The last coupla months I been apologizin' for mistakes left and right and
this month is no different. Last month I attributed my opening quote to the
wrong performer/writer. Not only did I spell Glenn Frye's name incorrectly,
he didn't write/perform In the Garden of Allah. That honor goes to
Don "Dirty Laundry" Henley.
I see Transgender Tapestry finally made it on the street to mixed
reviews. The redesigned magazine looks good although they seem to be
backsliding on photo reproduction. Well, maybe next time they'll get it all
right. Seeing as how their layout person walked out on them, I'd say they
did a great job just getting the issue out. However, some advertisers were
not happy with their placement in the new tear-out Directory of
Organizations & Personals. No one wants to be in the throwaway section.
Overall, it looks like they're developing a nice commercial publication...
only problem is, that ain't what it's supposed to be. See, the IRS frowns
on 501[c][3] organizations using their tax-exemption as an unfair advantage
to compete with commercial products and services. The whole idea behind the
exemption is for the organization to provide for the unfulfilled needs of
the community it serves. With magazines like LadyLike,
Cross-Talk, Crossdresser's Quarterly, and others already on
the commercial market, trying to turn Transgender Tapestry into a
commercial publication could cost IFGE its tax exempt status if they're not
careful.
JUMPSTARTing the new year is a new group in New Jersey: Jersey
United Meeting Promoting Sane Thinking
About Relating to Transgender people and issues.
JUMPSTART is a support/empowerment group for people who are interested in
promoting Transgendered Rights and supporting Transgendered people. This is
not a "dressing" group and they do not require any individual to dress in
any particular way. Each JUMPSTART meeting has two parts. One part will be
a support/anonymous sharing function where those who wish to share and
support may do so. The second part will be a topical discussion pertaining
to Transgendered Issues and Rights. JUMPSTART meets every Tuesday Night
from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at the Central Unitarian Church in Paramus, New
Jersey. Call 201-262-6300 during business hours for more information.
Last month I reported on TYS, TransYouth Services, headed up by
Dee Stallworth. Ms. Stallworth has informed me that TYS has started
a peer-support group for transgendered youth and their families.
UJIMA meets on Wednesday nights at 6:30 pm at 1207 Chestnut Street,
4th floor, in Philadelphia. The group is facilitated by two associate coordi
nators Reno Wright and Niambi Robertson. UJIMA is the third principle of
KWAANZA and means "working together." For more information, call Ms.
Stallworth at 215-724-4610.
Talk about being "out," you can't get more out than Deidre
McCloskey. McCloskey, who I met at the Be All last year and who
attended my Pocono Weekend, was the subject of a Boston Globe
article written by David Warsh. Here's how Warsh described McCloskey: "In
all of present-day economics, there is no livelier writer than D.N.
McCloskey. A former University of Chicago price theorist, a distinguished
economic historian, ex-editor of a major journal, and a longtime student of
the rhetoric of the field, McCloskey is at 53 a senior figure in the
American Economic Association, one of six elected members of its executive
committee." The Globe piece goes on to describe a recent article by
McCloskey in the Eastern Journal of Economics titled "Some News That At
Least Will Not Bore You." To wit: "No, I am not gay. I am cross-gendered,
and at age 53, having been a good soldier for four decades, I am doing
something about it. Not to startle you, but I am becoming a woman
economist." Warsh then describes the brilliant career of this
world-renowned economist. Bringing up the rear of the piece was news of how
McCloskey's family reacted to the revelation that she is seeking sex
reassignment surgery. Her wife quietly divorced her. Her children were
shocked, but McCloskey's biggest problems came from her younger sister. The
sister twice had McCloskey committed, each time being led away in handcuffs
for fear she might harm herself. The second time occurred before a meeting
of the Social Science History Association at which McCloskey's work was
being discussed. Both times McCloskey was restrained for brief periods and
then let go. When last seen Deidre McCloskey was attending an economics
conference in San Francisco and although somewhat worn from her
experiences, nevertheless a seemingly much happier person. (Thanks to Diane
from Delaware for bringing this to my attention.)
One of my fave magazines was SPY which I thought had gone out of
business, but, no, they just went bimonthly. The February 96 issue has the
now infamous SPY 100, a list of people, organizations and things
that annoyed the SPY staff in 1995. Well, we made the top twenty. Yes, Item
#20 is Transvestites Go Mainstream. Nothing pumps up box office
profits like carefully calculated outrageousness." The same issue carried
an article titled "The Man With The Golden Jugs" wherein is described
chemically induced breast development in men (gynecomastia) from pesticides
that mimic estrogens. Holy Hooters, Batman, you mean I could grow boobs by
sniffing DDT? The article says that pesticides used on fruits and
vegetables may be responsible for the increase in what has been a
relatively rare disease.
Pump Up The Volume is the new tune being "sung" by Sandra Bem, well
known author of the Lenses of Gender. Until recently, Bem has tried to
minimize the relevance of the male/female masculine/feminine quad by
minimizing its presence in social and psychological life. But now, says
Bem, perhaps the way we should do that is by proliferating categories of
sex/gender/desire. In the Journal of Sex Research (Vol 32, No. 4,
1995, pp. 329-334) Bem discusses the work of three scholars who are central
to this theme of proliferation. Included in the triad are anthropologist
Mary Douglas, philosopher Judith Butler, and developmental
geneticist Anne Fausto-Sterling. Fausto-Sterling has been mentioned
here before for her 1993 article "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female
Are Not Enough." However, of interest here is Bem's discussion of
Butler's book Gender Trouble: Feminism and The Subversion of
Identity (Routledge, 1990). One of Butler's arguments is this: all
gender is drag. Or, rather gender is an imitation of some phantasmagorical
vision of what a man or a woman should be. She says there is nothing more
natural, original or unconstructed about a female dressing up like a woman
than a male dressing up like a woman. Bem says, "That, of course, is also
why all the many dressed-up, made-up and coiffed-up women... look, to my
eyes at least, not like women, but like people of whatever sex trying to
look the way they think women are supposed to look." Now, I like the way
these two women think.
I'm tellin ya, ya gotta read everything these days or you might miss some
really cool stuff. Like in the February issue of WIRED (the darling
of the net set), I found a review of a comic book called The Spider
Garden. It is, they say, "...a mix of sci-fi, Japanese folk tales, and
palace intrigue with pansexual groupings of women, men, mixed-genders, and
machines." Oh, that sounds like it might be fun. The story centers around
an androgyne Shaalis (she don't look like no androgyne to me) who receives
a slave as payment of a gambling debt. That's all of the plot I could glean
from the review. If you're interested, the comic is available for $11.95
from NBM at 212-545-1223, or by fax at 212-545-1227.
Onto fashion news... I received a new mail order catalog from a company
called City Spirit and I have to tell you that I fell in love with
their clothes. For example, there's a knit jacket dress made of Rayon and
cotton that just too elegant for only $128. Many of the clothing selection
go up to size 18 and some up to size 20 (that's a 361/2 inch waist). Call
for a catalog: 1-800-240-7057, between 7 am and 9 pm Central Time.
The hot colors for Spring are citrus based, Lime Green, Orange
Orange, and Lemon Yellow. These colors are showing up
everywhere, including the type of just about every cover of every fashion
magazine. The only problem here is that these colors are for the slimmest
figures only. If you really must wear these "in" colors, try them in a tee
rather than a dress or suit. Teamed with black or white, they can really
make a statement.
Another hot look for Spring is the pantsuit. (Personally I choose
not to wear slacks if I can avoid it.) Again, the look is slim with
cigarette slacks and a variety of form fitting jackets.
My makeup teachers always told me never, never wear blue eye shadow.
All the makeup books I studied said the same thing, so imagine how
surprised I was to see blue eye shadow touted as the color for Spring
faces. Yuck! All of the photos I saw made the models look like La Liz in
Cleopatra. How 60's.
What's new in mascara? The brush. BeneFit's new mascara, Get
Bent (doncha jes luv it!), has an angled wand that won't get in your
line of sight while applying it. You can do the same to your regular
mascara by gently bending the wand just below the bristles. The angle
should be slight enough for the wand to slide easily back into the tube.
Speaking of mascara, the most popular mascara in the U.S., Maybelline
Great Lash ($4.95) turns 25 this year. They sell about $300 million of
this stuff a year.
A message posted to the alt.transgendered news-group would seem to indicate
that Vernon's Specilaities has finally closed its doors. The poster
reported the lights were out and the store windows bare. More recent posts
indicate there is a "For Rent" sign in the window and I've been told that
IFGE has purchased some of Vernon's display cases. I guess that
pretty much means they're out of business for real. Several vendors (myself
included) are left holding thousands of dollars of unpaid bills.
If you're a big woman, and most of us are, then there's no reason why you
can't wear fashionable clothes. Saks Fifth Avenue has Salon Z
which offers top fashions in sizes from 14 to 24. A chemise dress can be
very flattering to a full-figured woman. But whatever you do, don't wear
clingy fabrics like knits and Lycra and don't hide under a tent either.
I love suits and a suit can be perfect for a larger figure. Here's some
suit tips... Wear a suit that follows your natural silhouette but is not
too tight... Have skirts tapered to your knees, you'll look smaller below
the waist... Jackets should hit below the hips... Keep the suit one color
for an unbroken line of color. You will look slimmer and trimmer.
"Short of going to Sweden for a sex change, I've taken this character as
far as I can," Sylvester Stallone on Rocky Balboa. Hey, Sly,
they do that here now. No need to go overseas.
So, those are my opinions, but, hey, what do I know? I think Brigitte Nielsen is Sly Stallone in drag.
Comments? Email them to CyberQueen@cdspub.com
© 1996 by Creative Design Services. All rights reserved.
Back to Transgender Forum's home page