So You Think You Can Write?

I know, I know. This blog is supposed to be about art - and it is - but it's also about thinking. So here's what I'm thinking...

Forget it, Daphne. I've found someone who can really write about lesbians - and about anything else. Her name is Ariel Levy and she caught my attention with her funny, informative and nostalgic piece: Lesbian Nation: When gay women took to the road, in the March 2nd issue of The New Yorker. (It's about a small tribe of lesbian separatists known as the Van Dykes who travelled around the U.S. in the 1970s seeking radical empowerment and escape from society's "testosterone poisoning" in womyn's lands. It brought me back to my one excursion to the New England Women's Music Retreat - a festive occasion, to say the least.)

My new writing idol is a staff writer for The New Yorker, formerly a contributing editor at New York Magazine (my other standby) and has written for other publications such as Vogue and Slate (about glamour and good looks on The L Word). She has authored two books, most recently Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture about pornography, feminism, sex and female behavior in the 21st century. (See Ariel on youtube talking about how pornography has influenced women's body image.)

Sorry to say, Daphne, but she's also a looker - one might even say glamorous - and yes, she's married, to Amy Norquist. You can read about their wedding or, as she termed it, "a party about love," as described by the "bride" (her quotes) in NY Magazine.

Ariel Levy, right, and Amy Norquist on their wedding day in Bluemont, Virginia.
(Photo: Thad Russell)

I do remember reading a great article by Ariel last September in the New Yorker about Cindy McCain, not that I remembered the name of the author, but this was the only place I had ever read all those facts about Cindy's background, interests, etc. that the campaign was certainly not putting forward. I loved it and now I understand why I enjoyed it so much.

So, there you go, Daphne. If the NY Times had any sense, they would give you the boot and beg Ariel to pen a few lines whenever they felt the need to expound on any aspect of lesbian sensibility, fashion or intellectual perspicacity.

Buh-bye!

Fashion/Political Commentary - Read at Your Own Peril

I'm still on that lousy article about my favorite newsperson, Rachel Maddow, in Sunday's NY Times. Does this woman (in photo) look like she knows anything about glamour - lesbian or straight? Yet Daphne Merkin (yes, it's her at right) claims to be an expert. Sheesh, what a mess! You can tell right away that she's NOT a lesbian because there's no sign of glamour.

Perhaps she should get some tips from Rachel, who always looks good whether she's on the air or off.

(images courtesy of the afterellen.com blog)

In fact, I think our pal Daphne bears a striking resemblance to another media star - this one with a face suitable for radio, the Schlockmaster himself. If Howard took off his glasses and jacket, then put on someone else's shirt and opened it nearly to his navel, the resemblance to Daphne would be uncanny - sort of separated at birth. I think I'm on to something here. Their knowledge and understanding of lesbians is on a par too.