Current Wisdom
Jackasses, Assorted
CURRENT WISDOM Woman's Own During a historic interview in one of the most promising journals of feminist thought, actress Demi Moore, once an environmentalist stalwart, confesses to an act of...
...Boston Beck artist Jerry Beck is presenting a series of intimate tin-framed drawings created with Calamine lotion on carbon paper, which were inspired by a mystical experience he had with his mosquito-bitten lover in Mexico...
...Perhaps it is time to think about retiring that expression...
...We could be grateful, then, that we are hardly mentioned at all...
...For it is in our hearts that we know this truth: We have experienced the mystery of the feminine divine in our connection with this Diana, queen of our hearts...
...But you can't build an inclusive politics, even a politics of sexuality, on a sexier-than-thou platform...
...Some mornings, though perhaps not as much as many, I wake up at 3 a.m...
...But I never, ever worry about my abortions, and I never, ever think what might have been...
...To me it feels a lot like high school, a social universe divided into good girls and bad girls —and the division is still based on sex...
...SUPREME OF CHICKEN PRINCESS Ingredients: 2 boneless chicken breasts, 2 tbs...
...And it never will be...
...The schedule includes...
...and it still isn't...
...Sprinkle the baby asparagus on top...
...SEPTEMBER 19, 19971 Modern Review In the inaugural issue of an English journal aimed at that country's growing audience of idiots, an asseveration worthy of Hillary Rodham Clinton with the vapors of Eleanor Roosevelt over lunch: And let us thank God that we are English, for there is something peculiarly English about modern abortion, and that is why we can bravely claim to be, as the forcedbirthers snarl, the abortion capital of the 88 December 19 97 • The American Spectator world, no less...
...What inspired such an impassioned response from so many...
...Some people will object that it's not Helms's fantasies at issue but our own...
...or to spend our lives acting out Helms's fantasy of our lives...
...Alice Ansfield, founder and publisher of Radiance magazine, and Judy Freespirit, member of the legendary Fat Underground and chair of the NAAFA Fat Feminist Caucus, on the history of the fat acceptance movement • Marilyn Wann, editor of FAT!SO?, on the next generation of fat activism • Certified Health Care Assistant Pam Saari, chemist Martha Koester, and therapist Hallie Condit, on "Debunking Myths Around Fat, Food and Health" • Deborah Parks Satterfield, actress, writer and founding director of the African American large-size lesbian comedy troupe 4 BIG Girls, on "Mirror Mirror: A Self-Esteem And Body Image Workshop" • Mara Nesbitt, licensed massage therapist, on "Yoga for Large People" • Silva Tenenbein, critical semiologist, on "Fat Oppression" • Professional seamstress and pattern-maker Laura Woodruff, on "Sewing and Patternmaking For Fat Bodies" • Lisa Harold, coordinator of the NAAFA Diabetic SIG, on "Taking The Fear Out Of Diabetes" • Poet and novelist Susan Stinson, author of Belly Songs and Fat Girl Dances With Rocks, reading from her work • Filmmaker Lorna Boschman, presenting the world premiere of her feature length docu-comedy "The Seven Day Poodle Diet" It all happens November 7-10, 1997 at the Best Western Executive Inn in Fife, Washington (near Seattle...
...We remember this time without war, when both male and female were valued as equal, sexuality was accepted as a sacred gift, and the feminine spirit in all her mystery was revered and worshipped as divine...
...KAREN CYSON St...
...For 20,000 years before God was father, the divine spirit was known as Great Mother, Goddess Diana...
...A: Before I started on the movie, I did some real Navy SEAL training, part of which was called surf torture...
...I thought about it and realized I didn't actually want to go all the way back up the hill to my trailer, take off my wet clothes and start all over again...
...OCTOBER 20, 1997] Centre Daily Times (State College, Pennsylvania) The colossal Shelley Martin, whilst in mourning for Princess Di, heaves up an unanticipated paean to the Good Old Days: Who was this Diana, queen of our hearts...
...I cooked for the then Her Royal Highness on two occasions, and would love to be able to say that she descended to the kitchens to thank me personally—but she didn't...
...After that, I felt like I'd become a SEAL...
...She navigated a difficult life that many ordinary people knew...
...I was doing this and all of a sudden I thought, "Oh my God, I need to pee...
...But I write this article with a deep, deep desire to honor her honesty, integrity, and dignity...
...OCTOBER 1, 19971 Yellow Advertiser (Walthamston, London) As a special service to our readers we duly reprint Chef Peter Kay's historic TwoBoneless-Chicken-Breasts testimonial recipe honoring the deceased Princess Di...
...what a welcome antidote to American hysteria and Catholic guilt...
...And we felt something move inside ourselves in response to her—the divine spirit within each of us...
...A queerer planet would clearly be more fun...
...Abortion's not a dirty word, you know...
...SEPTEMBER 19,1997] Conde Nast Traveler One of the learned readers of a famed travel magazine nudges civilization just a few more steps towards Perfection: On a more serious note, regarding your response to Lloyd Morrison in the same column, please reconsider your use of the term "rule of thumb," which comes from common law— a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick, as long as it was no thicker than his thumb...
...a clothing swap...
...As the whole nation has shown, and continues to show, she will be greatly missed...
...Lesbians get to be good girls and bad girls simultaneously—bad girls to the Helms crew, because still homosexuals, and good girls in the Rotello set, because we have more corn-mitment than sex...
...Add the dry sherry, chicken stock, and cream, and simmer for five minutes...
...Things are particularly grim this second time around, however...
...OCTOBER 1997] The Nation Ms...
...Blessed be...
...Instead of finding a modern Shangri-La, she encounters crass commercialism, corrupt monks, poverty, ravenous monkeys, degenerate monasteries, and the destruction of the Cultural Revolution...
...plain flour, salt and freshly ground black pepper, z oz...
...When we saw Diana smile, coyly tip her head and reach out to touch the world's unloved, we saw "Karuna," the goddess Diana...
...Ronald Reagan's America...
...The program will also feature vendors selling clothing, jewelry, accessories and artwork for women of size...
...Feminism A notice on the Internet of a forthcoming feminist event of the utmost gravity: The 1997 West Coast Fat Women's Gathering will offer an exciting lineup of speak-en and performers, guaranteed to enlighten and entertain...
...We recognize, deeply love and long for connection with the feminine divine...
...a fashion show...
...and lie awake worrying...
...I am the same age as Diana, Princess of Wales...
...This travelogue of her pilgrimage to the sacred mountains of western China focuses on her attempt to find what remains of the once-flourishing spiritual culture...
...Writer and naturalist Gretel Ehrlich writes of ch'aoshan chinhsiang (Chinese for "paying one's respects to the mountain") in Questions of Heaven: The Chinese Journeys of an American Buddhist...
...I worry about money and my talent and whether I'll ever find anywhere to get my glitter lamp fixed...
...Diana exemplified "Karuna," the feminine divine: spirit of compassion, blessed mother nurturer, comforter and lover...
...Diana had something special, mystical, magical and wonderful that genuinely touched people...
...butter, a tbs...
...She struggled with depression, suicide, eating disorders and "low personal esteem...
...This dish is in her honor...
...SEPTEMBER 25, 1997] Alt...
...She became a fairy tale princess by kissing a frog who never turned into her Prince Charming...
...I chose life...
...I just raised my hand and said, "This is it, I'm peeing right now...
...Gently cook the breasts for four to five minutes each side...
...Julie Abraham, "the author of Are Girls Necessary?," strides onto the pages of the venerable Nation, where Dr...
...It struck me then, and even more so today, that not one of these people had a bad word to say about her...
...I'm only human...
...CURRENT WISDOM Woman's Own During a historic interview in one of the most promising journals of feminist thought, actress Demi Moore, once an environmentalist stalwart, confesses to an act of seaside pollution unknown since the squiffed captain ran aground the Exxon Valdez: Q: What was the hardest part of making "GI Jane...
...Place the chicken on a plate, add the chopped tarragon to the sauce and coat the entire breast...
...They put you in cold water, fully dressed, and make you stay there for ages...
...Diane Lawton, the bottle-blonde waitress heroine of that most lowbrow of English soaps, Crossroads, snapped at a wussy pal in the mid-Seventies (imagine a similar statement in the equivalent American soap...
...Cloud, Minnesota [OCTOBER 19971 The Enterprise (Falmouth, Massachusetts) From the arty world of progressive Falmouth, more evidence that Mother Nature is abundant with chiggers, poison ivy, and ravening mosquitoes...
...Marx is still a philosophe and Freud an oneirocritical genius, to make her own goofball contribution to the corpus of post-Enlightenment thought that constitutes The Left: Meanwhile, there is a debate shaping up within gay politics (and in The Nation) between newly ascendant gay conservatives and queers claiming the gay progressive political tradition for sexual liberation...
...The gay conservatives are frighteningly eager to improve gays out of existence by burying our sexuality under an avalanche of wedding photographs...
...a dance...
...The sniveling genius's parable introduction is included at no extra price: Sadly, I never had the honor of meeting Diana, Princess of Wales...
...On the contrary, they talked of her in terms of endearment...
...I'm all for a progressive politics of sex, but these choices make me nervous...
...Throngs of admirers brought flowers wrote poetic verses, gathered in the streets and shared tears, as the whole world joined in mourning her passing...
...I too left school without any 0-levels (unless you count a Grade 1 CSE in French...
...a talent showcase...
...Yet she was not ordinary...
...Are these our options: to fight for a place at the table at which Helms exercises his authority...
...private swim parties in the hotel pool...
...an interactive murder mystery performance...
...of dry sherry or white wine, chicken stock, double cream, 1 punnet of baby asparagus, finely chopped tarragon...
...Why would I? I made my decision...
...However, as I helped prepare food at these two functions, I worked alongside men and women who had almost daily contact with Her Royal Highness...
...and a chance to meet other women who share concerns about "life in the fat lane...
...The gathering is produced by SeaFATtle and endorsed by the Fat Feminist Caucus of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance...
...Mine...
...Although I have never suffered from any eating disorders, I identified totally with her feelings and emotions, her inner pain and what I saw as a deep desire to be loved...
...OCTOBER 6, 1997] The American Spectator • December 19 9 7 89...
...The support for the underdog, the dislike of high-flown moral debates about how many foetuses can dance on the head of a pin, the rollup-your-sleeveand-get-on-with-it common sense...
...Another ungentle reminder that we must get Mother Nature before she gets us: The Gallery Szent-Gyorgyi at 189 Main Street, Falmouth, is currently showing the provocative work of two challenging mixed-media artists, Amy Wilson and Jerry Beck...
...OCTOBER 27,1997] Evenings With Authors (Thurber Country Bookstore, Columbus, Ohio) An American Maoist journeys the "sacred mountains" twenty-one years after her favorite dictator became food for the worms, and what does she find...
Vol. 30 • December 1997 • No. 12
