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to “ real man" Cary Grant, while the predatory
instincts' of lesbians are shown in such class
ics as The Vampyres. D racula s Daughter,
and A ll About Eve. The lists go on and on.
Russo sketchily but colorfully describes the
evolution o f film censorship offices in reac
tion to explicit films of the 1910s and 20s, and
follows their development and eventual relax
ing of standards as societal attitudes changed.
Referring to films of the 7 0 s such as Deliver
ance, he writes that the “ love that dared not
speak its name became the lifestyle that didn’t
know when to shut up.
Som e space is devoted here to non-fic-
tional film, such as the early German Gay
Liberation film Different From The Others
(1919). Russo mentions Word Is Out near the
by Sarah Koehl
With The Sophie Horowitz Story, Sarah
Schulman, known for her articles in publica-
tins such as Womanews, and Gay Com
m unity Hews, has written a superb mystery
spiced with humor, paralleled only by Rita
Mae Brown in lesbian fiction.
Sophie is a reporter for the Hew York
Fem inist Hews, who turns down an assign
ment on go -go dancers taking over the sex
industry to investigate the arrest of Germaine
Covington, a radical feminist leader framed
for a bank robbery.
Laura Wolfe, Covington’s accomplice, goes
underground and cannot be found. But
Sophie, our tough-girl lesbian reporter, does
not say die! On the trail o f a “ scoop" Sophie
finds herself in more hot water than she had
anticipated
Disguising herself as a male New York
cabby and then cruising her suspect in an all
m ens’ leather bar with her lover, Lillian, she
finds that her lead has led her far over her
head. Readers will laugh, giggle, and, yes,
even chortle, as Sophie is followed through
the streets o f N.Y.C and propositioned in a
bathroom at Pizza Hut
Kids read books, too
by Sarah Koehl
How many times have adults faced shelves
o f children’s books and wondered how to
choose the right one for a child? Will the
children’s book that makes an adult laugh,
appeal to a child? Is there anything besides
Dr. Seuss?
G ood M orning Franny, Goodnight
Freinny, by Emily Hearn (W om en's Press,
$4.95) is a full color illustrated children’s
book, ideal for five to eight year olds. Franny,
the books' main character is wheelchair
bound, and in her rush to enjoy the beautiful
spring weather, bumps into the pigeon-lady
by the grocery store. A little girt nearby helps
Franny put the groceries back into the
pigeon-lady’s sack, and they becom e best
end o f the book, but many more documenta
ries about lesbians and gays have em erged
since The Celluloid Closet went to press.
One wonders what Russo would have made
of films like The Life and Times o f Harvey
Milk. Choosing Children, and Before Stone
wall. not to mention semi-fictions such as
Entre Hous. Personal Best, and Privates on
Parade.
The value of this book is not only in its
research and readability. Russo gives us also
a political perspective which views the film
scene critically but hopefully, examining the
attitudes, actions and reactions of directors,
producers, actors, reviewers, and audiences.
One of the most disturbing findings of the
book is expressed in his introduction, “The
Closet Mentality the expectation of people,
lesbian, gay. and straight alike, that his book
was intended to be an expose of gossip-
column dimensions.
“Are you going to use real peoples'
names?" was the question which Russo
heard most often when the subject of his
book was mentioned. This book is emphati
cally not a who’s who of lesbians and gays in
Hollywood, or of their work, although Russo
acknowledges the importance of recognizing
such figures and productions without the
stigma of libel (how long, o Movieland?) Yet
given that we have seen a general right turn in
this country since The Celluloid Closet was
written. Russo's observations are the more
relevant for big-bucks movies, even if the
Sophie Horowitz is a completely believable
lesbian detective. She's down to earth, she
drinks beer, lusts after her girlfriend, puts up
with an obnoxious male houseguest who
won’t leave her home and writes gay male
pornography, so she can eat
Schulman is not PC., (politically correct).
In fa ct her writing pokes fun at everything —
feminist politics, lesbian relationships, and
the detective story itself. But her best ‘Spears’’
lie in the dramatizations of wom en’s issues,
personified by Laura Wolf, the fugitive. Laura
is a member of “Women against Bad Things,"
which pickets all feminist events (as well as
non-feminist events) with long leaflets.
WABTers don’t seem to like anyone. But in
terspersed with Schulman’s acid quips there
are serious comments about what it is like to
be gay; be a woman; be poor, and be Jewish.
These small, yet necessary insertions are what
make the story believable and positive.
Schulman has mastered the style o f the
detective lingo and feeling. “My eyes glazed
over. My cheeks flushed. My skin turned cold.
My palms began to sweat Germaine Coving
ton — it must be her!'
Included in the novel are som e sensual
lovemaking scenes often absent from lesbian
fiction and detective novels. A classic scene |
in the book finds Sophie and her lesbian
photographer friend doing a story at a local
synagogue. However, as it is an Orthodox
synagogue, the women are only allowed to
seat themselves behind the curtain in the rear
o f the room. To their amazement they are all
alone and when the elderly devout Jewish
men begin their hypnotic prayers, Sophie and
her friend make love quietly (somewhat) be
hind the curtain. Sophie exclaims afterwards,
“ I have found my place in Judaism — behind
the curtain making love with girts.”
There are references to places in N.YC.
that were lost to a country hick like me, espe
cially specific comments about the lower
East Side o f N.Y., but natives will enjoy them
immensely. New York humor rides through
this story's humor, sarcasm and even the
politics.
What is it that detective novels bring out in
people? Is it the detective in us all who wants
to figure out the clues, track down the killer,
“crack” the case, and "get the girl," in the
end? A new genre of lesbian fiction has been
bom; the lesbian detective, and it’s a hot new
story no one will be able to put down.
friends. They play ball together at the park
and fly a kite. The next day Franny has to go
into the hospital to get some tests done, and
when she gets out she goes looking for
“T in g" her new found friend, but she cannot
find her. She finally finds a secret message
left by Ting in the sidewalk pavem ent made
just for her. Good M orning Franny is an
exceptional story for youngsters to dispel
myths about disabled children, as well as
providing multi-ethnic characters.
across the street She angrily shouts, “ Sorry?
You Gays! Why don’t you stay at home so the
rest o f us don’t have to see you?” And she
marches back down the street Jenny is hurt
and upset and asks Eric and Martin to ex
plain why Mrs. Andrews doesn’t like them.
Eric and Martin draw a story on the sidewalk
in chalk o f how they love each other, just as
Mrs. Andrews loves her husband. Jenny un
derstands, and tells them she wants to help
Mrs. Andrews understand their family. Jenny
Lives with Eric emd Martin is a beautiful
illustration o f gay men’s commitment for
each other, and their commitment of raising
a child. It also eliminates the myth so often
heard, that gay men and women, when pa
rents, will molest, convert and otherwise
abuse children in their care. In all honesty,
this book might be ahead o f its time — it’s
excellent
Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin, by
Susanne Bose he (Gay mens Press, $5.50) is
about Jenny, a girl o f about six or seven,
Martin, Jenny’s dad, and Eric, Martin’s lover.
They all live happily together and this is a
story about how they spent one o f their week
ends. On the cover o f the book the author
explains, ‘W hen you are grown-up you can
live together in different ways. Sometimes
w om en may fall in love with a man, and then
will live together with him, and sometimes a
man will fall in love with a woman and they
might live together. But women do also fall in
love with other women, and men do fall in
love with other men."
Originally translated from Danish, the story
incorporates actual photographs of the fami
ly’s day to day projects, and conversations. At
one point Jenny's mother com es for a visit
and they fix a picnic. At another, Eric and
Martin have a small quarrel and they explain
after their fight to Jenny, how they still love
each other, even if they get angry. At the end
o f the story they are all returning home from
the laundromat and Eric and Martin acciden
tally bump into Mrs. Andrews who lives
Just CIs Women, by Jeanette Caines
(Harper and Row, $3.95) is a full color illus
trated children's book for ages four to eight
Warm cheerful pictures illustrate the story of
a little black girl and her favorite Aunts’ trip to
North Carolina. This is a very special outing,
with no one to hurry them along, the two
travelers can do exactly as they please... stop
at roadside markets, and buy all the junk they
want take pictures in front of all the statues,
stop at fancy restaurants, pick mushrooms
for an omelette dinner, with coffee, and have
breakfast at night instead of the morning.
This story is a little girls’ dream com e true ...
she is treated for the first time as an adult as
an independent person, with her own dreams
and wishes.
marketable topic o f gayness is being brought
up in new releases such as Mass Appeal
(which after all deals with a ‘reformed’ gay
character who is celibate). Hollywood and
much o f the film world is revealed as a para
noid place beset with internalized hom o
phobia: "Almost all the people I spoke with
reacted as though they had never considered
a discussion o f homosexuality as anything
but potential go ssip ... To see homosexuality
as a dirty secret is something we learned as
children, both gays and straights. In Holly
w ood closeted gay people are among the
most uptight and uncooperative stumbling
blocks in the path o f positive gay projects."
A Very Touching B o o k — fo r little people
and b ig people by Jan Hindman (McClure
Books, $8.95) is m y favorite o f the bunch.
Without fear or dishonesty this book teaches
children the correct terminology and c o rrect'
responses to touching and other physical
contact Through this book we can learn to
talk about sexual abuse, a very hush-hush
subject with children in an open and easy
way.
The Book begins with a dictionary defini
tion o f touching and what it means. Each
paragraph in the book is beautifully illustrated
with a child and a description o f the para
graph. Th e book go es on to talk about feel
ings and touching, and go o d versus bad
touching. Bad touching is described as stub
bing your toe, being kicked, and-or touched
where and when you don't like it Two plages
o f illustrations describe wom en's b o d es in all
shapes and sies, as wed as men's, with specific
names for body parts children (and adults for
that matter) may not be familiar with. The
book then talks about go o d secrets and bad
secrets and relates this to go o d and bad feel
ings and touching, and why grownups wear
clothing covering up their “secret" body parts.
Finally, the book describes various situations
where the child reading the story has to push
a make-believe yes or no button as to whether
the situations in the pictures involves good
touching or bad touching. It finishes with a
note to tell all the readers what to do if “secret
touching is happening to them. This is an
excellent book and a must for all boys and
girls over three.
These books are available at A Woman s
Place Bookstore,2349SE Ankeny, 236-3609.
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