Archive for the 'Pop Culture' Category

Contribute Your Stories

May 29, 2007 | Literature, News Reports, Pop Culture, Uncategorized

Whew, okay, now I’m back and posting. According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the LGBT Archives at Western Reserve Historical Society have stepped up their efforts to improve their collections. The LGBT Archives, which were established in 1991, are looking for personal stories, oral histories, documents, photographs, and publications. If you have anything to contribute I hope you will consider doing so! Just a note, if you have anything of interest to the leather community, please contribute that to the Leather Archives & Museum. The LGBT Archives are in Ohio, and LA&M is in Chicago.

Change the Focus

April 27, 2007 | Pop Culture

Okay, okay! I get it already! Can the press please stop reporting on Lindsay Lohan and Mel B’s supposed lesbian flings?

I feel about this the exact same way I felt about Anne Heche. Bisexuals are everywhere. It does not have to be a great big shocker when a girl kisses another girl. Hell, even straight girls experiment all the time, where do you think the word “bi-curious” came from? I have seen articles claiming that Lohan “has gone gay” - people, please. Smooching a girl in public does not make another girl gay. Especially if it takes place in an establishment that serves alcohol.

Lesbianishes

April 5, 2007 | Pop Culture

I was tempted to leave a comment on AfterEllen’s Top 10 Lesbian-ish Men post, but I couldn’t bring myself to register for the site. So I’ll just say it over here - at last my love of Johnny Depp has some vindication! See, I’ve always known he was a hottie, I just didn’t know it was because he was lesbian-ish. Actually, there are three men I think are totally sex - Johnny Depp, David Bowie (mostly old days, but still some today), and Ian McKellen. I would so have Ian McKellen’s love child.

Scandals

April 2, 2007 | Pop Culture

Can I just say that the OMG SHE’S A LESBIAN scandals are getting really old? Now Carmen Electra is being accused of dating Joan Jett. And the singer Fergie has apparently had same-sex interactions, though not necessarily relationships. One UK site treats it pretty well, but the DailyIndia.com site uses the headline Fergie was once a lesbian! Sensationalized much? That article also mentions that Angelina Jolie and Madonna have also had sex with women, though not necessarily with each other.

Why all the big scandals about same-sex relationships? It makes me feel like we’re still being treated like an oddity, when really lesbians are all over the world. Why is homosexuality still so shocking? What does it matter if Carmen Electra is dating a woman, a man, or a monkey? (Well, okay, the monkey thing is illegal.) But really…who cares? Can’t we just be seen as normal?

L Word Walk-On Auction

January 3, 2007 | Pop Culture

I just received notification about this eBay auction - a walk-on role on The L Word! It’s a charity auction being sponsored by Showtime to benefit Queer Lounge, an organization targeted to queer filmmakers. The auction is currently at $5200 and the reserve hasn’t been met - I’m going to guess it’s $10,000? Who knows. But you do have to pay for your own travel to Vancouver and your own hotel…but you get a walk-on on The L Word!

What Makes a Lesbian?

November 17, 2006 | Pop Culture, Sex

Originally published in Dykewrite, 6 January 2004

My local hometown paper just happens to be the internationally-known Washington Post, which is recognized as a quality newspaper of a rather liberal persuasion. While browsing through this past Sunday’s issue, I turned to the Style section and was confronted with a large headline:

Partway Gay?
For Some Teen Girls, Sexual Preference Is A Shifting Concept

Obviously, this caught my attention immediately. I’d just been reading [Dykewrite’s] forum thread on bisexuality, and last February I wrote a journal entry on the concept of lesbians becoming bisexual. So I read the Post article, by Laura Sessions Stepp, with keen interest.

Keeping in mind that I am a firm believer in the fluidity of human sexuality, I’d like to explore the possibility that lesbians are a dying breed. With the rise of hasbians, LUGs, lesbisexuals, and heteroflexibility, it seems anyone can be a lesbian - even if they’re not lesbians in the traditional sense of the word. According to the article, the word itself is being redefined to include any female who has remotely sexual contact with another female. The article says “[these] girls pack Ani DiFranco concerts and know tATu lyrics by heart.” First of all, Ani DiFranco is bisexual herself - and the girls of tATu aren’t even gay, although they like to pretend for the sake of male fantasy. Which is another thing the article mentions - apparently some girls at high schools in the Washington, DC area make out with each other and sell tickets to boys! It’s obviously cool to have same-sex contact these days, although only for girls - the article does mention that boys don’t practice these experimental activities nearly as much as girls do.

“Experimental” is the key word. I suspect that the vast majority of these girls, once they grow a little older, will fall into traditional heterosexual relationships not because they love women less, but because it’s what society expects them to do. Supposedly these girls are flaunting society, claiming they don’t have to follow societal rules, that society’s vision of sexuality doesn’t apply to them. To that I say: bullshit. Right now, it’s cool to be lesbian. (Being bisexual is hip too, but it’s better if you show off the girl-on-girl action.) I think the major difference between these girls and how I usually define “lesbian” is political. Gays and lesbians continue to face discrimination, abuse, and trauma in the United States just for being who they are. These girls are unaffected by this (with the possible exception of Stephanie Haaser) because they are lucky enough to live in an area where they can express themselves freely. And although the article doesn’t mention butch/femme issues, I suspect the majority of these girls are femme - simply because butch lesbians are easier to identify and therefore discriminate against. (Cary Trainor, a college sophomore quoted in the Post article, is pictured in the print edition and fits a traditional butch look; also pictured are Chandra Harris, who looks more femme, and Chloe Root, who has a sort of androfemme look.)

Maybe in ten years, when these girls are old enough to get married and settle down, gay marriage will be legal in the United States and marrying a man will no longer be the “safe” choice. If that happens, these high school girls will be free to continue their current sexual expression. But as long as they’re expressing the view that sexual orientation doesn’t matter, they probably won’t be part of the gay and lesbian community and can’t serve us in political causes. Self-identifying as lesbian or bisexual may not be enough, and telling people (or showing them for $10) may not be enough. Solidarity is essential to the continuation of the lesbian community.

Death of the Tomboy

September 8, 2006 | Pop Culture

For the record, I am not a lipstick lesbian. I’m not even a Chapstick lesbian. I don’t wear makeup hardly ever. I have long hair and I wear dresses, but I don’t consider myself a lipstick lesbian. That said, AfterEllen has an article about the death of the tomboy and the rise of the lipstick lesbian in mainstream media. [via queerty]

Lesbian Sorority

August 31, 2006 | Pop Culture

There’s a lesbian sorority! I had no idea. They are trying to get recognition at the University of Memphis, which is a struggle because that area is firmly in the Bible Belt. The sorority is called Beta Phi Omega (est. 2000); they currently have eight active chapters across the United States, including the one in Tennessee. Like other Greek organizations, Beta Phi Omega participates in community service and holds events and activities.

For some reason, though, they specifically mention that they are for feminine lesbians. I’m pretty sure most fraternities won’t accept butch women, with gay fraternity Delta Lambda Phi (est. 1986) being a possible exception. Perhaps Gamma Rho Lambda, a gay sorority established in 2004, will be more welcoming of all types of women.

Boycott Barbie

August 25, 2006 | Pop Culture

It’s time for a Mattel boycott, folks. Here’s a quote from a story called Mattel to sue over lesbian Barbie show:

A Mattel spokesperson said: “Barbie is a very proper lady and she is not happy about being portraited as something that she isn’t.

“We are going to sue and we hope that this teaches people a lesson. Also, Barbie is 46 years old, she should be respected!”

No fucking way. Seriously? Are they serious? Are they actually implying that “proper ladies” aren’t lesbian? Or that 46-year-olds can’t be lesbians? Or that being a lesbian is somehow disrespectful? Holy crap!

See also Gay.com UK’s story and a story from PinkNews.co.uk.

Casting Call: Lesbian Sex and Sexuality

August 23, 2006 | Pop Culture, Sex

A new show is being created at the here! TV network, one of the top two gay channels. (I only get Logo, so I can’t really tell you much about here! at all.) It’s going to be about lesbian sex and sexuality, and it’s produced by filmmaker Katherine Linton, who is also a sometime-host of In the Life. According to the casting call, the show is going to looking for:

* Dynamic lesbians, queer, and/or transmen and bois in polyamorous or open relationships. People comfortable discussing their relationships, feelings and experiences on camera, and willing to allow crew to document their daily lives.

* Lesbian and/or queer female couples unfamiliar with sex toys interested in exploring. Must be comfortable discussing their relationship and sex life on camera, and willing to allow a camera crew to videotape them on a visit to a sex toy store.

Information on participating is at the bottom of that casting call link. Let me know if you sign up!