My big issue with the book is that she went to a totally differnt sort of social surrounding than she was accustomed to. I wonder how much different the differences would have been had she gone to Chicago and hung out with the intellectual crowd there.
I don't fancy spending the next month trying to get librarian out of the carpet.
Spike ,'Chosen'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
DebetEsse - Jan 23, 2006 5:16:09 pm PST #9855 of 10002
Woe to the fucking wicked.
Nutty - Jan 23, 2006 5:17:50 pm PST #9856 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
The NYT review of the Norah Vincent book made it seem as if she didn't try to pass 24/7, but selectively. They also said her most interesting insights weren't into gender, but into social class (they focussed on her experience with a working-class bowling league).
Dude. She didn't just pass, she passed, and went bowling. That is dedication.
Emily - Jan 24, 2006 8:16:58 am PST #9857 of 10002
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola
It's happened before; that jazz musician who was a woman passing as a man had at least one girlfriend who never knew, or swore she didn't.
Billy Lee! Had at least one wife, I believe.
Er, I know the Phranc song. That's really all.
On the floor of a trailer in Spokane, lies the body of a woman who lived as a man
It's also why I know how to pronounce Spokane.
DavidS - Jan 24, 2006 8:34:18 am PST #9858 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
It SERIOUSLY puzzles me, knowing what friends of mine go through with having people scream at them on the street, kick them out of bathrooms, etc, that she just magically managed to pass perfectly for a year and a half.
As noted, she wasn't in drag constantly. She did work closely with a professional makeup artist to find something to give her a five o'clock shadow that was easy to apply, easy on her skin and undetectable in daylight.
It was interesting that the woman she dated as a man still wanted to have sex with her after she revealed herself. Norah Vincent is a lesbian so it wasn't that surprising she pursued it.
eta: She had sex with a woman after she revealed herself. Actually three of the women she dated were interested in still pursuing it after she came out to them, but she only consummated one of them.
Dude. She didn't just pass, she passed, and went bowling. That is dedication.
She was on the bowling team for 9 months. Every Monday. She was terrible too and felt bad about dragging down her team, but they were always really supportive of her. The bowling team stuff was my favorite part - the most revealing and interesting and affecting. She came out to them after 6 months.
meara, I think you'd really like it.
DavidS - Jan 24, 2006 8:35:35 am PST #9859 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Billy Lee! Had at least one wife, I believe.
Billy Tipton actually. Yes, he was married for many years.
erikaj - Jan 24, 2006 10:56:02 am PST #9860 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!
I don't believe that she didn't know. But I am a big skeptical PITA who has in her top 10 favorite books one that says "Everyone lies." so YMMV.
DavidS - Jan 24, 2006 11:01:00 am PST #9861 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I don't believe that she didn't know.
Don't underestimate the power of denial. People see and believe what they want to see and believe. Also, many marriages are sexless.
P.M. Marc - Jan 24, 2006 11:33:47 am PST #9862 of 10002
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
Don't underestimate the power of denial. People see and believe what they want to see and believe. Also, many marriages are sexless.
Hec, didn't Tipton claim a war injury or something had left him incapable of doing things in that way?
Betsy HP - Jan 24, 2006 11:45:15 am PST #9863 of 10002
If I only had a brain...
How very Hemingway.
Betsy HP - Jan 24, 2006 11:46:22 am PST #9864 of 10002
If I only had a brain...
Wikipedia (salt at will)
He told each of his wives that he had been in a grave car accident that had left him with unhealed ribs, genital disfigurement and sterility.