By Ms Bob and Carol Kleinmaier
It seems that many professional impersonators had similar hopes
for the original Female Mimics. A 1965 letter to the editor
signed "The Cast of Finocchio Club" asked for "a
magazine which would help us in our building a better image of
the "Art of Female Impersonation.'"
That seems an appropriate goal, however, the main thrust of the
letter was calling the magainze to task for presenting "freaks,
perverts, deviates, transvestites, lesbians, etc.," and
anything in fact "which has absolutely no bearing on the
professional art of Female Impersonation."
There are two reasons why Pudgy's editorial policy was
doomed in 1972. The first is that female impersonation had become
marginalized. Shows and clubs were on the wain. Impersonation
was moving into the gay bars and main stream audiences didn't
want to know what was happening in the gay bars. Second, the
magazine completely ignored the changes made by Stonewall, the
cry for gay pride and identity. Perhaps ignoring this is part
of the reason that Pudgy Roberts Presents The Great Female
Mimics had such a short run. When Female Mimics reappeared
the next year it had a very different policy on freaks, perverts
and deviates.
The next issue of Female Mimics appeared in 1973. The cover featured the National Cotillion and marked the beginning of a new era. Eros Goldstripe was still on the cover, but the vast majority of issues said "published by Jenifer Jordan" on the inside front cover.
The photos of sexual encounters were gone. Only one of Jenifer
Jordan's 13 issues contains transgendered frontal nudity
and in this pictorial the model is alone, not posed with a groping
lover as before. Two issues contain no nudity at all. The other
ten feature only bare, presumably enhanced, breasts. Indeed,
from this issue on, silicone or hormones were prominent in the
vast majority of models. There was also more approving mention
of the model's transexuality or crossgendered
lifestyle and it was less sensationalized.
The next three years was Female Mimics' most regular
period of publication, four issues annually, like clock-work.
Previously the schedule had been erratic. This consistency,
coupled with the higher publication values, implies that the publisher
felt there was more money to be made by adhering to professional
standards. Though its not labeled as such, this regularity has
lead us to call National Cotillion 1973 volume 5, #1.
Though Eros' address was Wilmington, Delaware, Jenifer
Jordan was in Hollywood and the majority of clubs, balls and featured
models were from Southern California. Riding the wave of the
Imperial Court system, which was founded by Jose Sarria in San
Francisco in 1966, there were more balls featured. There were
also fewer clubs and these clubs were not the traditional showrooms,
nightclubs and theatrical venues of the 1960's, but gay
bars with drag shows.
The most striking editorial difference between these Jennifer
Jordan issues and any of the previous ones is the theme of Gay
Pride, the legacy of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion. Though there
was never an explicit editorial statement, there's ample
evidence. Earlier, when it came to the issue of homosexuality,
Female Mimics dare not speak its name. But, during the
Jenifer Jordan, post-Stonewall years Female Mimics started
captioning photos with statements like, "Sandy is in great
demand at all of the big Los Angeles Gay functions." The
gay orientation of the balls was never alluded to previously,
but now it's a selling point, "The gay community
of Long Beach, California, recently held the event of the year
."
The heterosexual members of the audience were not forgotten, however,
"A gay nightclub called Oil Can Harry's? you ask.
True. You see, it's a most unusual club, and thus the
unusual name. The name of this club also suggests what it truly
is -- a Mecca of entertainment that caters to both the
straight and gay males as well as men and women of cosmopolitan
taste." "Men and women of cosmopolitan taste"
sounds so much more flattering than freaks, perverts and deviates.
One of the most strikingly gay-positive statements is the fictional
story "Cross-Dressing Upstairs, Downstairs." The
author is uncredited and the accompanying photos irrelevant.
The story is told through a series of letters and reads as if
it was originally published in England, as much transvestite
fiction still is. In the tale young, sickly Master Thomas Redfern
is raised as a girl by his governess after his parents are lost
at sea. As the girl, Aileen, Thomas marries a rich man who "prefers
boys to girls. No problem there!" Years later, when Aileen
dies the loving husband erects a white marble stone in the cemetery.
The inscription reads, "In Loving Memory of Sir Thomas
Redfern. Born 1867, Died 1930. ëWho can find a virtuous
woman? for her price is above rubies. The heart of her husband
doth safely trust her
' (Proverbs 31, vv. 10,11)
This monument was raised at the posthumous instruction of Mr.
Percy Ailsford, of Albany, New York in memory of a loving and
ever faithful friend."
Pride was also evident in the captions accompanying ball photos.
Names of the contestants pictured began to be listed and sensationalized
statements, which play on the reader's fantasies, were
all but eliminated. Some things didn't change, however.
True, the facts presented about luminaries of the local ball
scene seem less fictionalized, but the life stories of the lesser
known models still lapsed into the old glittering fantasies.
"But as soon as the day's work is done it
is time to practice and preen. Jim relaxes this way, and never
seems to tire of his hobby." Though the description fits
an obsessed heterosexual crossdresser, the photos show what appeared
to be a gay man who tends a gay bar. In spite of Gay Liberation
the editors never forgot that a substantial portion of their audience
still wanted fantasies.
Along with gay pride comes Female Mimics' first
acknowledgment of the growing transgendered community. With an
eye to the crossdresser's desire for information and connection
to a larger gender community Female Mimics volume 5, #3
did a feature about Uba's TV Botique in Venice, California.
Reprinting material from other sources or past issues continued,
but on a small scale. Two items are worth mentioning. The first
is the uncredited serialization of Pudgy Robert's 1967
book Complete Guide to Female Impersonation. This is significant
since it is an effort on the part of the magazine to respond to
the needs of the gender community. Second the reprinting of Robin
Roberts' photos from the undated Marquis digest, Presenting:
Robin Roberts, America's Most Beautiful Boy!, This
makes Robin the only model featured in four different issues of
Female Mimics: twice during the Selbee years in volume
1, #7 in 1965 where he was called Windy Starr, and volume 1, #10
from 1967, once during Eros Goldstripe's exploitive years
in issue #2 from 1971 and once during the Jenifer Jordan years
in volume 5, #3 from 1974. It's no surprise that Lee Brewster
described Robin's Marquis digest as one of his best all-time
sellers. What is surprising is that except for these photos,
which appear to have all been shot in one session, virtually nothing
is known about Robin Roberts.
He welcomes the chance to compare collections, buy, sell or trade. He can be reached by Email msbob@tgforum.com |