Not long ago I was looking for a photo of – you know, I don’t remember what. But I happened upon this photographic math equation*, because – well, maybe that’s obvious. But I didn’t quite get what Buster was doing there.
But then we saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest the other night, and suddenly it made perfect sense. It’s one of the only movies I’ve seen where the sight gags might have impressed Buster; my favorite was probably the Jack Sparrow Shishkabob, but the running cage was damned brilliant, too. But once I saw the water wheel, I *knew* there was a Buster Keaton fan working on the stunts. You just don’t use a water wheel (or drop the side of a house on someone) unless you intend to conjure up Buster.
But even better is that Betty’s got Jack Sparrow’s accent nearly down: “I love those moments… I like to wave at them as they go by.” Anyway, go see it. It’s everything you want in a summer movie: swashbuckling, pretty girls dressed as deck hands, creepy things, and great clothes.
____________________________
*Whoever designed that little graphical equation seems to have taken it down, because I can’t find it online anymore.
Sexism for $200, Alex
Just now on Jeopardy, in the “About the Book” category, the clue was (something like)
Found at the beginning of the book, it can run to several pages, and includes thanks yous to editors, agents, grant-making institutions, and wives.
And people think I’m whining when I say that “author” = “man” in a lot of people’s minds. Saying to yourself, “well that person is just sexist” works sometimes, but it’s the ongoing, subtle, water torture chipping away that really gets to you after a while.
Study: Aeneas, Part 6
Now, a little irritated with my ongoing photo-taking.
(And happy birthday to my other sister, Jeanne!)
Passing for Couples
I was just now re-drafting one of my chapters, when out of the blue it occurred to me that one of the issues for a (female + mtf) couple making it through transition (social, medical or otherwise) is the ability to pass as a lesbian couple. I know about all the “like sisters” people; they’re all well and good and don’t have to pass as anything but friends (or sisters, obviously). But for those of us who still want a publicly visible, romantic and sexual relationship, what we’re effectively looking to do is pass as a lesbian, or bisexual, or queer couple. In order to do that, I think you have to know something about what lesbian, bisexual, and queer couples are like, no?
Five Questions With… Jan B.
Jan B. is one of the people who started a trans group in Poughkeepsie called MHVTA. She’s been helping run the group since 2001, and I’ve known her for about that long. I used to call her “perpetual lurker Jan” on my very first yahoo support group, CDOD.
1) MHVTA is a nice group – how did you decide to start it? Do you have rules or guidelines, or are you making it up as you go?
Helen, thanks for the opportunity to answer these 5 questions. This is also a nice way to publicize our group so I want to start with a Shameless Plug:The Mid-Hudson Valley Transgender Association (MHVTA), a chapter of Renaissance, is a fairly new group. It was founded in May 2001 by Nikki and I. MHVTA serves the mid-Hudson Valley area of New York (the area north of New York City and south of Albany, from the Pennsylvania border on the west to Connecticut on the east). It’s an active group with regular monthly meetings near Poughkeepsie.
We were so frustrated that nothing was local. We had to travel forty to seventy miles to find a group, so someone said. “Well, just start it yourself (and they will come).” I had never been to a TG support group before but was pretty used to other types of support groups. We met in homes for four meetings and eventually found [an affordable] place to meet, with discreet off street parking.
It varies but there are around 20 dues-paying members who attend meetings. We have more than 100 members on our list server who are interested but don’t necessarily attend meetings. The membership requirements are that you are a TG interested to know more and we are open to the TG spectrum including family if they want to attend. We currently don’t invite admirers in but they sometimes sneak in when someone brings a friend. The members seem to appreciate the level of confidentiality and the one on one interviews pre visiting the group.
MHVTA’s principal mission is to provide outreach and support for our members, their families, their friends, and to be active in the Transgender Community and the greater community of the Mid-Hudson Valley, New York. MHVTA is a non-discriminatory group which is structured to allow participation by all those who support the transgender community. We respect and support the right of free and open expression and the right to be treated as equals by society. We focus on providing an understanding peer support network for anyone who would like to be a part of it and to assist others who wish to learn more about the Transgender community, acting as a Transgender advocate to other groups and institutions in the Mid-Hudson Valley area. We welcome new people with sensitivity towards their fears and concerns that accompany revealing themselves to others. MHVTA aims to accomplish this through: Regularly scheduled meetings, social events, and frequent and open communication. For more information, you can check MHVTA’s website.
You can also find an interview with some members of MHVTA at www.tgforum.com (but you can go directly to the article if you’re a subscriber).
Continue reading “Five Questions With… Jan B.”
Jeff & Esther
I mentioned Esther Williams to a wife of a crossdresser not long ago and she looked at me blankly – silly me, assuming everyone knows the story of the million-dollar mermaid and her crossdressing movie star boyfriend.
“Jeff Chandler was standing in the middle of the bedroom in a red wig, a flowered chiffon dress, expensive high-heeled shoes and lots of makeup,”
she said about her near-husband, Jeff Chandler, Hollywood hunk.
Here’s a great review that talks about the genderedness of it all that originally appeared in Salon, and I find it interesting the way he ties in her LSD trip, the recognition of her own animus, and how her acid-induced knowledge of her male self makes a crossdressed husband especially horrifying.
I wonder if the acid is required, since otherwise I fall into the same category of being aware of my animus, except I didn’t scream. Not even once.
No Sissy Stuff
I was just watching a documentary about Gene Kelly, who my mom always loved & who I came to love watching as well, and they mentioned that in 1958 he did a TV show called Dancing: A Man’s Game which basically showed how the movements and timing of sports were much the same as the movements and timing of dancing.
Interestingly, Kelly wanted to be a Pittsburgh Pirate, and only accidentally (or incidentally) became the dancer and movie star he was.
Still, the documentary asserted that Kelly is the one who re-defined dance to include not only athleticism but a blue-collar masculinity, evidence by his own quote:
I didn’t want to move or act like a rich man. I wanted to dance in a pair of jeans. I wanted to dance like the man in the streets.
Betty did a part a long time ago where he had to leap up on a desk and sing wearing a pair of jeans; his character was a union organizer, and it was the actual musical called The Cradle Will Rock (that the Tim Robbins movie is about). & Yes, it was probably my favorite part he ever did (though in a three-way tie with Algernon and Macheath).
Three More Ways
Three more ways you can help the larger trans community, according to NCTE:
#26: Make a Restroom More Accessible to Trans People
&
#27: Collaborate with another group on a community project or social event.
&
#28: Work to pass an anti-discrimination policy at your workplace
Eventually there will be 52 suggestions, one per week, listed at the NCTE website.
Please Donate
If you can, please donate to help us keep doing what we do. Thanks to all of you who have contributed in the past.
I should also mention that starting August 2nd, I will be more available to do consulting or coaching, so if you’ve been putting off talking to someone – whether it’s a crisis or you’d just like to have an hour of my time, uninterrupted – now is a good time to do so.
On the Side
There are times when I think I have achieved the ideal form of monogamy: I spent the day with my husband for our anniversary, and now I’m about to go out to a lesbian club with my girlfriend. (And yes, I prefer thinking of Betty as my girlriend on the side, not as my wife. It’s sexier, no?)