A Sublime Blogiversary

Hello darlings, I’m back from my vacay just in time for my one-year blogiversary!   Van and I had a great time on our cruise and also enjoyed ourselves at the gorgeous Mayfair Hotel in Miami, which was wonderful despite the heat.  
Just how much fun did we have?  On the cruise I discovered that minibar bottles of Absolut are an excellent remedy for puffy eyes.  Chilled bottles should be applied [...]

Queer Freedom Not “Equality”

I just came across a terrific new article on queer politics by one of my femme idols, Amber Hollibaugh.  I wholeheartedly agree with her about the importance of moving beyond identity politics and fighting for an inclusive vision of freedom and social justice rather than the narrower agendas typically associated with mainstream movements for LGBTI rights.   Her argument is worth considering in light of this fall’s National Equality March, a gay rights [...]

What Is Freedom?

Happy Independence Day, darlings.
I like fireworks as much as the next girl, but I’ve never been the flag-waving type and I don’t do parades unless they have leathermen in them.  (You have to draw the line somewhere.)   So sorry kids, there will be no patriotic pinups of girl-next-door beauties here today.  Instead, I’m commemorating the holiday with a little bohemian flair!  
Although an unlikely 4th of [...]

1950’s Bombshell or 1940’s Pin-Up?

Do you have glamorous karma?  Journey into the world of Old Hollywood and discover the classic film star you were in a past life.  The quiz 1950’s Bombshell or 1940’s Pin-Up? Which Classic Film Star Are You? will tell you all about your inner screen goddess.  And guess what?  It just so happens that I’m the reincarnation of one [...]

Come Up and See Me

“Too much of a good thing is wonderful.”         –Mae West
It’s official; I worship at the altar of Mae West. 
Over the weekend Van and I watched West as the bejeweled and bawdy Lady Lou in She Done Him Wrong.  This is the 1933 film in which she delivers the famous line “come up and see me sometime” to a very young [...]

Delta of Venus

Maybe it’s all the Femmethology hoopla, but dear readers I must confess that I have a full-on femme crush.  I’m tempted to say that the object of my affection is June Mansfield aka Miller, but it’s also Anaïs Nin, who writes about June so passionately in her diary (The Diary of Anaïs  Nin, Volume One).   Or rather, I’m crushing on Anaïs’s [...]

Tomboy Chic: Style and Tomboy Femme

I’ve always adored women in menswear or menswear-inspired clothes.   (How hot does Katherine Hepburn look here?  Enough said!) So of course I was pleased about the buzz for the new “tomboy chic” and the so-called “boyfriend look.” (Note to the fashion industry:  Enough already with this boyfriend crap.  Heterosexism is not cute.)  Check out ”Tomboy Chic” in [...]

Who’s Your Femme Style Icon?

I think the first time I “got” femme was when I saw Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.   Looking drop-dead gorgeous in her clingy slip, Maggie fights with Brick about their living arrangements and hisses, “I’m not living with you. We occupy the same cage that’s all!”   Me-YOW!   La Liz could [...]

Janis: Undoing Femme

What would it look like if we unhinged femininity from the ideal of flawlessness?  What part can femme play in this project?  All too often, femme is mistakenly equated with prissy, perfect, and idealized forms of womanhood.  But femme doesn’t mean being consigned to some vapid and airbrushed model of femininity!  Femmes are raw, imperfect, wild, strong, and–yes–ballsy, like my femme icon Janis Joplin.   
I discovered [...]

Doing It On Purpose

First, a few comments about my uber amazing readers inspired by this week’s dialogue in Butch2Femme and Transitioning to Femme:
I nearly feel off my chaise lounge when I read LaurynX’s comment that she just came out as femme in the past few months. Holy mother of god! You, my dear, are going to be a [...]