girls, girls, girls
Girls #1: fierce in fishnets
Y’know, I normally write in this blog about pretty much whatever’s on my mind on a given day. But when I’m working on a story for the Mirror, which of course means that the subject matter is on my mind, I end up feeling like I can’t write about that topic here because then I’d be scooping my own story, thus biting the hand that feeds me and potentially even offending my own journalistic integrity. It’s kinda irritating sometimes, particularly since the vast majority of what I write for them is of personal interest to me - the whole reason I write for the paper in the first place, after all, is because I sent them a note last year saying they needed more queer content (and offering to provide it) and they agreed.
Anyway, all of this to say, it was a fucking blast for me to write this week’s cover story (my first, yay!) about Montreal’s blossoming roller derby scene. I mean really… attending a practice in which fifteen girls in short skirts and fishnets and tattoos skate around, crash into each other and strike nasty poses for a photographer… yum. Better yet - and this little tidbit didn’t make it into the article - when I was interviewing one of the players, it became relevant to mention that I usually write queer articles, and she said "Oh, that’s great! Because there are a lot of, um, ladies on the team…" Needless to say, my gaydar was swiveling all over the place to see if I could figure out who was who. Honestly, I had a hard time guessing, but sometimes it’s even more fun that way. I think I’m a budding fan of the sport, so I’ll definitely be posting about it when they start having regular season games sometime in April.
Girls #2: lambasting and loving The L Word
In an effort to grow my inner geek to gargantuan proportions, I’ve taken on a self-directed reading project this year in which I’ve assigned myself four books a month - one serious queer or SM theory book (so I can justify my penchant for buying them), one "lite" queer theory or queer history book (slurp - brain candy!), one book for my newly relaunched dyke book club, recently re-christened the Queer Ladies’ Reading Society (details at the end of this post!), and one classic novel (to make up for my years of laziness in this department after switching from my English lit major to a translation major back in uni).
In an effort to give myself homework, I’m also aiming to report on each book when I finish reading it, and what better place to do so than a sex geek blog? Sorry, folks, you’re going to be subjected to my book reviews on a more regular basis in the next little while… assuming I can get my ass in gear. I’m not quite finished my last January book yet, and I have three out of four still to go for February, so clearly I’m a bit behind. Eek.
All of this preamble to say, I just finished reading - ahem - a book of theory on the topic of everyone’s favourite lesbian television show, entitled Reading the L Word: Outing Contemporary Television. It was sublime. I mean, what could be better than intellectualizing the newly glamorous pop-culture representation of lesbian lives? It’s already a little dated, since it deals only with seasons 1 and 2, and we’re now well into season 4. (Well, I’ve seen up to the end of season 3, but my buddy J and I have plans for a pirated-episode season-4 marathon in a couple of weeks so I’ll be all caught up.)
But even then… the book manages to be truly thought-provoking, with almost every essay offering some sort of well-articulated critique of the show. Does the show pander to a heterosexual male audience? Do they do a good job of including butch and trans characters and representing their realities with some degree of accuracy? What’s with the weird class representation? Are the sex scenes "lesbian" or "queer"? What about representations of biracial (African American/white), Jewish and Latina identity? Why is it that straight women are attracted to images of female masculinity? (Um, maybe they’re not so straight.) What is the show trying to say about monogamy, polyamory, promiscuity and other forms of relationship?
Despite how each essay picks apart the show - and some of them do so in pretty cutting terms - the ultimate conclusion of every single piece is, "But we love it!" I wonder if this is a result of the editorial decisions made by Kim Akass and Janet McCabe, or if it’s truly because every single person out there who criticizes The L Word also happens to be a die-hard fan. Who knows? At least as far as I’m concerned, they’re preaching to the choir - if I really didn’t like the show, I probably wouldn’t bother watching it. But since it’s both thoroughly enjoyable and frequently problematic, without tripping over the line into completely offensive, it’s definitely won me over.
Girls #3: seeing stars and finding the G-spot
Last night I saw the Montreal Symphony Orchestra play a concert that included Frank Zappa’s piece "G-Spot Tornado," which apparently earned his entirely instrumental album Jazz from Hell a parental-advisory lyrics warning label when it was released in 1986. Amazing, what was (is?) considered to be potentially offensive subject matter! Gawd, female pleasure is just sooo awful… especially when the piece ends with a resonant whack on a gong. Hee hee.
The Zappa piece, as well as the others performed last night, were chosen and presented by Pascale Bussières, a Montreal-based actress who gained lesbian celebrity when she played one of the two main characters in the 1995 film When Night Is Falling. Full confession: I haven’t seen the film, though I’ve had many a dyke look at me aghast for lacking this particular piece of lesbian culture. I’ll put it on the to-do list, I swear!
(Pascale is not, by the way, an actual dyke. Well, I don’t know what she gets up to on the weekends, but she’s married to a dude, has a couple of kids, and lives somewhere on the Plateau, from what I’ve been told.)
Anyway, it was kinda interesting to see the subtext in the evening’s program. I kept looking around, expecting to see a ton of classical-music-loving dykes poking each other in the ribs and grinning every time Pascale went up on stage to talk about why she chose a given piece. Unfortunately, my date and I didn’t see anyone nearby, so I don’t know if the concert truly attracted the kind of audience you might think. Nonetheless, lots of fun. Anytime an orchestra wants to tackle the intricacies of the female sexual arousal system, I’m all for it.
***
As promised!
INTRODUCING…
THE QUEER LADIES’ READING SOCIETY
For the bent and bookish
Ladies and gentlewomen, you are cordially invited to indulge your literary leanings in the company of like-minded dykes at Montreal’s new Queer Ladies’ Reading Society!
Join us for:
· friendly, informal discussion
· reading selections suggested by members
· occasional literature-related activities such as workshops, plays or films
· discounts on book purchases
· monthly e-mail newsletter
· meeting every 5th Monday at 6:30 p.m. at a location easily accessible by metro
The Queer Ladies’ Reading Society will hold our next meeting on March 26. Do join us! E-mail Andrea at veryqueer3 at yahoo dot ca for more info.
The QLRS welcomes woman-identified transfolk, genderqueers, lesbians, dykes, bi girls and queers, including bookish butches, gay girls in glasses, luscious lesbrarians, and lovers of classic cliterature.
