Curve articles from May 2005

Curve archives from May 2005

Fifteen years and counting.(frankly speaking)(lesbian magazine)
May 1, 2005... Fifteen years ago, in my first publisher's letter, I wrote about some of the experiences that led to the inception of this magazine. But what I didn't share with you were some of the less glamorous details about the journey leading to that...

L is for livid.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Really, CURVE, is the best you can do in the way of covering The L Word to offer us two negative critiques (Vol. 15, #1)--one that is so blatantly scathing and insular in its viewpoint that it's almost as humorous as it is ignorant, and another...

Women at risk.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... It isn't just lesbians being affected by the high number of hysterectomies performed each year ("A Womb of One's Own," Vol. 15, #1)--it is women in general. I had a complete and total hysterectomy when I was 22, due to extreme pelvic pain and...

Marriage? Or civil unions?(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... The fight over same-sex marriage isn't about marriage--it is about rights. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is subjective in its definition, depending upon whom you ask. Perhaps it was intended to be ambiguous, as it...

Crit from a Brit.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... As I was listening to the Senate confirmation hearings for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, I heard several mentions of how President Bush plans to guide foreign states to gain liberty and freedom under democracy. Forgive me if I am...

A family nightmare.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... In 1999, I came out of the closet. I maintained custody of my two children due to the fact that my ex-husband was not yet aware of my orientation. I lived my lifestyle without a fight for the kids for the next three years. In 2001, he sued for...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2005... "A Womb of One's Own" (Vol. 15, #1) should have indicated that Ernst Bartsich works at the Weill Cornell Medical Center, which is affiliated with Cornell University. Also, Dr. Bartsich was misquoted in the piece when discussing the myomectomies...

Hot stuff.(Out in Front)(Bonnie Bleskachek)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... Not everyone can describe running to extinguish a block-sized blaze and stopping at the post office before it closes as "just another day." But Bonnie Bleskachek, the newly appointed fire chief of the Minneapolis fire department and a lesbian...

Chocolate, not lipstick.(curvatures)
May 1, 2005... OK, WITHOUT REPEATING WHAT women have endlessly said about the tossup between chocolate and sex, let's just admit it: Women--nay, lesbians--love chocolate. We may insist it be organic or fair trade or hidden from our girlfriends, but we almost...

Yes, you're worth it.(curvatures)
May 1, 2005... AFTER DOUBLE-CHECKING TO MAKE sure your makeup is noncomedogenic, organically based and made with SPF 15, and that the manufacturers didn't test out your new ruby-crush lipstick on scores of bunnies before it hit the shelves, you'd think that...

Take this job and shove it.(curvatures)(civil rights groups)
May 1, 2005... RUMORS ARE STILL SWIRLING AROUND the abrupt departure of Cheryl Jacques from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) last November; at press time, the nation's largest LGBT organization was still searching for her replacement. Subsequent media coverage...

Where's Billie Jean?(curvatures)(Icons: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World)(Brief Article)(Theater Review)
May 1, 2005... WHEN COMEDY CENTRAL'S JADE Esteban Estrada--the network's first out gay Latin star--walks onto the stage dressed as Ellen DeGeneres, it's hard not to laugh. But Estrada's marvelously whirlwind one-man musical, Icons: The Lesbian and Gay History...

What she did at 15.(curvatures)(same sex marriage)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... MOTHER'S DAY AT THE GATTO house should be a proud one. Marina Gatto--a straight-A student, debater and activist--was recently inducted into the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame for her work with the LGBT community. Gatto became outspoken...

Open studio.
May 1, 2005... "Be assured: no geese in bonnets. Ever," promises Jenny Hart. "It would have been really easy to say, 'I'm strictly an arteest; I have nothing to do with the hobby world,' but it just wasn't that simple." After picking up a few stitches from...

Slave to fashion.(curvatures)
May 1, 2005... WHEN I FIRST STROLLED PAST Otsu's small, funky vegan shoe shop in San Francisco's Mission District (they have another outpost in Portland, Ore.), I admit I was a bit skeptical: Why not continue buying my vegan wares at places like Payless,...

Only the good die young.(curvatures)(Natalie Cooper)
May 1, 2005... "I DON'T ACT THIS WAY TO CHANGE the world," says the self-assured Cay Rivers to Sapphic ingenue Vivian Bell in the 1985 lesbian rite of passage film Desert Hearts. "I act this way so that the world won't goddamn change me!" For many...

Fostering the future.(curvatures)(gay parents)
May 1, 2005... JUST IN TIME FOR MAY'S NATIONAL Foster Care Month, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned an earlier ruling that had granted custody of a 5-year-old boy to his abusive grandparents instead of to a lesbian foster parent who had been caring for...

Our right to party.(curvatures)
May 1, 2005... IN A GALLERY PACKED FULL OF revelers, Chicago's renowned feminist bookstore Women and Children First celebrated its 25th anniversary last November. The nearby Swedish American Museum played host to the party, a sold-out shindig bursting with...

Color me mine.(curvatures)(Flying Free )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... Just in time for Mother's Day: a slew of new books for kids, moms and the folks who shower them with presents. Jennifer C. Gregg's Flying Free (www.communitykids.biz)--the first in a new series for kids of queers--focuses on 5-year-old Violet,...

Should I lose the suit?(lipstick & dipstick)
May 1, 2005... Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: I consider myself butch and like to wear a suit jacket and man's shirt when I take my girlfriend to a nice place. Lately she's been telling me that she would prefer I dress more "gender neutral." What should I do? Is...

Five good reasons.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The L Word has revealed to throngs of otherwise straight females (heteroficklis bicuriosis) that woman-on-woman love is the way to go. Forget lesbian chic--this is lesbian bleak. Here's why you should pass: 1. Knowledge matters. Just...

Same as it ever was.(ask fairy butch)
May 1, 2005... Dear Fairy Butch: I'm 21 and I'm in love with a woman. After we had been together for about 10 months, she totally changed--out of the blue, she stopped wanting to be around me and started to be very inconsiderate. I kept asking her why...

Kiss and do tell.(lesbofile)
May 1, 2005... SEEMS EVERY PRETTY GIRL IN THE industry has a kiss to share lately. Lucky us. Mischa Kisses and Tells Lovely O.C. star Mischa Barton says she prefers kissing co-star Olivia Wilde to smooching the boys. "It's actually been really fun....

She said, she said.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... "You know, if you are lucky enough to love, why quibble about what sex your lover is?" >> Erica Jong, whose latest novel, Sappho's Leap, explores gender boundaries, in The Week "I do wish I had that gay experience, because I think women...

Cha-cha-changes: like sands in an hourglass, these were the days of our lives. We scoured 15 years of CURVE and tried our very best to pinpoint the biggest highlights. From celebrity outings to political milestones, CURVE has kept you abreast of the times and had more than our fair share of fun along the way. Don't ever say we told you any different.
May 1, 2005... What a long, strange trip it's been. Lesbian chic. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Lesbian Avengers. The Dyke March. Anne Heche. Sakia Gunn. Same-sex marriage bonanzas. And who could forget that high-larious time Newsweek published our editor in...

Where are they now: when CURVE debuted 15 years ago, it was the first magazine to profile the lesbian everywoman--from little-known up-and-comers to lesbian glitterati. From singers to politicos, we've interviewed them all (or, in the case of Portia de Rossi and Heather Matarazzo, we're still dying to do so). What are those women up to these days?
May 1, 2005... There she is, a smirking and sexy 26-year-old dyke in a floppy velvet hat, nose ring and dreads, staring out at us from a 2-inch black-and-white photo on page 21 of CURVE's second issue. It's 1991, and the photo, accompanying Rachel Pepper's...

Numbers game: Curve offers 15 years of trivia.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Readership for our inaugural issue in 1991: 8,000 Readership today: 250,000 Year CURVE was born, according to the Zodiac calendar: the Year of the Goat, which makes us creative, esoteric, disorganized, emotional and high-strung ...

Inner view: she was a 21-year-old boxer--and a recent divorcee--when she nabbed a handful of credit cards and took a stab at her American dream. Now Frances Stevens' little lesbian-magazine-that-could is among the world's biggest, baddest and best-selling. CURVE's illustrious founder cum publisher chats with former managing editor Gretchen Lee about the good old days.(Interview)
May 1, 2005... So, let's start with the really big question: If Hollywood were making a movie, who would play you and who would play me? I would probably say Hilary Swank would play me. That's very interesting, because I was also thinking Hilary...

High drama: Michele Fisher dishes on dyke drama.(Interview)
May 1, 2005... When Frances Stevens founded CURVE 15 years ago, she knew the magazine had to include commentary on the particular, often peculiar, phenomena of lesbian life. And so, Michele Fisher's "Dyke Drama" was born--a regular column that deals with,...

Dyke draw.(Katherine Streeter)(Brief Article)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... For many years, Katherine Streeter's inventive collages and illustrations have provided the perfect visual complement to Michele Fisher's wry takes on lesbian life. "Working for CURVE all these years has been fun and insightful," she says....

Our woman on the street: Victoria A. Brownworth talks about covering 13 years of lesbian politics and culture for CURVE.(Interview)
May 1, 2005... Victoria A. Brownworth's features and columns for CURVE, which have covered topics as varied as rap music, Christianity, aging, sex work, women in sports, and growing up poor, have consistently generated impassioned reader response: One recent...

Cover girl #1.(Katie Sanborn)(Brief Article)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... When the first issue of CURVE (then called Deneuve) hit the newsstands 15 years ago, the staffers and their friends were all over it. Although you might realize that our publisher Frances Stevens donned Hammer pants and a crop top (oh so '80s)...

You like us, you really like us!
May 1, 2005... "I can't get enough CURVE. I pick her up every month and devour her from cover to cover, moving my lips and turning the pages slowly. CURVE is the only magazine I would strip for. iFeliz quinceanera!"--comic/actor/sexpot Marga Gomez "I...

She's stacked.(Rachel Pepper)(Brief Article)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... Book review editor and book columnist Rachel Pepper, who over the years has also served as music editor, distribution manager and catalog model (and who has written for every single issue of the magazine, for god's sake), says her favorite...

6 degrees of CURVE: the Kevin Bacon version all played out? Try CURVE's instead.
May 1, 2005... Luscious Jackson's Kate Schellenbach appeared on Amy Ray's Stag and also works on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show on NBC The Butchies also contributed to Stag by Amy Ray Kate Clinton starred in the documentary Laughing Matters with Suzanne...

15 years, 15 lesbians.
May 1, 2005... The morbidly funny thing about stereotypes is that they're generally dead-on. Every sociable lesbian knows that there are roughly 15 personalities that run rampant in our diverse dyke communities. We know them, we (sometimes) love them, and we...

Who were we at 15.
May 1, 2005... Flash back to when you were 15 years old. Was your hair teased a foot tall? Did you wear shoulder pads rivaling a linebacker's? How about what you were like 15 years ago, wearing acid-wash jeans and reveling in Janet Jackson before her breast...

Best lesbian movie ever.(sapphic screen)(Movie Review)
May 1, 2005... IT'S TOUGH BEING A LESBIAN FILM CRITIC THESE days, in part because TV is actually kind of decent. Well, TV on DVD, at least. Watching Shakima and her partner face impending parenthood on season two of The Wire (store.hbo.com) is just one of...

DVD picks.(sapphic screen)(Video Recording Review)
May 1, 2005... TV ON DVD: Wonderfalls: The Complete Series (Fox): Jaye Tyler is an understated Brown graduate who lives in a trailer and works in a tourist gift shop in Niagara Falls when, all of a sudden, inanimate objects begin to speak to her; you...

Suicide at Sundance.(Q & A: Jenni Olson)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... Jenni Olson's The Joy of Life is a movie split into halves. The first part, narrated by Harriet "Harry" Dodge, is about a lesbian who's dating, loving and learning to let go in the streets of San Francisco. The second half is a political tract...

Give me fever.(in the stacks)(Dinah! Three Decades of Sex, Golf and Rock 'n' Roll)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... FEELING A LITTLE SPRING FEVER coming on? It's the season to stop hibernating and go out into the sun. Two fun new releases can help you get ready to play. Dinah! Three Decades of Sex, Golf and Rock 'n' Roll, Michele Kort (Alyson) If...

Other page turners.(in the stacks)(The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... EDITOR'S PICK: The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, Barbara Sjoholm (Seal): During her four-month journey in the North Atlantic, Sjoholm collected folklore of women pirates, storm goddesses,...

Seeing red.(Q & A: Anna Camilleri)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... Anna Camilleri is busy these days. The fiery co-editor of the Lambda Literary Award finalist Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity recently wrote I Am a Red Dress, a graceful narrative about family, identity and recovery, and is performing in...

Girlie gamer gear.(tech girl)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... PERSONAL COMPUTERS HAVE COME a long way since the ubiquitous beige boxes of the '90s. Yet even with their increased power, memory and speed, few PCs are designed specifically for competitive gaming, and even fewer are stylish enough to want to...

Accessory alert.(tech girl)(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2005... IT'S IN THE BAG You've got the sleek laptop; now it's time to accessorize. Forget the boring black laptop bags the boys like and find a look that's totally you. Ami Kimiko Davie's Japanese-inspired Koie line offers up some of the best bags...

Music for a spring storm.(music watch)(Lonely Runs Both Ways)(Sound Recording Review)
May 1, 2005... I KNOW IT'S BAD, BUT I CAN'T RESIST: This year, April showers have brought May wowers--three albums that have knocked my socks off, pulling me out of the doldrums of winter and into the promise of spring and summer. Whether you're a fan of...

Other licks.(music watch)(Video Recording Review)(Sound Recording Review)
May 1, 2005... ON CD: Latin Fire, Rebeca Mauleon (Rumbeca): A Bay area composer who has worked with Tito Puente, Carlos Santana and Mickey Hart, Mauleon offers wide-ranging Afro-Caribbean rhythms, solid musicianship and infectious danceability on her...

Worth the wait.(Q & A: Madeleine Peyroux)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... After the eight-year hiatus that followed her debut album, Dreamland, Madeleine Peyroux is back with a new record, Careless Love. Garnering comparisons to Billie Holiday for the grainy, soulful qualities of her voice, this Atlanta-born jazz...

Taking it personally.(dyke drama)
May 1, 2005... "FINDING TRUE LOVE IS NOTHING like trying to find a needle in a haystack. After all that searching, I'd better have more than a little prick to show for it." I thought that was a pretty good line. So did the woman who fell for it. I...

Time to fight again.(brownworth)(Column)
May 1, 2005... ANNIVERSARIES DEMAND REFLECTION. I have been writing this column for 13 years, and my own life has changed considerably during that period. Some changes were devastating: I was diagnosed with MS and struggled with cancer. I went through a bad...

Top ten: reasons Kelli Dunham cracks us up.(Interview)
May 1, 2005... GOT KICKED OUT OF THE NUNnery for too much self-esteem? Routinely gets mistaken for a 12-year-old boy by the FedEx messenger? Shamelessly refers to herself as "Sister Mary Bulldyke"? Sounds like the gal for us! Here are our top 10 reasons to...