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

"Everybody knows the world is full of stupid people." - - The Refreshments Bandido.

This is a short column this month. I've had two college graduations, my Pocono weekend, and an unexpected death in the immediate family to contend with. I apologize for the brevity. I'll be back to regular length next month.

Let me start by dispelling a rumor. I received a phone call from Marie, secretary to Dr. Stanley Beiber, noted gender reassignment surgeon from Trinidad, Colorado. Marie has been receiving many phone calls asking if Dr. Beiber had passed away. No one seems to know where the rumor got started, but she asked me to tell you all that reports of Dr. Beiber's demise have been "greatly exaggerated," as Mark Twain said. Dr. Beiber is alive and well and still operating. He hasn't even been sick of late.

Along the lines of rumor comes a note off the net that a text file is being circulated called SRSDOG.TXT that claims to describe, in detail, how to perform MtF gender reassignment surgery on dogs, with the idea that you can learn all about SRS at home. As my high school Latin teacher used to say, "How stupid can you are?" If you've seen this file or hear about it, it is a hoax. Be warned.

Hanging in there with the SRS theme... A survey of Chinese middle school students, ages 13 to 19, found that 44.2 percent of the female students wished that they were boys. Reasons given were boys had greater freedom in Chinese culture, teachers paid more attention to boys, and that boys had better prospects as adults. Although Chinese culture has changed drastically in the last 20 years, Chinese families still prefer boys.

John Travolta is a hot Hollywood property these days, but if his star wanes again, perhaps he can get a job in one of the La Cage shows. According to Kyra Sedgewick, Travolta's co-star in the film Phenomenon, Travolta does "impeccable impressions" of Barbara Stanwyck and Katherine Hepburn.

There's support groups and then there's Resourceful Women. RW is a San Francisco-based support organization of a few hundred women of wealth. Says one member, "You're not going to be judged for your money." An off-shoot of RW is the Women's Donor Network whose 75 members have an average net-worth of $11 million and who make charitable contributions totaling $30 million annually, mostly for women's education and economic independence.

"A fetishists dream come true," is how one friend described the film Barb Wire starring the mammillary-enhanced Pamela Lee Anderson. Corsets, fishnets and thigh-high boots everywhere. Even under limited release (less than 1000 theaters), the movie is raking in the dough. Just wait until it hits video.

On to fashion news... Want a little philosophy with your cosmetics? Stila cosmetics packs a bon mot with each of its products. For example, inside your face powder you might find, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." That by George Elliott.

There's money in them thar clothes. The stock market pundits are talking about the next set of red-hot IPOs (Initial Public Offering) and they ain't Internet stocks. No, it's big-name designers that have everyone's attention. Donna Karan is set for an IPO sometime this month and it's sure to be a winner. In the past year, Estée Lauder, Tommy Hilfinger and St. John Knits have blown the socks off other IPOs. You heard it here.

Bob Mackie is back into the "special occasion" dress market. Mackie took a side trip into less extravagant couture, but found that he wanted to return to his first and most successful love-beads. Mackie says his new line will be much less expensive" than his previous creations with some dresses selling for "as little as $700." Hey, Bob, ship me a dozen of those beaded numbers.

Joining RuPaul as a spokesperson for M*A*C cosmetics is the unlikely personage of one k.d.lang. I say "unlikely" not because lang is a lesbian, but because up to now her "look" has been fresh-faced and sans-makeup. I guess she's working on a new look.

A little commentary on friendship... Some people have expressed the opinion that Alison Laing (currently Executive Director of IFGE) and I have parted ways. Nothing could be further from the truth. Alison and I share the bond of having co-created Renaissance, the CTO, GPAC and we serve on 2 boards of directors together. Beyond the tg community, Alison and I and our families spend a great deal of time together in non-tg related activities. Alison is among my closest personal friends and nothing -- not Renaissance, not IFGE -- could ever come between us. We've learned to agree to disagree on some tg issues and that's a lesson many in this community would be wise to learn. True friendship is precious and priceless.

So, those are my opinions, but, hey, what do I know? My grandfather told me ignorance is temporary. Stupid is forever. Comments? Email them to CyberQueen@cdspub.com.

© 1996 by Creative Design Services.

Up On My Soapbox

Since I lost my companion here (Kalina got "kicked upstairs" with her own column), I feel that the readers deserved a little more than just the hot buzz stuff. So, I went digging in my archives and I'll be posting editorials and essays from past writings, updated for today's issues. What follows is the first of several editorials on political activism. If you like this part of Chatsubo, let me knowJoAnn Roberts.

Here's another political message, this time urging everyone to vote. Gee, it's that time again. Nineteen ninety-two was the first time that the TV/TS community got seriously active in politics. Even the extremely conservative TV-TS Tapestry ran a political editorial. I almost fainted. The original editorial ran in LadyLike #14, which appeared in September 1992. I've rewritten it for the 1996 elections.

VOTE!

It's getting close to voting time. We're in for lots of changes, and a lot of factors will come to bear on the election.

Look at the last general elections. In Pennsylvania, we had two instances here where political ingenues knocked out seasoned incumbents in the primaries, only to lose in the general election.

Ah, but we know what happened after that, don't we. Newt Gingrich and his Republican gang took control of the Congress and took out a Contract On America. The Republicans seemed to have grossly miscalculated the mind of the American public. What they took as a Republican Mandate was simply the people exerting their right to "throw the bums out." Americans are fed up with politicians of either party.

And so, I'll bet the people will do it again and the Dems will come back to power. Not that I care much for bleeding heart liberals either, (I'm an Independent) but they're our best chance of getting some protective laws passed that assert transgender rights.

But even if I'm right, that doesn't mean we can just sit back and let everybody else worry about who gets elected. While you're reading your crossdresser's magazine, the guy who lives next door to you is out blocking the entrance to a Planned Parenthood office, and the woman down the street is writing to the Parents Music Resource Center because her son, who tried to commit suicide, listens to Led Zepplin albums and the man over on Elm Street is lobbying Congress to pass an Anti-Gay Marriage Law because his son just eloped with another guy to Hawaii. Is that what you're doing bunky? Waiting for someone else to do it for you? GAWD I hope not! Get out and vote!

If you're "Mad as Hell," and you're, "Not Gonna Take It Anymore!" then get involved. Exercise your rights or lose them. The choice is your's. Go over to Political Writes and read about what's going on in the community. Then get busy and get involved.

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© 1996 by cdspub.com