Chatsubo

The Chatsubo, or simply The Chat, is the bar made famous by William Gibson in his 1984 cyber-punk masterpiece NEUROMANCER. The Chat is where the cyberjocks, razorgirls and joeboys came to gather information and kick back. Please feel free to do the same here.

by JoAnn Roberts - CyberQueen

"Since the masses are always eager to believe something for their benefit, nothing is so easy to arrange as facts." -- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

The HOT BUZZ this month is the "restructuring memo" from the International Foundation for Gender Education. What I found most interesting was left as almost an afterthought, an "oh, by the way..." Yvonne Cook-Riley, Director of IFGE Operations for the last nine years is leaving effective September 30, 1996. Many people considered Cook second only to IFGE founder Merissa Sherrill Lynn. My news-net tells me Cook had been on probation for almost a year by the IFGE board of directors. During that period she had certain tasks to perform and tasks to complete. A reliable source said Cook missed almost all of these tasks and the board had no choice but to relieve her of all staff duties. Many people had "run-ins" with Cook in the last several years and the bitter complaints came from customer and vendor alike. Her arbitrary actions seem to have been emboldened by Lynn's departure in 1995. It was almost as if she believed she was immune to censure or review. Knowledgeable insiders place all of IFGE's past financial problems on Cook's plate. Cook's future as a member of the IFGE board and the Executive Committee is unclear.

My good friend Alison Laing says that you can tell when a trend has gone mainstream by counting the number of times a word appears in print. Well, if that's the measure then we (the transgendered) have arrived. I was reading an article in the local paper aimed at familiarizing college students with the local scene. As I was perusing the list of "in" clubs in the area, I noticed not one but two clubs with specific mentions of transgendered patrons, such as "...is an after-hours club whose patrons include cross-dressers and other hip... people" Kewl, we're hip.

And then I tripped over a description of John Berendt's New York Times best-seller Midnight In The Garden of Good And Evil which is set in Savannah, Ga., and includes a transgendered person as a major part of this non-fiction story. Thing is, the book's been on the NYT list for 123 weeks. (For those of you mathematically challenged, that's 2 years and 4 months.) How did we miss this? And, even better, the tg person has written her own book. Look for Hiding My Candy by Lady Chablis and, no, I am not kidding. This book is for real.

If the New York Times best-seller list is a little too stuffy for you, then how about more simple fare. Cracked magazine pulled off a parody of Marvel Comics X-MEN with EX-MEN. The Winter 96/97 issue cover caught my eye with what appeared to be several of the Marvel X-MEN in decidedly feminine garb. Okay, so it's a parody, but any press is sometimes better than no press at all.

And while we're on the subject of the press and the New York Times, didja see the article about transgender politics in the National Report section of the Sept. 8th Times? It mentioned Transexual Menace and GenderPAC and had quotes from Dana Priesing, Riki Wilchins, James Green, Nancy Nangeroni, and Alison Laing. Hey, cool, Alison gets mentioned in an article about transgendered politics. Does this mean she's mainstream now?

Just about a year ago, if you logged into Yahoo, the premiere web index on the net, you would have found any transgender sites listed under Lifestyles:Gay/Lesbian. These days, not only do we rate our own category, just within the last month or so we now rate our own hierarchy. That, my friends, is progress.

How about mixing politics, advertising and transgender? An ad for Kenneth Cole shoes that's making the rounds of fashion mags shows a very 90's high-heeled pump with the following copy, "Mistaking the Right to Choose for the Right to Shoes, a 2004 candidate campaigned wearing only pumps, declaring it was his body, his decision." [emphasis is mine]. Hey, it works for me.

Last month's announcement of the GenderPAC Mobilization Meeting has been met with great enthusiasm from the community. ALmost every organization has said it will be sending a representative to this major community meeting which will be held in suburban Philadelphia on Saturday, Nov. 2, 1996. Representatives of major gay/lesbian political organizations will also be in attendance to give us the benefit of their past political experience. There is still room for more people to attend, so if you want to be in on the biggest mobilization of transgender activists ever, then contact Riki Wilchins at 212-645-1753, or send her email at .

Time to move over to fashion news... Need a way to get your makeup from here to there? How about a travel makeup case. There's a neat little item by a company called Modella and it's a black bag that unzips to reveal two sides with clear compartments that zip individually. In the middle is a panel with elastic loops to hold brushes. Also, on the back of the center panel is a mesh compartment for things like scissors, tweezers, toothbrush, etc. It's large without being bulky, and it's waterproof. It's also only $20 and well worth it. Look for this bag at just about any department store.

One really cool thing about the Fall is... well... it's cool. I mean it's what I call "dressing weather." You can wear almost any outfit in your closet (and I see some people who do). For me, I like the cool weather to wear shorter skirts and tights. (In the U.S. of A., we call opaque pantyhose "tights" as opposed to everyone else in the world calling regular pantyhose "tights.") And this season, it's not just tights but patterned tights that's making the scene. Donna Karan has homespun crocheted tights. Prada has cashmere argyles. Anna Sui showed cable-knit tights. Even fishnets are back. Hanes has a whole range of herringbone and ribbed tights. Colors this season are jewel tones and dark muted pastels.

Lingerie Factoids: Almost 80% of all the money spent on women's lingerie is spent on panties. Female consumers have no definitive preference for expensive panties over cheaper brands. The average Argentinean woman spends the equivalent of a month's salary (about $400) on lingerie annually while American women spend about $57. I wonder what American men spend?

Some people have said that many women's swimsuits are not much more than underwear. Well, now it's been confirmed; underwear is for wearing anywhere you like, including the beach. Following in the footsteps of the Wonderbra is the Beachbra. This successor to the wildly successful Wonderbra is also a preshaped bra which you can wear either underneath your clothes or on the beach. Versatility is one of the aspects of underwear fashion today. Even the names are cute. I have a slip dress by a company called Lingerie Worn Out.

One of the hottest areas of lingerie marketing is shapewear. It ain't your mother's girdle (even though some of you wish it was). Best known is Nancy Ganz's Bodyslimmers line of Bust Boosters and Belly Buster lingerie. This year the target is the tush. As gravity and age take their toll on bodies, we could all use a little lift now and then. The newest butt-boosters are pantyhose with a U-shaped sling built-in that lifts the cheeks. Take a look at the Donna Karan and Calvin Klein lines of hosiery. The other area of great interest is the waistline. Smaller, nipped waists are back. (Ohmigawd! Please not again.) So look for waist cinchers like those little numbers in the Hanes One Place catalog, or the high-waisted slimmer slip from Va Bien, or a high-waisted brief from Aubergine that offers maximum tummy and waist control. For the ultimate hourglass shape, look for the strapless full slip with built-in bra by Smoothie.

By the time this makes it to "print" (whatever that means these days), Classic Curves should be shipping their latest offering The Diva, a garment that creates cleavage where there was none before and without glue or tape. No price set yet but preliminary reports say the garment works really well and is very comfortable. Espy Lopez, owner of Classic Curves says it wasn't easy creating this garment and some new sewing techniques had to be invented to make it work properly. Contact CC at PO Box 115, Wilmington, CA 90748, 310-549-8787, or email to classicurv@aol.com.

Can't tell a Gucci from a Gautier? Looking for Calvin Klein and coming up K-Mart? Is that what's got you down bunky? Well, then listen up, kids! You're gonna get wise to the fashion scene this Fall if you just tune into Clueless, the new television show based on the movie. Five of the movie's cast will reprise their roles on the tube, but not Alicia Silverstone. Cher will be played by Rachel Blanchard, but Amy Heckerling who produced the movie (and Fast Times at Ridgemont High) will produce the show. The focus, of course, is fashion. But not just any fashion... Beverly Hills fashion. The show airs on Friday nights at 9 PM on ABC.

Everybody wants to be an author these days and it seems as if their all doing beauty books, too. I told you about Cindy Crawford's book last month. This month we have the announcement of Gayle Hayman's How Do I Look?, sort of the Joy Of Cooking of the beauty set. This encyclopedic tome covers everything from fixing puffy eyes to dry elbows. Look for it from Randon House mid month. If you'd like to reproduce some of the "classic" beauty looks of past decades, then you need Mary Quant's new book The Classic Makeup & Beauty Book due out this month.

Color copiers are hot items. That's color as in lipstick. Color was never really associated with a name until Chanel came up with Vamp. So now colors are ripe for knock-offs. The Cosmetic Factory, known for its knock-off designer fragrances, is now doing knock-off colors, like Ruby Dream for Estee Lauder Ruby Fantasy, or Suspense for Prescriptives Dramatic. The colors are almost perfectly matched although the texture sin't quite the same and the containers are cheaper, but hey, for a $1.99 plus tax, it beats $14.95 anytime.

I always look forward to the September issue of Vogue with all the Fall Fashion news and this year I wasn't disappointed. For my $3.50 I got 700 pages of the latest fashion news and ideas. You can learn a lot just from looking at the ads. I think the best example of the purple trend for Fall is the Estee Lauder ad. But one trend that I'm betting won't catch on is flapper dresses. I mean let's not take retro to an extreme here. Next thing you know we'll be doing the Charleston at weddings instead of the Macarena.

I noticed a new line called Barami. The designs are classic yet fashionable, not dated and the prices seem reasonable. A fitted jacket and slim skirt in a multi-check green/brown was $240. Call 1-888-4-barami to find an outlet near you

So, those are my opinions, but, hey, what do I know? I think it's best to let the facts stand on their own. Comments? Write care of this publication or email them to CyberQueen@cdspub.com.


© 1996 by JoAnn Roberts