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

"I will not take 'but' for an answer." -- Langston Hughes

Well, last month's column certainly hit the mark for a lot of people. I can't recall the last time I received so much email and feedback. Thank you all, even the nasty ones. It proves that someone reads this column.

First up were the comments about my rift with GenderPAC. A lot of people were sympathetic and agreed that it was not worth compromising one's principles to achieve an expedient political end. Others thought I was attacking GPAC. No, I'm not going to do that. I'll continue to report on their activities as the information becomes available. For example, I said last month that GPAC didn't formally exist and may never reach that state. Well, I was wrong. Late in February, the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), the American Educational Gender Information Service (AEGIS), and FtM International, all provisionally ratified the Articles of Association and are in the process of fulfilling the verification requirements. That should make GPAC a real organization. At the same time, however, Renaissance, one of the GPAC co-founding organizations, adopted a "wait and see" attitude. At the moment, there appear to be more reasons in the "con" column than in the "pro" column to warrant Renaissance participation until GPAC demonstrates that it knows how to build consensus, follow its own rules, and has control of its chief executive.

Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is still a hot topic in the community. Seems like everyone has an opinion or a position to push. The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force is seeking a meeting with the president of the American Psychiatric Association with regard to using GID as a diagnosis for incarcerating queer and gender-questioning youth. Some transgender activists want GID treated as a medical disorder rather than a mental disorder. Others don't want GID deleted from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) because its presence lets them get co-payments from their health insurance. The problem is we've had some posturing by a few activists, but little in the way of community dialogue. One activist claim I've seen is that you will never be able to get medical insurance if you're diagnosed with GID. That's pure nonsense. There will be an opportunity to create a community dialogue on the subject of GID at the Second International Congress on Sex And Gender Issues in June. I hope the community takes advantage of it.

The other item that got a good deal of attention from last month was my remark about not hanging onto the coattails of the gay/lesbian community. Apparently I did not make myself clear because most thought I was advocating not working with the gay/lesbian community at all, and one bozo thought I was homophobic. Well, anyone at all familiar with the history of Renaissance and the tg community in general over the last 10 years will know that I am a strong advocate for bridge building with the gay and lesbian community. We were doing it here in Philly before most anybody else, except perhaps ETVC who we copied. So, let me be more explicit. It seems to me this movement to get some of the national gay/lesbian organizations to add "transgendered" to their names is a ploy to lend legitimacy to the tg community. And I think this ploy is misguided. The tg community is probably as large, if not larger, than the gay/lesbian community. We don't need gay/lesbian organizations to add "transgendered" to their names to make us legitimate, although it is nice recognition if they do. We exist as a cohesive (yet sometimes fractious) community apart from the gay and lesbian community. That alone makes us legitimate. What I believe is that we can and should work with gay/lesbian organizations, but not depend on them for any political clout because we're not going to earn any respect that way. It's like the old story about fish and fishing: Give me a fish and I'm fed for a day. Teach me to fish and I'm fed for the rest of my life. Which path do we take?

My good friend Eve Burchert from Chicago sent along an interesting article from the Feb. 4, Chicago Tribune about the new spate of gender study programs at colleges and universities around the country. The article states that many of these programs have come to the realization that one cannot study women without concurrently studying men, and, arguably, variations in gender and sexual orientation. Perhaps the most interesting and relevant of the new programs is at New York University where the Center for Gender and Sexuality Studies is being formed to cover women, men, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals. According to the article the executive search team hopes to include transsexuals as candidates for the directorship of the new center.

Activists in Pittsburgh, Pa. have plenty to celebrate as they completed a successful two year campaign to get transgendered people covered in the city's anti-discrimination laws. According to Wendy Miller, this was accomplished by defining the meaning of "sex" which did not exist in the old laws. The new definition is: "Sex: the gender of a person, as perceived, presumed or assumed by others, including those who are changing or have changed their gender identification." The final vote of the City Council was 8 to 1 in favor of the change with all of the councilors understanding the significance of the gender language.

According to Dana Priesing, in early February a bill was introduced to Congress, H.R. 621, the National Mental Health Parity Act of 1997. Title I of the bill imposes a tax equal to 25% of annual premiums (for health insurance issuers) or 25% of annual covered expenditures (for group plans) upon health insurance issuers or group health plans for any calendar year in which the issuer or plan imposes limitations or financial requirements on the coverage of benefits "with respect to mental illness" if similar limitations or financial requirements are not imposed on benefits with respect to other conditions. "Mental illness" is defined to include specific psychiatric conditions described in the DSM. The bill further states that nothing in the above standard would prohibit an issuer or plan from limiting coverage to "services that are medically necessary." It is this argument that many insurers use to deny coverage of reassignment surgery. If the definition of "medically necessary" can be altered, Priesing thinks it may be possible to get insurance coverage for SRS.

Okay, onto the fashion news... In survey after survey about cosmetics mascara consistently ranks in the top three as "must have" on a daily basis. Here's a quick mascara primer. For thick plump lashes without a lot of gooey buildup, try Aziza Fat Lash... Sometimes you just want a hint of color, then try Cover Girl Natural Lash Darkener... Want extra glam lashes without the weight and hassle of falsies, then go for Estee Lauder Pure Velvet mascara.

There used to be rules for when to wear certain types of clothing. Anyone old enough to remember no white shoes after Labor Day or before Memorial Day? Those old saws are gone and these days anything goes. Hence some recent advice dispensed in the fashion rags about "seasonless" style. Used to be that only a certain type of wool was considered seasonless. Nowadays one can wear the likes of suede, corduroy, velvet and even leather almost all year round. With suede, it's a shirt in a bright color used as a topper. For corduroy, it's thin wale, lightweight in a dress or skirt. For velvet, brilliant color or soft pastel in a skirt or even camisole. And leather is now so hot, hot, hot in wild colors and a variety cuts that it's cool anytime.

Another old saw was the stock market followed hemlines. Well it still seems to still be doing that since the market is up one day and down the next. Hemlines for Spring come in multiple lengths; pick one that suits you. For evening, the recommendation is just above the knee. For work, it's right at the knee again. And for casual attire, we're seeing mid-calf skirts that are just horrid.

As I mentioned in an earlier column, everyone is "seeing red" now that Madonna has portrayed Eva Perone in the movie Evita. In the not so distant past, red lips and nails were considered tacky, although most crossdressers in my circle never thought so. Anyway, the "new" look for red red nails or lips have a few ground rules... Choose a creamy or sheer lipstick. Avoid matte shades that look harsh and can dry your lips... Avoid matching lips and nails. Wear sheer polish with red lips or vice versa.... Red nails should be opaque and short.

When preparing your lips, be sure to use a liner and follow these steps. Make sure the liner tip isn't too sharp or the line will be too harsh. Rub the tip against your finger after sharpening. Line your lips, then apply one of the new long-lasting lipsticks. Try Coty 24 Hour or L'OrŽal Color Endure lipsticks and Prestige 100% Waterproof lip pencils.

As for your nails, there are new options there as well. Nail polish pens are attempting a comeback on the market. Past attempts weren't so great. Try Stylo Guerlain as one of the newest of the crop. Sally Hansen has introduced a new topcoat that sounds perfect for the CD on the go. 10 Day Shine is heat activated. Paint it in then hold your nails up to a desk or reading light for 60 seconds and poof, they're dry.

Normally marie claire magazine has some great advice to dispense, but it missed the mark completely when it went to RuPaul for beauty advice in its March issue. Here's an example of the less than helpful advice from the queen of media Ñ "Q: How can I prevent lipliner lips? My lipstick wears off so quickly. A: Do what I do. When I'm in drag, I don't smoke drink or eatÑand my lipstick never comes off." Well, duh! What the Hell kind of advice is that? I hope the magazine didn't actually pay LaRu for the advice 'cause if they did they were robbed. Meanwhile, Ru keeps popping up in fashion magazines as if he were someone real women would actually want to emulate. To wit, Ru appeared in the Feb. issue of Allure magazine in a piece titled "How I Got That Look." Meanwhile Ru still hasn't appeared in any transgendered publication. I guess they just don't pay well enough.

So, those are my opinions, but, hey, what do I know? I thought g/l/b/t (pronounced glebit) was the sound frogs make. Comments? Write care of this publication or email them to CyberQueen@cdspub.com.


© 1997 by JoAnn Roberts