing. But watching the video-this
was really terrible, misogynistic soft-core
porn. Like, it's really bad. There's nothing
empowering about this, it was just really
trashy. So that sucked. There's a lot of
powerful tools out there that can be misused. There's no obviously right or wrong
way to do it, but some things just don't feel
quite right, and that song didn't feel quite
right. We've been making fun of it on tour
and so I should probably fucking shut up
about it. [Laughs]It's fun to make fun of
people. What are you going to do?
Is thereanythingyouwantto say to your
lesbianfans?
Just to my lesbian fans? Something that no
one else will ever know? Good question.
It's a beautiful time to be a woman-don't
take it for granted. ■
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DARWILLIAMS
SHOWS
USTHEWAY.BYDAVIDSTEINFELD
Dar Williams has been a familiar face on the women's music
scene since her first official album, The Honesty Roomincluding "When I Was a Boy;' one of the most moving songs
about gender roles ever recorded-came
out in 1993. Two
years later, the album was given a second, larger release by
Razor & Tie Records, which is still her home today. Between
then and now, Williams has released another half dozen discs.
On her latest, Promised Land, the 10 original songs and two
covers deal with life, love and nature. Williams offers exemplary takes on the Fountains of Wayne tune"Troubled Times"
and the song "Midnight Radio" from the musical Hedwig and
the Angry Inch. "(This is) one of the best tours I've ever done;'
Williams says from the road. 'Tm sort of in heaven:'
words, [rather) than more.
Tellmeaboutthe song"Goto theWoods"fromthe newalbum.
The people who write the most interestingly about the
woods to me are people in urban areas. Laurie [Anderson)
has this quote about going in the woods and I kept on thinking of that when I was lost in the woods in my car (one)
night in Wisconsin. I took a wrong turn and I didn't have
GPS. I realized that I was afraid of serial killers, rabbits and
ghosts. [Laughs] The one moment when it all came together
was when I wrote the line "I am afraid of the woods:' There's
no getting past that. (The woods] terrify me on a certain
level. (But] I'm also afraid that they're disappearing. And in
a funny way, when you lose the actual woods, you're going
lose your metaphors. The woods resonate for us as a metaphor for things that are wild and free and untamable.
Whatwasit likehavingSuzanneVegasingonthattrack?
I see her as a word girl, but she got the melody and came up
with a harmony immediately. I was really amazed. And then
we just sat around and talked about our latest albums [and)
what it's like to be out there making music right now. And we
talked a little about our kids. She actually sent me a song that
her daughter had written and produced, and I loved it.
Yougrewupwithtwo sistersandyourmomworkedfor Planned
Parenthood
for manyyears.How did all this feminineenergy
shapeyouas a younggirl?
I think it influenced my interest in gender. To some degree,
the absence of boys in our lives-you'd think that it would
create a very strong female aspect in the house. But in a way,
I think my sisters and I were competing to see who could be
most like a boy. You know, Julie knew how to drive a tractor. Meredith was a math and language whiz. I had the need
to jump outside the ability to be pretty and contained, in a
dainty way, and be more of a clown. I think my mom encouraged [us]. She was a debutante, so there we were, out in the
middle of nowhere, climbing mountains and reading books
and, almost to a fault, she encouraged that kind of ruggedness. And I think it did well for all of us. It certainly helped
me question what defines a girl and what defines a boy. ■
"MYMOM
ENCOURAGED
THATKIND
OFRUGGEDNESS.AND
I
THINKIT DID
WELLFOR
ALLOFUS.
IT CERTAINLY
HELPED
ME
QUESTION
You'vesaid,"Witheveryalbum,I'm tryingto figureout what I WHAT
don'thaveto say whilestill givingeachsongits due."It's not DEFINES
oftenthat you hear a songwritertalk abouttryingto say less. AGIRL
ANDWHAT
Couldyouelaborate?
DEFINES
Well, I'm just a wordy person. So, I guess it's about trying
to find wisdom in my life. And wisdom often uses (fewer) ABOY."
July/August 2009 j 49
l.,i,yi,194, lt..sl,i,,-19 l.,t4,t11,I
JANISIANREFLfTs ONA LIFETIME
IN MUSIC.BYoA& STEINFELD
It's safe to say that most of us don't get through life without some ups and downs, but then, most of us haven't had
as many ups or downs as Janis Ian has had. Her autobiography, Society'sChild, chronicles her life both in and out of the
music business, including death threats, her parents' divorce,
her mother developing Multiple Sclerosis, being molested by
her dentist, being randomly dosed with acid on the street,
bankruptcy, abusive relationships with both men and women
and several physical illnesses.
Of course, there have been many positives in her life as
well. A well-known singer-songwriter for over four decades,
not to mention a superb guitarist, Ian first became famous
at the tender age of 15. Her first single, the controversial
"Society's Child;' became a hit in 1967. For the next 15 years
or so, she recorded prolifically, scoring her second big hit in
1975 with 'i\t Seventeen:' That song, whose catchy bossa
nova beat belied its painful lyrics of teenage awkwardness
and alienation, garnered Ian a Grammy and drove her album
Between the Lines to No. 1 on the charts.
After taking a hiatus from recording for over a decade,
Ian returned in 1992 with the acclaimed Breaking Silence.
Since then, she has recorded and toured steadily. She has also
developed, belatedly, a happy home life. Ian currently lives in
Nashville, Tenn., with lawyer Patricia Snyder, her partner of
nearly 20 years. The two were married in 2003.
Last year was a significant one for Ian, with the release of
the Best ofJanis Ian: The AutobiographyCollection.This double-disc anthology is the most comprehensive collection of
her work to date, and an ideal companion to Society'sChild.
I just finishedreadingSociety'sChild.Youseemto havegone
throughmanymorehardships
thanmostpeople,andat a much
youngerage.Often,peopleturnto Godor drugsto keepthem
goingin difficulttimes.Whatkeptyougoing?
Well, I've probably turned to drugs, alcohol, God and whatever else I could find during the hard times. But really, at
the end of the day, I always came back to music. The rest of
the world can be collapsing around my ears and if I'm in the
middle of a really good song, I probably won't notice it.
Youwerea childof the '60s.In whatwayswastheworldbetter
backthen?Howis it betternow?
I think like every other lame old idiot approaching their dotage-the world of my childhood seems simpler and kinder.
But, when I think about medieval bear baiting, or giving
people pre-frontal lobotomies in the '50s, this era is pretty
good. I can't be arrested, incarcerated or judged mentally ill
because I'm gay, for one!
Severalof your albums-your self-titleddebut,Betweenthe 0z
~
Lines,BreakingSilence-have been quite successful,
com- i}i
mercially
andcritically.Butis thereonestudioalbumfromyour ~
careerthat you think shouldhavegottenmoreattention?
Like all artists, I have my collection of "the ones that got
away:' My personal feeling is that Billie'sBones should have
loomed larger, and Night Rains, which did spectacularly
everywhere but at home.
It's clear from your book that you were in a numberof abusive
relationships.Your ex-husbandTino was both physicallyand
emotionallyabusive."Cassie,"the therapistwho seducedyou,
was abusivein a differentway.ButunlessI'm wrong,oneperson
you neverhad a bad thing to say aboutwas PeterCunningham.
Heseemedlike a great guy and I'm curiousto know if you and
he are still friendstoday.
Tino and "Cassie" were the exception rather than the rule,
fortunately for me. As for Peter, yes, I adore him. He still
shoots most of my publicity photos. He's slated to do my next
album cover. And I see him whenever I can.
Ona relatednote,yourcurrentrelationship,with PatSnyder,has
f
i
~
~
5
~
!if
!
§
~
~
Lourds Lane is a working musician with
an eponymous band. She plays electric
violin, mandolin, electric guitar, acoustic
guitar and, at twentysomething, Lourds
(she goes by just her first name) has
changed from a chrysalis to a butterfly
and is making sure theatergoers get to
experience the same transformation in
her rock musical, Chix 6. Lourds has taken
on the role of producer, writer, songwriter,
singer, performer, creative mastermind
and business manager to bring to the
stage the story of Katie, a comic book
artist with low self-esteem. Played by
Kacie Sheik, Katie meets six "rock 'n' roll
angels" who lead heron a life-changing
3 joumeytoself~.
"THERESTOF
THEWORLD
CANBE
COLLAPSING
AROUND
MY
EARSANDIF
l'M INTHE
MIDDLE
OF
A REALLY
GOODSONG,I
PROBABLY
WON'T
NOTICE
IT."
been a long, happy one. In
yourbook,youwrite that Pat
knew within five minutesof
meetingyou that you would
spendthe rest of your lives
together.Whendidyouknow
that shewas the one?
After she told me-about
two weeks later.
Earlyon in your career,you
had to keep your relationships with women secret.
Whatdoesit feel like, all theseyearslater,to be ableto marrya
same-sexpartnerandbe openaboutit?
It feels normal. I was fortunate in that I didn't keep my rela~
tionships secret from my family, friends, close associates. But
it's certainly nicer this way! ■
The cast consists of highcaliber musicians from other
bands-and all corners of
the music, theater and dance
worlds-all of whom are successful in their own right. The
Chix 6 sisters also represent the
spectrum of lesbians, bisexuals
and straight girls.
Lourds, who cites influences as
diverse as Led Zeppelin, Queen
and David Bowie, describes Chix
6 as Rocky Horror meets Rent
meets a stadium rock concert.
"Each Chick represents an
integral, yet unconscious, part of
Katie. There is the punk rocker
(also a lesbian in the show), the hippie chick, the sex kitten, the Sex
and the City type, a full-figured
African American
chick called Mama
who sings the song
"Shut Up and Fuck Me"
and is all about positive
body image and, finally,
the nerd, whom Lourds
inhabits, as the triumphant
Katie overcomes her selfpity and the cast brings
down the house with the
finale, "I Will Start the Fire
Now."The audience
can feel the absolute
intensity and authority of six powerful women making music, loving and
respecting each other and making
a difference, both onstage and off.
Lourds began the project alone, in
isolation imposed by an industry that
could not categorize her music and
fit her into any one box. "For so many
years I tried to figure out which character I am, because my music runs the
gamut. One of my shows might have
five or six girls, and the industry wants
to put me into a nice, neat marketable
box. And I think it's really cool that when
I decided to reframe the picture, to
celebrate every character within myself
and make each character another girl, it
all became clear."
Lourds says some of the songs in
the show are four or more years old,
but now-and all performed
together-they make
sense. Originally, Chix 6
was headed off-Broadway
but, with the downturn in
the economy, investors might
see an opportunity in all the
available Broadway houses and
a great ready-made showand franchise. If all goes well,
you'll be able to catch Chix 6
on Broadway by the end of
the year. (www.chix6.com)
[StephanieSchroeder]
Chix6
character,
Mama
July/August 2009
I51
Road Tri~pin'
Going cross-country with my 9-yearold daughter. By Rachel Pepper
fter five years away, working in New England, it was
time for me to return home to the West Coast. After realizing
I'd be wrapping up the details of our East Coast life in late
spring, the logistics of my daughter's summer vacation suddenly loomed large in front of us. How, I wondered, would we
spend these weeks in between worlds? After worrying extensively about how we would ship the car, the cat, our stuff and
ourselves, the answer came to me: road trip.
Although in the end our cat couldn't join us-he flew
cargo-and our stuff was carted out on one of those Portable
On Demand Storage units (aka PODS), my daughter Frances
and I set off on the quintessential American vacation: a month
of travel across the very heart of the United States (with a
detour to see the grandparents in Canada).
Hitting the Road
Summer scenes
(from left): Frances
enjoying the wide
open spaces at the
Mystic Hot Springs
in Utah; Outside the
trading post at the
Terry Bison Ranch
in Wyoming; The
water slides at the
Great Wolf Lodge in
Sandusky, Ohio
s2
I curve
Our baggage included one suitcase each, a bag containing various remedies for any number of possible ailments,
a "book box" crammed with new novels, comics and travel
guides, a crate of CDs, a bag of shoes and many swimsuits.
We also took several stuffed animals, an American Girl doll, a
violin, an emergency tent, sleeping bags and a cooler. In other
words, the car was completely full, and it had to be emptied
out at every place we stopped. That part, my friends, was
not so enjoyable.
As for research, between my LonelyPlanetUSA guidebook,
online surfing and the AAA regional guides, I felt ready to
tackle an entire country's worth of fun. That and several credit
cards, my cell phone, an ATM card, passports, a tuned up car
and the first of many full tanks of gas made me feel as prepared
as I could be. The U.S. map lay unfolded next to me on the
front seat. Wow, I thought, do I really have to drive all that way?
In the Mix
So, what did we see on this cross-country odyssey? Some
amazing things. A glow-in-the-dark underground mini-golf
course in Niagara Falls. Toronto's waterfront park, Ontario
Place, replete with water slides perfect for a hot.summer's day.
Roadside rest stop signs in New York that trumpeted avatars
of the women's rights movement, including Seneca Falls resident Amelia Jenks Bloomer, creator of the then-revolutionary
garment that bears her name.
There were bizarrely fabulous places like Ohio's Great
Wolf Lodge, a surreal, huge, indoor water park where it is
always 84 degrees and you can ride water slides from dawn to
dusk-which we did. Or the Amana Colonies, tiny towns on
the Iowa prairie, where Frances got to make her own broom
from fresh reeds, where we sat in the Midwest's biggest rocking chair and where 15,000 bicyclists just happened to swarm
through on the very day we were there. In Amana, we also
enjoyed a home-cooked German dinner and took pictures of
our waitress carrying a tray laden with at least 15 kinds of
fresh-baked pie. Of course, we had to sample more than a few.
In Chicago, we visited friends and the city's prestigous Art
Institute, where an exhibit of teeny decorated rooms captured
our attention. We also ventured downtown to the American
Girl Doll store, guaranteeing an early birthday present for my
passenger and a new outfit for her AG sidekick, Eleanor.
Going west, we made several impromptu stops to see historical sights, including a Pony Express station sitting in the
small town of Gothenburg, Neb. In child-friendly Lincoln,
where I wondered if we shouldn't just jump ship, we enjoyed
three days of sightseeing, including the Children's Zoo and
its butterfly pavilion, a three-level kids' museum and the free
and wonderful Nebraska History Museum, where I realized
how much I hadn't known about the settling of the West.
Topping off our stop in Lincoln were a candy
store selling only licorice, yummy fried pickles
at Crabby Bill's Seafood Shack and a short visit
to the National Roller Skating Championships.
(Who knew so many kids were competing in the
sport of artistic roller skating, all wearing sparkly
outfits with glitter in their hair? Obviously, my soccer playing
kid was missing out.)
At the Terry Bison Ranch in Cheyenne, Wyo., my daughter
got to pet a camel and had her first real trail ride. We saw the
Salt Lake Temple, enjoyed a magical stay in the mountains of
Utah at Mystic Hot Springs and then delighted in two days
of Las Vegas excess. This included consuming many fruity
beverages by a monstrously large swimming pool, watching
fresh Krispy Kreme donuts roll off the assembly line-we
indulged, of course-and
taking in a dinner show complete
with galloping horses and fantastic stunts. Last stop before
driving back to the Bay Area-two days at Disneyland. Not a
bad ending to any kid's summer.
The End of the Road
Yet, what I will remember most about the road trip was
much more than the sum of its parts. For me, the trip was
about spending time with my daughter, free of distractions
like work, sports, school or TV. It was about singing in the
car as we cruised along Highway 80, cheering every time we
passed another state line. It was about trying regional cuisine
and stocking our travel bags with delicacies like locally harvested honey and strawberry preserves. It was also about the
conversations we had with other people along the way, from
the friendly refinery-worker dude in
Wyoming to the tattooed professional
matchmaker with whom I shared a
hot tub in Iowa while our kids catapulted down the water slides.
In a time apart from time, I found much more in common
with other people than I usually do. And when I told them I
was currently homeless and unemployed, and not minding it
at all, we had a good laugh together.
This trip was also about feeling free, about not having to be
anywhere or do anything at any particular time. It was about
appreciating the small moments, watching the country's cornfields roll by, seeing small-town water rowers rising up from
the fields, proud farmhouses still staking their claim on the
landscape of this country. It was about the feeling of freedom
that comes from being on the road, watching the world change
before your eyes.
We saw it all, from the lush green of the East, the corn and
cattle of the Midwest, the prairies of the plains, to red rock,
big sky, windy mountain roads and the desert patches that let
us know we were "almost there;' almost to our new home.
How did we survive this trip? With good humor, little gifts,
silly souvenirs, frequent stops, new books, lots of gum, alternating kids' music with grown-up girl rock, and the promise
of a nice hotel bed at the end of each day. We also were really
lucky that it never once rained, and I chose never to drive
more than five or six hours a day, keeping our car-weariness
at bay. When we came to places we liked, we both decided
to stay an extra day. In this way, the trip was a collaboration,
always a joint adventure.
So, in retrospect, would I do it again? The answer, quite
simply, is an unequivocal yes. Though by the trip's end we were
ready to call someplace home,
our monthlong time apart from
the structure of our daily lives
was priceless. If you have a child
of a certain age-too young to
be cynical but old enough to roll
up a sleeping bag-take a road
trip this summer. I promise that
no matter where you end up,
traveling will be an adventure
that you'll never forget. ■
Sightseeing (clockwise from top left):
Cooling off at an
artistic fountain in
downtown Chicago;
A Pony Express
station in Nebraska;
Frances, trying out
her own pair of
wings at the Lincoln
Children's Zoo in
Nebraska; Meeting the camels at
Terry Bison Ranch;
Meeting some fluttering friends at the
Lincoln Children's
Zoo; Marveling at
the red stone at the
Mystic Hot Springs
in Utah
July/August 2009
I53
l
REVIEWSIn The Stacks
Underthe Skin
Gender and housekeeping get us thinking this month. By Rachel Pepper
HUSH,SWEET
CHARLOTTE
FollowingCoriCrooks'journey
to uncoverherbiological
fatheranddealwith her
flawedmotherin Sweet
Charlotte's
Seventh
Mistake
(SealPress)is likewatching
someonerip openthe seams
of herlifeto seewhat'sinside.
BasedonCrooks'popular
blog,A GagReflex,Sweet
Charlotte
is a visualmemoir,a
scrapbook
of lyricproseand
a collageof oldphotosand
lettersatopvividlyillustrated
backgrounds.
Thestory
bringsusdisjointed
flashes
of crank-fueled
dysfunction,
butCrooks'desireto learn
the identityof herfatheris
whatcontinually
pushes
the narrativeforwardand
eventually
leadsto a climactic
DNAtest.Withwritingthat is
bothpoignantandwry,and
visualsthatelevateit from
just another"deardiary"to
fullyrealizedcinemaon paper,
SweetCharlotte
engages
onall fronts.WhenCrooks'
motherstaysupall night
sewing,we seeherstitching
onthe page,circlingperfectly
aroundimagesof buttons
andhems,thencuttingwildly
throughenvelopes
andblackand-whitephotos.Wesee
the stitchesof ourownlives,
sometimes
straightbut mostly
jaggedandblurry.(www.
coricrooks.com)
[NinaLary]
54
I curve
Ivan E. Coyote explores the terrains of Northern
landscapes and gender identification, and the writers
of Dirt explore the territory lying beneath the veneer
of a recently polished floor.
what it would be like for him to be the
only boy in a dress on a playground
full of kids whose parents are trappers and hunters;' Coyote muses.
Many other pieces delve into the isolated landscape
TheSlowFix,Ivan E. Coyote(ArsenalPulpPress):"I of the Yukon where Coyote was raised, or his decision
learned most of what I know about being a man from to move back to Vancouver after he noticed his wardmy Uncle Rob;' writes Ivan Coyote in the opening robe habits starting to slide and his fear of riling up
line of this new collection of short stories, The Slow men "whose biceps are bigger around than my thighs:'
Fix. Coyote, who goes by she or he, plays with gen- As a frequent traveler, often living in remote areas as a
der copiously in these stories, many of which have writer-in-residence, Coyote applies a cool observer's eye
been collected from an ongoing column in Xtra West to both new destinations and the challenges related to
magazine.
her masculine appearance and identity. "Open Sesame"
The pieces are varied, from "The Bathroom
tackles children's prejudices-or
lack thereof-and
Chronicles;' which explores bathroom anxiety when "Teach the Children Well" explores Coyote's commityou' re trans, to "Imagine a Pair of Boots;' which ques- ment to public readings where queer teens might take
tions how you can pick just one pronoun to identify comfort in identifying with someone openly LGBT.
yourself when you've always felt that" 'she' pinches a
"Every time I walk through the front doors of
little and 'he' slips off me too easily:'
another high school, I remember what it was like to
There's also a piece about Francis, Coyote's gen- hide, to pretend, to practise not being different ... !
der-variant nephew about whom she has written
am not here to change the minds of the many. I am
previously, but is now a tougher 11-year-old who here for the kids who think they are alone:' After
calls other kids "faggot:'
such readings, Coyote writes, there will often be a
"I can't help but wonder if the politics of public MySpace message from a lesbian teen who writes to
school have pushed him to conform, or if he has say it was "the best thing her school had ever seen:'
outgrown his cross-dressing phase ... ! try to imagine
Other pieces are lovely odes to girlfriends past and
w
b5
~
5
!
~
~
present, including "How I Knew;' in which an uncle
tells him not to mess up the relationship: "She's the
one, I can feel it. The whole family loves her. She's
gorgeous, and she can cook. She even likes fishing.
Don't be an idiot. Marry her already:' As Coyote and
her girlfriend imagine their wedding ceremony, they
ponder whether it will be circus-themed or sportsinspired. They do know, however, that there will be
stilt walkers and three-legged races, and that it'll be
the "dream wedding that neither of us ever dreamed
we'd dream of having:' After all, Coyote writes, "I figure the beauty of gay marriage is that we get to
choose which traditions we want to honour, and
then make up the rest as we go along" -words
that will resonate with many readers these days.
( www.ivanecoyote.com)
housework, other women's proclivity for clean wood
floors, vacuum cleaner envy, kid and paper clutter,
the pervasiveness of pet fur, other people's gross
bathroom gunk and an elder parent's accumulation
of possessions. There is even a piece about nostalgia for pre-gentrified 1980s New York City, where
Alissa Quart describes being a "creature of the old
untidy New York" in a city that began to be taken
over by lounge bars. The city started, Quart writes,
to regrettably "slouch toward perfection:'
While this is not a queer collection (its queer contributors are limited to Louise Rafkin and Rebecca
Walker), housework is one topic that cuts across the
divides of gender and sexual orientation. It can split
up couples, tear up households, enable roommate
discord, invoke fear in children and provoke contempt in those who judge the cleaning standards of
Dirt:TheQuirks,
Habits,andPassions
ofKeeping
House, others. The essays in Dirt do reflect these topics, but
also the small amusements and compromises that we
ed.MindyLewis(SealPress):
What could be tempting
must make to cohabit successfully with others-and
about a collection of essays devoted to the physical
their dirt. Thus, what could be merely an attempt to
and mental manifestations of dirt? Isn't it enough to
capture the drudgery of housework well surpasses
have to do housework? As it turns out, there is much
that easy aim. Instead, most of the essays revel in
to savor in this recent collection.
the shifting middle ground between annihilating
The essays are both astute and funny in this exhausdust bunnies and considering them part of the
tive exploration of the world of housework. No topic
family. ( www.sealpress.com) ■
is left untouched, including a feminist's aversion to
AfterEden
ValerieMiner
(TheUniversity
of
Oklahoma
Press)
Headlong
KatheKoja
(Farrar,Straus
andGiroux)
A Historyof
U.S.Feminisms
RoryDicker
(SealPress)
In anAbusive
State
KristinBummer
(DukeUniversity
Press)
The essays revel in
the shifting middle
ground between
annihilating dust
bunnies and
considering them
part of the family.
Transgender
History
SusanStryker
(SealPress)
Preying
onGenerosity
KimberlyLafontaine
(IntaglioPublications)
A sequelto PickingUp
A studyofAmerica's
thePace,this mystery
trans
community,
this
More
textbook
than
Hit
the
books,
girls.
Grief,environmental- A grippingtale
focuses
on reporter
groundbreaking
book
light
read,
this
study
of
This
enlightening
work
of
friendship
and
ism,immigration,
beginswith post-World AngieMitchell,who
feminism,sexualvioacceptance
at boarding recountsthetime
homelessness
and
lenceandneoliberalismWarII eratransvestites findsherselfonthe
lineof ourforemothothersignificantissues school,summedup
written
byanAmherst anddetailsa timeline trail of a murderer
ers,
from
the
19th
areeffortlessly
woven well in thesefew lines:
who'llstopat nothing
College
profis a dense, that reachesall the
century's
suffragettes
"When
I
saw
Hazel
in Miner'slatestbook,
While
wayto today'shuman for attention.
to the modernRadical causticargument
comingupthe aislewhichdealswith a
rightslawstheirimpact shestrugglesto put
againstfeminism's
Cheerleaders.
With
tall,serene,wearing
lesbiancommunityin
ontransgender
inditogetherthecluesshe
response
to rapeand
detailedaccountsof
herVaughnstudent
California.
Heavyand
mustbecarefulto
viduals.
Written
with
sexual
violence.
events
and
snippets
T-shirt
for
the
first
hopeful,it's a mustpreserveherrelationa
decidedly
feminist
(www.dukeupress.edu)
from
powerhouses
like
time-we
didn't
laugh,
read.
U)
shipbeforeit's too late.
slant,Transgender
~
Meridel
Le
Sueur
and
we
didn't
not
laugh;
(www.oupress.com)
LU
d,
(www.intagliopub.com)
Historyis informed
shejust caughtmyeye, TaraHardy,this book
LU
z
activism
at
its
best.
truly
turns
history
and
I
caught
hers.
And
z
(www.sealpress.com)
intoherstory.
~
thatwasenough."
(,)
(www.sealpress.com)
(us.macmillan.com)
a:
Cl)
~
~
July/August 2009
I55
REVIEWSIn The Stacks
JACQUELINE
HASSINK:
CARGIRLS,Tim
Dant:A subversively
fun lookat gender,power
andcommodification.
(www.aperture.org)
•
GRAFFITI
WOMEN:STREET
ARTFROMFIVECONTINENTS,
NicholasGanzand NancyMacDonald:
Over1,000illustrations
surveythe workof the badasschickswhowereamongthe earliest
pioneersof the graffitimovement.
(www.abramsbooks.com)
LOSTCONSTELLATIONS:
THEARTOFTARA
MCPHERSON
VOLII, TaraMcPherson:
Love,lossand
loneliness
meettransfigured
ideasfromthis stunningrock
starof a visualartist.(www.darkhorse.com)
NERVE:
THEFIRSTTENYEARS:Fromthe groundbreaking
websitecomesessays,eroticaandphotosof realbodieswomenandmen-includingstufffromAliceSebold,
AimeeBender
andJocelynElders!(www.chroniclebooks.com)
•
FLAGRANTE
DELICTO,
Will Santillo:Explicit
bookthat includesbothsexes.Positsrealpeople
in unrehearsed
sexacts,withtonsof lesbiansin
the mix.(ww.w.santilllophotography.com)
•
SHELTER,
LuckyS. Michaels:A rivetingphotoessayfromthe
kidsat Sylvia'sPlace,NewYork'sfirst emergency
shelterfor LGBT
youthandyoungadults,with eye-opening
factsabouttransand
queerkids'lives.(www.trolleybooks.com)
•
FRIDAKAHLO:
THESTILLLIFES,SalomonGrimberg:Oneof the
greatestwomenartistsof all timeis celebrated
in thisfirst-of-itskindbookreleased
onthe centennial
of herbirth.(www.merrellpublishers.com)
•
•
THECOLOR
OFLOSS,Dan Burkholder:Usinghighdynamic
rangeimagingBurkholdercreatesphotographs
thatlooklike
paintings,
offeringa newwayof lookingat post-KatrinaNew
Orleans.(www.utexas.edu/utpress)
SEXPOTS:EROTICISM
IN CERAMICS,
PaulMathieu:Exploring
sexandsexualityin ceramics
throughout
historyoffersanenthralling
lookat worksby lesbian,gayandstraightartists.(ww.w.acblack.com)
FEMALE
BODYBUILDERS,
MartinSchoeller:
Callthem
freaksor callthemchampion
athletes
whoarecreating
, newmodelsof femininity-eitherway,thismuscled
pictorialis compelling.
(www.pondpress.com)
KICKASS
KUTIES:
THEARTOFLISAPETRUCCI,
' LisaPetrucci:Fromdewy-eyed
pinupsto
switchblade
sistersto titularcuties,
Petrucci-whosejournals,dollsand
otherswagyou'vealreadyseenin
thesepages-offersupfeministart
nostalgiaandamazingculturalkitsch
all in one.(www.darkhorse.com)
[DAM]
The Caveman Mystique, Martha Mccaughey
(Routledge): Ah, the caveman defense: The urge
to rape women is an unavoidable part of the
human male psyche, along with bipedalism and
language capability. Mccaughey strips the fur
unitard off the archetypal club-wielding subject
of this theory to reveal the same entitled, white,
straight dude who's been making excuses for his bad behavior
for centuries. (www.routledge.com)
Fixing Sex: lntersex, Medical Authority, and
Lived Experience, Katrina Karkazis (Duke
University Press): Sex designation: a multitude of
genes, anatomical shapes and personal interactions, all reduced to two boxes, marked "M" and
"F." Karkazis explores the process the medical
establishment uses to assign sex to infants whose
anatomy deviates from the norm-and the consequences for
those involved. Her research with clinicians, parents and intersex
individuals provides a chilling look at an issue that deserves
further critique. (www.dukeupress.edu)
11
=
Finding Iris Chang: Friendship, Ambition and
Loss of An Extraordinary Mind, Paula Kamen
(De Capo Press): Journalist Paula Kamen's book
about her friend and colleague Iris Chang is half
FINDIMGllll(HANG
biography, half personal narrative. Professionally,
Chang is known for her dogged pursuit of the story
behind her book The Rape of Narrking. Her personal life is recounted as a navigation through bipolar disorder
leading to her eventual suicide. Throughout, Kamen is a brazenly
subjective narrator. As kind as she is exacting, she speaks
to all sides of a woman whose name came to signify activist
journalism. (www.perseusbooksgroup.com)
fn
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Blood Lines: Myth, lndigenism, and Chicana/a
Literature, Sheila Marie Contreras (University
I\ I l) 0 D
of Texas, Austin): Contreras traces the genealogy
L I N I:
of modern Chicana/a cultural formations through
critical analysis of texts. She looks at the selective
appropriation of indigenous myth in literature and
history, leaving no stone unturned, from the Zapatista
movement's identification with Indio experience, to the ambiguity
of romantic treatments by D.H. Lawrence to legal tracts from U.S.
border regions, where references to Aztec human sacrifice are still
found. Her closing is a dogged pursuit of the conquista in contemporary gender and race issues, revealing new complications to
centuries-old problems. (www.utexas.edu)
•
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Visions, C.L. Zastrow (iUniverse): One crime
scene starts to look just like another for detective
Devon McKinney-until her girlfriend is murdered.
Full of grief and pain, Devon knows she's losing
it when she starts hearing voices. Is someone
attempting to contact her in her time of need or
is she just going batty? Add the requisite beautiful forensic anthropologist, Brid Merrigan, and things start to
get interesting. Zastrow's experience as an investigator shines
through the carefully detailed descriptions. A tight, pleasurable
read. (www.iuniverse.com) [Andrea
Millar]
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Q+A
Rose Beecham
In 2005, after a 10-year hiatus,
Rose
Beecham ( the "mystery" pen name of bestselling romance novelist Jennifer Fulton)
reappeared to write Grave Silence, followed
by two more mysteries, Sleep of Reason and
Place of Exile. In the groundbreaking Grave
Silence Beecham introduced detective Jude
Devine who infiltrates the Fundamentalist
Church of the Latter Day Saints. Beecham
herself went undercover to research this
polygamist cult long before the mainstream
media exposed the group-and
its leader,
Warren Jeffs-for
criminal activity, which
included rape and child abuse.
Yourresearchisverythorough.
Tellmeabout
yourprocess.
I live in the West and spend a lot of time in
the Four Corners area, where the series is
set. Research is what makes crime writing
so fascinating for me and I do a great deal
of it firsthand-there's
nothing quite like
wandering around a white supremacist event
or polygamist compound for a glimpse into
an alternate universe. The seedy actions of
the real people mentioned in my stories are
a matter of public record ... such as declassified CIA and FBI documents and National
Security archives. I also have extremely help-
"There'snothingquite
likewanderingarounda
whitesupremacistevent
or polygamistcompound
for a glimpseintoan
alternateuniverse."
ful contacts in law enforcement, the FBI and
counter-terrorism who advise me. However,
it is not my aim to write nonfiction; my first
goal is to serve the interests of my plot and
the journeys of my characters. I want to write
stories that are compelling and entertaining,
and sometimes a bit disturbing, because so
much of the detail is authentic.
Howhaveyouevolvedas an authorsinceyou
wroteyourfirstmysteryin theearly'90s?
A couple of things leap out. The Jude Devine
mysteries are darker and more gritty, and, of
course, Amanda Valentine was femme, and
Jude Devine is butch. I work with a bigger
canvas in the Jude Devine stories, so there is
more room for a complex plot and prominent
secondary characters, like Sandy "Lonewolf'
Lane, who tries to assassinate the VP in Place
of Exile. In some ways I think the evolution
of my writing between the two series is more
a reflection of changes in reader expectation
than any special growth as an author.
Whatis a "message
mystery"?
The term "message mystery" is used informally to identify works in which a social
issue is a strong theme, not just wallpaper,
and the author takes a non-neutral position
in her treatment of the topic. As a reader I
don't like being preached to, but I do like to
be credited with a conscience and curiosity.
My stories are unified by the social themes
that each murder brings into focus. I've
covered quite an assortment-prostitution,
polygamy, child abuse, hate crimes, the mental health issues of veterans ... all of which I
ought not admit in an interview, since they
are not exactly beach reading. I try to make
up for that by writing multifaceted characters and injecting plenty of humor.
JudeDevineis unluckyat love.Willsheever
getthegirl?
I can't imagine writing a fully dimensionalized character while ignoring who she
is as a sexual being and a woman who is
seeking personal happiness, albeit with
questionable judgment. So, yes, romance
is a continuing subplot. From the letters
I receive, it's clear that many readers have
had in their lives at some point a woman
who completely derails their common
sense, and they can relate to Jude's hapless
thing for Mercy Westmoreland. Jude has
to grow before she will truly be happy in a
relationship. Meantime, she'll just have to
settle for hot sex. Oh, tragic. [Laughs]
What'snextfor RoseBeecham?
Two mysteries are on my writing schedule for
2010. Ghost Canyon, the fourth Jude Devine
story, picks up where my last story left off,
taking some very twisted turns. Despite
some reservations about adding another
female forensic pathologist to the wellstocked ranks, I'm kicking off a new mystery
series with Fatal Mourning featuring Dr.
Portia Darling. Portia arrives in Savannah as
a newly appointed regional medical examiner
to inherit a trail of botched cases waiting for
a fall guy. [Kathilsserman]
July/August 2009
I57
REVIEWSMusic Watch
TalkAbout S nth-sational!
The synthesized sounds of the 1980s are back. By Margaret Coble
HowtoBea LadyVol.1,
ElectrikRed (DefJam):
ThissexyfoursomeNaomi,Sarah,Lesleyand
Binkie-hailsfromCanada
andNewYork,wheretwo of
themwerebackupdancers
for hotartistslike Mariah
Carey,UsherandCiara.But
theyall lefttheirrespectivecareerpathsto form
ElectrikRed(sonamedfor
their"collectivesensuality"),
preppedanalbumandsetout
ontheirown.Withthis debut
release-producedwith help
fromTheDreamandTricky
Stewart(theproductionwritingteambehindRihanna's
"Umbrella")-ElectrikRedis
hopingits brandof streettemperedR&Btakeslisteners
to newheights.
"Youknowhowbackthen,the
SpiceGirlshadgirl power?"
asksSarah."Withus it's lady
power-girl poweron crack!"
Lesleyadds:"I'd likepeople
to hearfourstrongwomen
whoareverycomfortable
with
theirsexualityandwithwhat
we canbringto the world.We
will be heard,damnit!"
Dotheysucceed?
"Drinkin
MyCup,"theirfirst single,
certainlydoes;expectto
hearit at lesbianclubsall
summer.
Andexpectto see
postersof theseflannel-and
stiletto-cladhottiesthere,too.
(www.defjam.com)
[Diane
Anderson-Minshall]
58
Icurve
Will the '80s ever go away:' I hope not. Whether it's
Von Iva's soulful electro-rock, MYNX's dirty-glam
electroclash sound or Miss Kittin & the Hacker's
artsy disco-tech, synthesizers are the main ingredients in their '80s-inspired sounds.
Girlson Film EP,VonIva (self-released):
While anxiously awaiting the release of their forthcoming new
full-length, I'm finally getting around to mentioning
this latest six-song EP from the sexy San Francisco
synth-rockers. My first exposure to Von Iva was at
the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, and I've been
hooked ever since. This EP is both a great introduction for the uninitiated as well as essential
for hardcore fans, offering three older cuts from
their 2007 disc Our Own Island ("LALA," "Birds
of Prey" and "Guise"), as well as three new bangin'
tracks. "Livin' for It;' which opens the 21-minute set,
is an infectious dance-rock anthem anchored by a
booming, fuzzed-out bass synth line and lead singer
Jillian Iva's powerhouse vocals. "Electricity" turns
Flashdance-era synth-pop on its ear, with that trade-
mark distorted bass synth and funky as all hell drum
patterns that will get your ass shaking uncontrollably.
The set-closing "Emerald Eyes" shows a softer, mellower side to the band, but is no less compelling, with
its hypnotic heartbeat and emotionally raw lyrics. I
think the throbbing "LALA;' a scathing anti- Los
Angeles tale, is still my favorite, but really, every song
rocks! (www.voniva.com)
Iz
Outof Sight,Outof Mind,MYNX(self-released):
You ~
can't really get more '80s-throwback than the straight- ~
girl-gay-guy, glitzy, new wave duo MYNX, hailing ~
from glam central, Los Angeles. Their satirical L.A. ffi
(/)
send-up 'Tm So L.A.;' included here as the set-closer, rrl
::?
became a YouTube sensation and got them a culdike 6
w
fan base. With its B-52s beats and campy lyrics, it's ~
a no-brainer for any '80s-lover. "Kissie Show" gets a ~
little more electro, with dirty bass synths and loads ~
of sexual innuendo, while the EP's tide track is a ~
moodier, sultry affair, better for the bedroom than the ~~
(.)
dance floor."Wolfgang Bang'' is more of a disco-house ~
groove, recalling Lady Gaga with its swirling synths ~
Q+A
Girl in a Coma
Girl in a Coma (www.girlinacoma.com)
won critical acclaim in 2007 with their
debut album Both Before I'm Gone, winning
attention from major labels and guitar legend
Dave Navarro, who said the all,female
indie band was his favorite. They've come
a long way since opening for queer,fave
Morrissey-they played at this year's South
by Southwest festival and they plan to be at
the Michigan Womyn's Festival. With their
sophomore album, Trio B.C., the girls widen
their repertoire without compromising their
art. Out lesbian bassist Jenn Alva tells us
about life on the road.
Whatwasit likeopening
forTeganandSara?
AndtouringwiththeTrueColors
tour?
With Tegan and Sara, when we jumped on,
and right away Sara came up to us ... and
welcomed us and she was just really, really
sweet. Then we started talking to Tegan a lot,
and she'sjust so cool and down to earththey both are, really. And True Colors, we
did two shows on the tour, it was wonderful
to meet Cyndi Lauper and she was great
with us. We just wanted to do a great job. It
is still an honor to play on stage with those
amazing acts-Rosie O'Donnell, Margaret
Cho-it is just a fun tour to be on.
HowwerethosetoursdifferentfromWarped
Tour?
Warped Tour was so cool when I was start,
ing out. Not so much anymore. There are
some great acts on it. I just feel like they
pretty much get these kids, these young
bands and say,"Here, you won. You are going
to be on Warped Tour:' But basically these
young bands are working their butts off with
their own money, you know, they paid for it,
driving from town to town. I think Warped
Tour will always be around. They will have
changes, and whatever the kids want, that is
what they will do.
Youareheavilyinfluenced
bytejanomusicbut
yournewalbumalsohassomenewinfluences.
We mix up a little rockabilly influence and
a lot of rock and a lot of grunge '90s, Sonic
Youth and, of course tejano. We love San
Antonio and that is what it is about.
Whatisthebiggest
change
you'veseeninyour
musicfromyourlastalbumtothisalbum?
There are a lot of new songs and it is just
about us getting a little bit better and a little
bit more comfortable and knowing when to
say"yes" and"no:' [KatiePeoples]
) Readmoreabout Coma'slife on the road at www.curvemag.com.
and filtered vocals. Light, trashy fun for
your next mix CD. (www.wearemynx.com)
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Two,Miss Kittin & the Hacker{Nobody's
Bizzness):
Finally back together again after
pursuing their respective solo projects,
Caroline Herve and Michel Amato return
for a second synth,filled collaboration that
does not disappoint. They've thankfully
dropped much of the electro,clash irony
that epitomized their first effort and seem
more focused on offering quality grooves.
After the aggressive opening blipfest, "The
Womb;' the melodic "1000 Dreams" is a
soaring-well, dreamy, synth,pop anthem,
while "PPPO" gets downright techno
with a cacophony of electronic noise over
a bouncy beat. A surprising cover of Elvis
Presley's "Suspicious Minds" is fairly faith,
ful to the original while amping up its
electronic quotient-sounding
rather like
vintage Pet Shop Boys-and the Giorgio
Moroder beats of"Party in My Head" put
it squarely in the "space disco" category.
Definitely the most abstract and least pop
of the three synth discs reviewed here,
but still worth a listen if you're a fan of
the genre or instrument. (www.misskittin
andthehacker.com) ■
TimeSpentLost
KatieSawicki
{Bend)
Dangerous
Fruit
Stephanie
Schneiderman
(self-released)
Thisthirdsetfromthe
nowNorthwest-based Onhersixthsolostudio
(Portland,
Ore.,byway release,
the iconoof Brooklyn,
NewYork) elasticNorthwest
perbi singer-songwriter formerbestknownfor
is assolidas canbe,
herworkwith Portland,
showcasing
herwarm Ore.,buzz-band
Dirty
voice,from-the-heart Martiniteamsupwith
lyrics,delicately
DJKeithSchreiner
layeredinstrumentationfor a setthatgingerly
andpristineproduction. balances
organicand
Fromquieturbanfolk
downtempo
electronic
to bluegrass
to edgier elements-think
rock,it's all a gorgeous BethOrtonor Feist.
backdropto Sawicki's Theslinky,trip-hoppy
soul-baring
lyrics.
"TwentySlivers"and
(www.katie
guitar-tronica
cut
sawicki.com)
"Oxygen"aremypicks.
(www.stephanie
schneiderman.com)
Boleros
RaquelBitton
{self-released)
(a)spera
Mirah
{K)
Singingin bothSpanish
andFrench,
the
Moroccan-born,
San
Francisco-based
jazz
chanteuse
offersupan
exquisitecelebration
of the bolero,featuring
theworkof several
legendary
Latincomposersof the genre
andaccompanied
by
a 20-pieceorchestra.
The12-songset is
romanticandsultry,
anddefinitelymakes
youwantto dancepreferably
cheek-tocheekwitha partner.
(www.raquel
bitton.com)
Theopenlyqueer
PacificNorthwesterner
deliverswhatfans
expectonherfourth
solodisc:somber,
atmospheric
indiepop
andfolk poetic,confessionallyricsdealing
with loveandloss.
Therearea few musicalsurpriseshereincluding
the uptempo
percussion-fest
"TheCountryof the
Future,"andthesaxswinging"GoneArethe
Days"-but eventhese
experiments
fit right
in.Simplybeautiful.
(www.krecs.com)
July/August 2009
I59
REVIEWSSapphic Screen
Out in the 0 en
Say goodbye to secrets with these authentic films. By Candace Moore
Intelligence,
Seasons
One
andTwo(AcornMedia):
Canadian
TVdoesn'tget
muchplayin the United
States(exceptonthe Sleuth
channel),
whichis a shame
becauseoftenit doesa much
betterjob at placingwomen
in positionsof powerand
lettingthemshowthe gamut
of emotions.
Casein point:
Intelligence,
whichrevolves
aroundMarySpalding,
played
pitch-perfect
by KleaScott,
a butchy,sexyactorwho
comesacrossonscreenlike
These two films feature queer heroines who reject
a delightfulmashupof Halle the binding shackles of secrecy and shame to find
BerryandGlennClose.Asa
love and authenticity.
top playerin the Canadian
SecurityIntelligence
Service,
sheformsalliancesonoppo- She'sa BoyI Knew(OutcastFilms):Gwen Haworth's
sitesidesof the law,proverbi- autobiographical documentary is one of the most
allykeepingherfriendsclose tender, witty, forthright and accomplished films to
andherenemies(generally portray the experiences of a trans
somedouble-crossing
male lesbian. Hailing from Vancouver,
underlings)
evencloser."For
Canada, film school grad Haworth
me,asa womanof color,
offers her life as a complex intertext,
playingsomeone
whois
slightlyyoungerthansome Sandy Stone-style. Praxis-savvy,
of the menI haveto boss she follows Stone's imperative to
fellow trans people to "take responaround,it's something
we
haven'treallyseen,"Scott sibility for all their history" and to
told Jam!.A wonderfully
dark
"write oneself into the discourse by which one has
series,blendingelementsof
been written:' The film draws from a deep well of
TheSopranos
and TheWire
family home movies, photographs, sound recordings,
(thefirstAmericanshowto
featurea blacklesbiancop), quirky animated clips, personal voiceover and-most
effectively-interviews with the family members and
Intelligence
positsthat inforfriends who supported Gwen through her transition
mationis the newdrug
of choice.Wecertainly from hetero man to sexy dyke. Never didactic, sensawantto knowmore. tionalistic, or simplistic, Haworth carefully places her
(www.acornonline.com)self-narrated story of wanting to change her gender
[DianeAnderson-Minshall]
identity from the age of 4 (and swallowing this feeling long into adulthood), alongside the expressions
of hurt, misunderstanding, anger, insight and pure
60
Icurve
love that her loved ones expose to the camera. Most
touching and emotionally difficult are the segments
with Haworth's ex-wife, Malgosia, who stayed with
Gwen for years after the transition yet realized she
was no longer sexually attracted to her. We experience Gwen's utter heartbreak during their divorce.
Importantly, the film makes clear the distinctions
between sexuality and gender identity.
In this case, Gwen remains as hot for
women as Steven was. She also realizes
she's not comfortable living as a traditional girly girl. She identifies more with
queer feminist subculture and comes
into her own as a punk-inspired lesbian
who occasionally throws on army boots.
Watching this charming film feels like befriending someone you really want to know and being
intimately welcomed into her life-her whole life.
(www.outcast-films.com)
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(Monterey
Media):In Hebrew and French,
~
this coming-of-age lesbian love story takes place in a
girl's Jewish seminary, where Naomi (Ania Bukstein)
and Michelle (Michal Shtamler) beoin
as roommates
band arch-enemies. Michelle smokes indoors despite
her roommate's disgust, while Naomi is the good
girl, hair pulled back, well-versed in biblical texts and
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A Different Kind of Greek Lesbian
The sorority-centered college drama-rama adds a Sapphic twist.
ABC Family introduced a
lesbian character on its
hit teen show Greek this
past season. The dramainfused college series that
streams into televisions
everywhere on Monday
nights has young adults
working their way through
personal relationships,
family problems and issues around coming out
{there was already an
openly gay male character
on the show), as well as
going to classes.
It all began when the
spoiled, bratty and, up
'til now, straight Rebecca
Logan got her first Sapphic
taste, with an older woman
who came to Cyprus-
Rhodes University to visit
one of Rebecca's sorority
sisters.
Sparks flew between
the two after a kiss at a
bachelorette party. While
Rebecca spent loads of
airtime sorting out her
thoughts on the matter,
her actual coming out
story is quite matter of
fact, according to Dilshad
Vadsaria, the actor who
plays her.
The complete opposite
of Rebecca, Vadsaria
began her life in Pakistan,
where she lived with her
extended family in Karachi,
before her parents immigrated to the United States.
The difference between
Kabbalah. Thrown together on a project to bring food to a pale, slowly dying
French woman, Anouk (Fanny Ardant),
an ex-convict who murdered her lover,
they argue their way into a partnership
to help the woman find peace, and then,
of course, into each other's arms. Michelle
acts as translator while Naomi, who longs
to be a female rabbi, performs intricate
rituals-dipping
Anouk in sacred baths,
having her wear a coat made of sackcloth
to experience pain and find remorse and
undergo other tikkun (cleansing rituals)
that require choruses of chanting and
invocations. Bonded through their efforts,
Naomi and Michelle begin rubbing each
other's backs and soon entangle, bringing each other to orgasm. This is one of
the more original, subtle lesbian-themed
films of the past year, yet it also relies on
over-worked tropes-the
girl's school, the
fumbling into sex at a sleepover and the
agonies of one partner feeling more ambivalent about her sexuality than the other.
The acting, setting and main plot, however,
are fascinatingly fresh and well-executed.
(www.montereymedia.com) ■
TheWomen's
Kingdom
{German
Camera
Productions)
her character's life on
the show and Vadsaria's
actual college experience
is striking. She worked
two, sometimes three
jobs {McDonald's, selling windows and siding
over the phone) to put
herself through school.
After college, Vadsaria
attended the Producer's
Club, where she honed
her craft. Her first gig was
a commercial for Country
Music Television. But her
big break came when she
landed her role on Greek.
Vadsaria said she had
fun playing a lesbian
character, and that the
girl-on-girl smooching got
her curious about how her
Passion
andPower
{FirstRun)
other costars kiss. And
yes, girls' lips are much
softer, she admits.
So who would Vadsaria
like to try kissing next?
Look out, Portia.
"Oh, Ellen!" she said.
[KatiePeoples]
TheyKilled
SisterDorothy
(JustMedia)
BOLT
{Disney)
Fromthe subtitle,The
Technology
of the
At the heartof this
youknow
award-winning
Thisshortdocumentary Orgasm,
this documentary
will
documentary
is Sister
byXiaoliZhoutakes
DorothyStang,an
a lookat China'sonly betitillating.Basedon
environmental
activist
matriarchal
society,the RachelMaines'bestMosou.Mosouwomen sellingbook,it follows andCatholicnunfrom
Dayton,Ohio,whowas
thestoryof a simple
scornmarriageand
killedin the Brazilian
insteadlivein women- invention-thevibrator-as
well
as
the
rainforestin 2005.
centricfamilyunits,
Thisrivetingfilm tackchoosing
theirpartners famouslymisunderastheyplease.A lovely stoodfemaleorgasm. lesthe battlebetween
It tacklesa topicthat's the havesandhave
film abouta rural
as muchaboutpolitics notswiththe world's
culturechallenging
as a
as it is aboutthe power largestecosystem
the assumptions
of
backdrop.
mainstream
Chinese of women'ssexuality. devastated
society.(www.german- (www.passionandpow-(www.theykilledsister[DAM]
erthemovie.com)
[DAM] dorothy.com)
camera.com)
[RB]
I'mtemptedto call
BOLTthe
greatest
interspecies
girl-power
animated
flick.Nowon
DVD,BOLToffers
up
notone,buttwostrong
femaleleads-Miley
CyrusasPennyand
SusieEssman,
asthe
streetwise
Mittens.
WhileBoltandthe
hyperactive
hamster
Rhino,plodalong
mixingfantasywith
reality,it's Mittenswho
keepsthe intrepidtrio
grounded.
(www.disney.go.com)
[DAM]
July/August 2009
I61
REVIEWSTech Girl
I Want to Rock
Which musical game is right for you?
,ne curvettes
in character
RockBand2
Cringing at the thought of yet another Blockbuster night, but too
broke to hit your favorite girl bar? Rock Band 2 is the perfect cure for
the (not so) quiet night in.
Players have a choice of instruments, including a mic, guitar, bass
(sold separately) and drums on which to strum and bang their way
through 24 globe-spanning cities. They also have the option of going
on a solo tour or joining up with friends to create a band (either in person or via Xbox Live/PlayStation Network) and embark on a quest to
earn fans and cash; and-if they're really good-become a virtual legend. Which shouldn't be too difficult with a playlist that includes the
THESOUND
OFSILENCE likes of Joan Jett, Blondie and Bikini Kill, and additional downloadable
songs from kick-ass ladies including Sleater-Kinney and Siouxsie
I've beenwaitingfor a
and the Banshees. It's like a rock 'n' roll fantasy-hot groupies not
pairof headphones
likethe
included. ($60 and up, www.gamestop.com) [RachelShatto]
Audio-Technica
QuietPoints.1----------------------------___._
Hey,whenyoucommute
everydayon a loud,crowded Lips
trainthroughSanFrancisco's You've always dreamed of showing your special lady exactly how you
transbaytunnelyouwanta
feel by serenading her with that perfect, obscure indie bootleg b-side,
pairof thesesoft,over-thebut no matter how hard you look, you just can't find it on a karaoke
ear headphones
that drown
song list. Well then, Lips is the game for you.
out 85 percentof all noise.
Otherwise similar to other vocal-based games (a la SingStar or
Howbig a differencedoesthe
Karaoke Revolution), Lips has one very exciting function that sets it
noise-canceling
factormake? apart from its predecessors: It's the first to allow players to sing (and
Well,with my standard-issue be scored on) any song on their MP3 player. It also boasts a healthy
earbudsI usedto crankupthe
song list, plenty of downloadable content and even a few spiffy new
iPodto full blastjust to hear
mini-games, including "Time Bomb" and the disappointingly hetanything.Nowit's at the nexteronormative "Kiss." The game comes bundled with two swanky,
to-lowestsetting.Andthat
motion-sensitive wireless mies-complete with multicolor flashing
makesa big difference lights-so all you have to do is pop it in, start singing and watch your
to my eardrums.($220,
girl swoon! ($50, www.gamestop.com) [RS]
www.amazon.com)
t------------------------------------------[KatiePeoples] Guitar Hero World Tour
Real guitarists might be disappointed with the Guitar Hero series, but
that's not stopping the popular cross-platform games from eating into
hours of after-school (and after-work) time. And World Tour is nothing
if not a great addition to the series, with a full band kit available (that
includes a guitar, mic and drum set, sold separately) for the whole
family to rock out to "Barracuda" with. It's not as easy as it looks, and
we in the office take pride in getting up to the blue button. The game
includes an optional lefty flip orientation, which gets it extra brownie
points in my book. ($60 and up, www.gamestop.com) [KP]
Wii Music
Nintendo's awesome Wii Music lets you play music the way I play music:
with other people, on a variety of sometimes strange instruments and
without any real skill. Sure, turning the remote and nunchuks into a
sitar or drumming out like you're in Congo Square takes some practice but you never feel bad while trying to master any of Wii Music's
60-plus instruments (from the popular guitar to the more obscure
banjo). No buttons, no sheet music, no competition. Love it, love everything about it. ($50, www.gamestop.com) [DianeAnderson-Minshall]
62
Icurve
_________
_
Sex continued from page 3 7
See www.adili.com and www.enamore.co.uk
for more.
AdmirableAmbiance.Lowering the lights is
always important for romance and there are
several ways to do it more conscientiously. If
you're the handy type, try installing a solidstate dimmer switch to minimize power
usage. If you're the romantic type, use pure
beeswax or (for vegans) vegetable oil-based
candles to set the mood. Also, check out the
Active Trax audio player from L.L. Bean. This
solar-powered (or crank-charged) speaker for
your iPod helps you set the tone sustainably.
props of principle
------
So, the stage is set, but do you have your
props? Get it on guilt-free with the suggestions below:
Natural Lubricant.My favorite sexy
store,
www.babeland.com,
offers
water-based Naked lube, which is free
of parabens and petrochemicals, and is
not tested on animals. Also, check out
www.yesyesyes.org for water- and plant
oil-based lubricants that are certified
organic. (Remember not to use oilbased lubes with latex condoms, dental
dam or gloves.)
SaferSex,Sustainable
Style.Condoms complicate the effort to have greener sex, but
there are a few options that can better the
soul of the planet. Latex condoms are, to
some degree, biodegradable. However, they
do not biodegrade when under water (so do
not ever flush them), and the lubricants and
spermicides used in the creation of some latex
condoms will impact their biodegradability. I
am loathe to recommend lambskin because,
while they are biodegradable, they are porous
and do not protect against STDs. So, French
I
''•k•d
Letter Fair Trade condoms may be the best
overall option. All of the above applies to
their biodegradability, but for a more ethical
choice, they can't be beat. Check them out at
www.french-letter.co.uk. Latex gloves, thankfully, are biodegradable, and recyclable as
medical waste.
SolarSex.While sex toys are a great way to
keep the buzz going, recharging the batteries
still uses electricity. Luckily, California Exotics
comes to the rescue with its Solar Sensations
solar-powered vibrator. The charge lasts up to
two hours, so it may fall short in a full-day
marathon, but will certainly help fuel a short
run, and you can take it camping.
Recycled
Relations.
Got a bike tube and some
time? Surf www.instructables.com for "recycled harness" and learn how to make your
own strap-on harness from recycled rubber.
Mmmm, sweat equity!
DutifulDildos.These toys are another complex
issue for green sex. If you are a puritan, and
not looking for compromise, then your best
bet will be glass or stainless steel dildos. The
benefit of these toys is that they last indefinitely, are easy to clean and are 100 percent
recyclable. Also, glass toys are often quite
beautiful-functional
art at its best. For other
options, try www.babeland.com for several
phthalate-free, "hard material" toys that lend
themselves well to recyclability. For those of
you who prefer a more realistic feel, your next
best bet is silicone. It is not biodegradable, but
it is the most durable of the realistic options
and will minimize waste by lasting longer.
Don't forget, too, that a good ol' cucumber
can be the most environmentally friendly sex
toy. Just be sure to use a condom. And compost afterward. ■
Worms continued from page 38
And remember, they don't eat food. They eat
food slime. Give it a chance to break down
a little, then they'll be all about it:' She reassured me that she'd started a worm bin once,
given up when she didn't see any results and
then checked it again after three months, only
to find it full of soil.
I went home feeling a little better and
checked on my worms. Nothing had changed.
So, I left them alone for a whole week. Then
one of my roommates and I decided to take a
peek. We opened the bin and I peeled back the
top layer of paper, which was doing a great job
of holding the smell in. "Is anything happening?" she asked. I responded by scooping up
some of the shredded newspaper. Underneath,
where the worms had made their home, was a
big, fat, loamy pile of soil. "Looks like it;' I said.
We moved the soil to find the worms underneath and in my head I thanked them. We fed
them some more scraps and then my roommate went to wash her hands. "You smell like
dirt;' she said. I took it as a compliment. ■
ieminine1)rincip~
Fertility and life is the rose. the sublime blossom.
the womb from which all enter the world.
Embrace your magnificent feminine self.
Enjoy family.
Enjoy life.
www.feminineprinciples.com
July/August 2009 j 63
TOPTENREASONS
WELOVE
...
JulieTolentino
This performance artist has got us looking. By Tania Hammidi
Julie Tolentino is an artist of
Filipino and Salvadorian heri,
rage who has been working
for lesbian visibility for two
decades. Tolentino first came
onto the scene in 1989 as a
figure in the "Kissing Doesn't
Kill: Greed and Indifference
Do" campaign by the AIDS
awareness artist,activist col,
lective Gran Fury. The ads ran
on buses and billboards across
the country and were later dis,
played at the Whitney Museum.
In 1990, Tolentino founded the
Clit Club, the legendary New
York City nightclub where punk, queer and
pro,sex girls danced and got very hot,and,
bothered for over a decade. Tolentino also
posed with Madonna in a series of homo,
erotic photos in the superstar's controversial
book, SEX. These days, she is most visible as
a durational performance artist, performing
pieces for many hours at a time. But it usu,
ally only takes 15 seconds to seriously crush
out on her, so be warned. Here are the top 10
reasons we love her.
1. Julieis a liveartisttrainedin yoga.From the
early '90s, Tolentino studied Ashtanga yoga
with Eddie Stern, the guru some credit with
introducing this super,athletic form of yoga
to the West. She was a member of David
Rousseve's dance company REALITY for
12 years and she collaborated and performed
with Ron Athey. She now creates what she
calls sculptural endurance events-solo. Her
latest large,scale work, CRY OF LOVE, com,
missioned by the House of World Cultures
in Berlin, came out last month.
2. Sheknowslesbiansex.An ACT UP AIDS
activist in the 1980s and '90s, Tolentino co,
wrote the first Lesbian Safer Sex Handbook
in 1993 (with Cynthia Madansky) and was
responsible for grassroots education in the
dyke community. She appeared in the "Safe
Sex Is Hot Sex" Red Hot & Blue posters
64 I curve
shot by Steven Meisel. "We were the most
consumed couple image, to everyone's sur,
prise;' she remembers. "Being tattooed and
pierced, androgynous, bald, kinky-these
were major, on and off the gay scene:'
3. She runsa bootcamp.Each summer, she
and Ron Athey run the PRAXIS Mojave
Boot Camp For Performance Artists. Her 5
a.m. punk,rock yoga is the best.
4. She reads Walt Whitman.The art critic
Jennifer Doyle has described Tolentino as "a
literary artist" -and for good reason. There
is a classic Tom of Finland drawing tattooed
on her cal£ her surname across her abs and
poetry by Whitman along her bicep. "Look
closely;' Tolentino teases. "There is also 'yes;
another 'yes' and a hidden 'more:"
building a home in California's Mojave Desert
emphasizing low,impact, long,term sustain,
ablity using solar energy, native plants and
tankless, propane,charged heat and refrigera,
tion. She educates visitors while she builds,
and everyone who stops by lends a hand, con,
tributing toward green,living practices.
8. She'sfoundwaterin the desert.A practitio,
ner of Watsu (a form of aquatic bodywork)
and the manager of a natural mineral springs
spa on the western edge of California's Joshua
Tree National Park, Miracle Manor Retreat,
Tolentino offers a destination for queer trav,
elers and artists.
9. Sheis loyal.The Sky Remains The Same is
an ongoing performance project in which
Tolentino creates a performative archive of
other artists' work by mirroring it as they per,
5. Hercolleagues
gushabouther-truly gush. form. This means housing, holding and dis,
David Rousseve says, "She is not only one
cussing the information from a safe placeof my favorite people on the planet, she is a her body. "I will preserve their archives until
deep,seeking artist of utterly profound capa,
my last breath;' she vows.
bilities:' DJ Aldo Hernandez agrees: "She is a
woman for all times, elegantly turning survival 10.She'sgotsavoirfaire.Far be it from us to
into a rich source of do,or,die activism:'
say who has shared her bed, but by her own
6. Sheis to the point."Fierce, brutally honest,
lovable, gets things done;' says artist Franko B.
7. She doessolar.Tolentino designed and is
account, Tolentino has wholeheartedly sup,
ported, collaborated with or partnered some
of the most edgy, culture,shaking butches in
queer and trans history. One glimpse of her
smile will show you why. ■
Si:
~
OJ
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UJ
0
UJ
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