Letter From Your Editors
Hello babypops!
It’s November now instead of October, because this month did not entirely go as planned. It’s cool though, everything’s cool, we’re all okay, I’m back on track, and look how cute everybody looked on Halloween!!!
2nd row: Sam, Carrie (with Keely), Carly, Yvonne, Cameron and Riese, Laneia
3rd row: Lizz Rubin (with Chrissie), Robin, Valerie, Chelsey (with Erin), Rachel, Jenny & Kristin
4th row: Molly, Kaylah, Mey, Liz Castle, Cecelia, Alaina, Carolyn (with Shannon)
We’re doing our first Reader Survey since 2014 and finding out lots of interesting stuff about y’all. Here’s a fun fact: A+ members are more likely than non-A+ members to be fans of Transparent, Orphan Black and The Fosters, but equally likely to be fans of Orange is the New Black, Empire and Steven Universe. How about that? I think that the highlight of this particular Insider is not going to be this letter, it will be the rest of the Insider. I have a nice strong feeling about that.
I hope you’ve enjoyed a plethora of A+ content this month, my friends. We gave you an intimate look into our various lists in Some Recent Priorities and released the Oh My Gosh A+ Podcast Number Fourteen and we gave you our astrological signs. I just made that last post available to bronze and cobalt members also because I feel guilty about this Letter From the Editor being so short!
I AM GOING TO PROMISE YOU RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW THAT WE ARE GONNA PUBLISH “SOME ANSWERS TO SOME THINGS YOU’VE BEEN ASKING US” BY THE END OF THE WEEK. SO THERE.
Love,
Riese / Laneia / Rachel / Yvonne / Heather
Top 10 Most Popular Posts From September 2016
These posts were hella popular last month.
1. Queer Women Take Over the 2016 Emmys, by Heather Hogan
2. “Eat Pray Love” Author Elizabeth Gilbert Comes Out on Facebook, by Heather Hogan
3. Baby-Sitters Club Creator Ann M Martin Is Queer, How Did I Not Know This, by Heather Hogan
4. AfterEllen is Shutting Down, by Heather Hogan
5. Here’s Basically Everybody Who Was In “The L Word” And Also Is Gay Now, by Riese Bernard
6. Satellite of Love: Queer Horoscopes for September 2016, by Corrina
7. Mara Wilson Knows Your First Crush Was Miss Honey: The Autostraddle Interview, by Audrey White
8. A Gay Girl’s Guide to Fall 2016 TV: Featuring All The Queer Lady Characters Who Haven’t Died (Yet), by Heather Hogan
9. Pop Culture Fix: “Heathers” Remake Has A Black Lesbian Heather and A Queer Director, by Riese Bernard
10. Gigi Gorgeous Is a Lesbian: Transgender Youtube Star Comes Out, Loves Her Girlfriend Nats Getty, by Mey Rude
Nine Important Excerpts From Editorial Conversations
Yvonne: I feel pressured to know what I’m gonna be for Halloween
Which I usually dont know until Oct 29
Heather: What’d you go as last year?
Yvonne: Selena
Heather: Oh yeah!
Laneia: Eli’s going as a version of a plague doctor so maybe consider that route
Heather: You had already made the bra!
Yvonne: Yeah I was thinking zombie Selena
Laneia: Plague Selena
Yvonne: Yes
Laneia: OR
even more obscure
A-Camp Plague Selena
Riese: Mmmhm that’s a good one
You’ll need a hickey and some Emergen-c
Yvonne: :sob::sob::sob:
Laneia: God so perfect
Riese: Can you start by asking her like, “Can I be frank?” and then talk about how we just really love her writing to death but also need her to turn it in
Rachel: Yeah I’m happy to be that person if we need
Laneia: I would give anything to see Rachel start a discussion with a writer that begins with “Can I be frank”
Rachel: Trying to figure out what my version of “Can I be frank” is
Maybe like “there’s some things I wanted to talk through with you”
Laneia: I don’t think i have a version of “can I be frank”
Maybe like “Hi hi!!!!!!!”
Which I hope they read as me having a psychotic break
Riese: I think mine is “soooooooooooo”
Rachel: That is absolutely yours yes Riese
Riese: Unless I’m feeling really riled up and then it’s “so!”
Rachel: Somehow “hi!” is a mixture of like frustrated/apologetic
Like when someone fucked something up but I realize it’s because I didn’t explain it well to them
That’s a “hi!”
Riese: Yes, it definitely doesn’t mean “Hi!”
Rachel: No
Not at all
Like how :-) means either “I loathe you” or “I hope you’re not mad at me”
Riese: If you really want to greet a person, you have to go with “hello + name”
Laneia: Yes
Riese: I think almost every emoji face is an apology of some kind
a wink is “sorry for being firm”, a smile is “silly me!”
Rachel: A smile I think is also “This is your fault but I am generously pretending it is not”
Riese: Yes
:-/ is the only really honest emoji face. That means exactly what it looks like, which is “ugh i’m sorry / i wish i could help / that sounds really uncomfortable”
Rachel: Well…
There’s also the range of “this is a great selfie” emojis!
Heather: Do any of y’all watch The Walking Dead?
Stef: Yes
Happy to continue reporting whether or not they bother to kill Tara every week
Heather: Thank you!
Stef: They let her kiss a girl once so probably they’ll kill her soon
Heather: That would be heroic to me in every way!
You are the hero, not the axe-murdering writers!
Stef: It was an arrow actually
Honestly Tara is like, “This IS what would happen. You survive the zombie apocalypse but ALL THE OTHER QUEER WOMEN ON EARTH DIDN’T.”
Heather: Rachel your new profile photo is very great!
Riese: I agree
Rachel: Oh thank you
Riese: You look resplendent
Rachel: :sun_with_face:
I wish I felt resplendent
I don’t think I have the plague but I woke up a real negative nancy
I will try to get posi in time for podcasting
Heather: Holy cats, Rachel! I read, “I woke up pregnant.”
Rachel: Haha
Heather: And I was like, “Well that’s one way to announce it!”
“I don’t have a cold but I am with child, so.”
Rachel: What’s the way they put it in the bible
“great with child”
Heather: Yes!
Rachel: “How are you today?” “Well, great with child”
Heather: Man I am so excited about the new Macbook Pro. Specifically I am excited that Stacy will buy one and I will inherit her Macbook Air which has never been possessed by the devil one single day of its life.
Yvonne: That’s exciting!
Your laptop is still possessed?
Heather: Sporadically
Every day is a new adventure!
Laneia: A winding road, you might say
Heather: How was Sheryl Crow not gay?
Laneia: Well
If you ask [redacted], she is gay, in her heart
same with Sandra Bullock
[redacted] had a type you guys
Heather: And probably Shania Twain
Laneia: Definitely
Heather: Riese how’s the feedback about camp on the surveys?
Riese: Well Heather you’ll be surprised to hear that everybody is in love with you
YET AGAIN
Heather: You say “in love” but what I think you mean is “drunk on Bitches Brew, literally”
Rachel: Laneia I tried to buy the nail polish you recommended but CVS didn’t have it!
Probably bc of lesbophobia
Laneia: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS LEBOPHOBIC SHITSTAIN WORLD
Also thanks y’all [for saying I’ve been especially funny lately], I think it’s the entire bunch of collard greens and the beet I ate for lunch
I feel my veins buzzing with whatever the hell is in collards and beets
Lately every time Megan says something exceptionally brilliant she’s like “it’s the fish oil, the omega 3s” and who am I to say she’s wrong
Riese: Can I make a playlist called “I Wish I Was Dead”
Laneia: Might not be the best idea for Mental Health Week
Riese: :-(
Laneia: I already read the phrase “circle back” this morning so does that mean I’m done
Heather: Yes, congratulations!
You’ll have to check with Rachel, but I think this means you can treat yourself to a mimosa and a bubble bath
Rachel: A mimosa bath, even
Riese: In my bathtub!
Heather: What a day!
Rachel: Mimosa twin birth
Laneia: Truly blessed
Rachel: Liquor in the XL bathtub: a cocktail for a twin home birth
Meet A New Contributor!
Get to know some of our newest faces.
Jen Deerinwater, Contributor
Website: jendeerinwater.wordpress.com
Medium: @jendeerinwater
Twitter: @jendeerinwater
Instagram: @jendeerinwater
Who was your first woman celebrity crush?
Alyssa Milano. I was maybe 6 or 7 years old and she was on Who’s the Boss? Of course I didn’t know it was a crush until many years later when I realized I was Bi. Mmm Alyssa…
Describe the worst date you’ve ever been on
I’ve been on a lot of dates and had so many awful ones that I actually started writing a book about them. I put two of my stories on my blog specifically to answer this question for you A+ readers. You can read them here and here.
If you were at a karaoke bar and you had to pick one song to sing, what would it be?
I loathe karaoke so the likelihood of me being at a karaoke bar is slim-to-none. To borrow a line from my step-dad when when my mom asked him to go craft shopping with her: “I’d rather be smeared with honey and tied naked to a fire ant hill.”
What’s your favorite thing on the internet today?
Obviously Autostraddle, but I’ve been using Youtube a lot lately to discover more Indigenous, especially Women, musicians. They’re not as easily found on apps like Spotify. Definitely check out Iskwe and Miss Christie Lee.
If you could only use one emoji for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Perhaps I’m showing my age, but I don’t have an answer for this. I’m 37 so I didn’t grow up with a smart phone, tablet, and laptop. I like to joke that when it comes to technology I’ve reached the point where I’m ready to start yelling at the kids to “get off my lawn and turn that racket down.”
What’s something you’ve been really proud of lately?
I’m especially proud of my Native Sisters, Brothers, and Relations for protecting the water from the Dakota Access Pipeline. By doing this they’re protecting the people of the Standing Rock Sioux and the Cheyenne River Sioux from further genocide and are asserting our rights as sovereign nations and for our self-determination.
Every day I’m proud to be Native. I’m proud to be a citizen of the Cherokee nation of Oklahoma. But right now I’m especially proud to be a Native Woman. With this, though, comes a lot of pain and a responsibility to help my community. Our Water Protectors are calling for more people to come to the camps to stop the pipeline. The only thing stopping the Black Snake from completion is our people.
I’m hoping to be on the way to Standing Rock this Thursday so that I can stand with the more than 300 nations that are there showing the U.S. government and oil companies that we have sovereignty, this is our land, and that our treaties and lives matter. While I’m there I plan collect stories from the people who are there and to bear witness to the state sponsored abuses that are occurring and to report them to the world. The world needs to hear our stories told through our voices.
I appreciate all of the support that I’ve received from Autostraddle in publishing my work and from the many amazing readers who leave positive feedback and share my articles. You all are amazing! I could use help now in getting to Standing Rock. Because I’m freelance I don’t have the same supports that writers for large publications have so I’m asking for help for in order to make my trip and reporting a reality. If you’re able to, it’d mean the world to me if you could help.
As always, keep reading and sharing. Wado!
Watching With The Stars
Stef: half the cast of oitnb came to see regina spektor (and are mostly standing next to hansen, who is very good at playing it cool) and lost their shit when she played that fucking song
it’s very cute
Alaina: of course they did
Stef: hansen and kayla currently trying to figure out how to ask soso, leanne and maureen for a picture
they’re not gonna do it
Mey: This is a lovely story
Kaelyn: so did they or didn’t they?
Mey:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLur_HcDQGG/Stef: look how cute maureen is out of costume!
kayla’s gf’s arm between soso and hansen
Mey: Yeah, Maureen’s kinda super super cute
Stef: they were very sweet. and very smol.
honestly a few days ago my friend asked if i could put those girls in the balcony “so the lesbians would leave them alone” :thisguy:
Mey: Jajaja
Now you are “the lesbians”
Stef: I’M NOT A LESBIAN
erasure
Mey: Hey, I let you sit at the trans woman table
Stef: and you erase me from the bisexual women’s table
Mey: Fair
Stef: did you guys know mey was biphobic
What We’ve Been Reading
Laneia: White Trash by Nancy Isenberg
Raquel: Love my Back by Merritt Tierce
Heather: Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell
Stef: A Girl And Five Brave Horses by Sonora Carver
Maree: The Bricks That Built the Houses by Kate Tempest
Erin: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Carrie: Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema by Anne Helen Petersen
Rachel: A Cup of Water Under My Bed, Daisy Hernández
Riese: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
SLACKERS
If you search “Kristen Stewart” in Slack, you’ll see 346 messages, many of which are written by Stef and Kayla. This month we found out why.
(For context, Riese had just explained a theory about how, UNTIL RECENTLY, Kristen Stewart was not only refusing to “go full lez” in life, but also managed to play characters who also stubbornly denied us the fruits of their sexuality, such as her character in the The Clouds of Sils Maria, which was very long and mostly about wind, land, and clouds. Although Stef thinks that The Runaways should not count towards that theory, Riese disagrees.)
Here we go:
October Retro-Reading
Some posts from previous [month]s Riese thinks you might enjoy.
It Gets Better: 23 Lesbians, 10 Animals, 2 Children, 1 Message (#itgetsbetter), by the team (2010) – Y’all we made a super-cute It Gets Better video. Much like life itself, I bet this video gets better with age as well. So many old Autostraddle faces in this one!
Laneia’s Team Pick: These Cashews, by Laneia Jones (2010) – This is the best post ever published in the history of Autostraddle.
Top 10 Things That Taste Good With Peanut Butter, by Riese Bernard (2011) – This is the second-best post ever published in the history of Autostraddle.
Coming Out As An Amorphous Weirdo, by Stef Schwartz (2012) – Did this essay change your life? Good news: it still can! Especially if you are like “am I queer or bisexual or what. WHAT.”
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Or How I Divorced Jesus and Learned to Love Sex, by Heather Hogan (2014) – Heather had been working here for like five minutes when she gave you this gift. Five mere minutes!
Were We Ever So Young On Halloween???
Big Boxes, clockwise: Yvonne, Carrie, Alex & Riese, Erin
Five Posts Rachel Can’t Believe You Motherf*ckers Didn’t Read Last Month
Lesley Nneka Arimah Captures Our Extraordinary Existence as Daughters of Africa, by Kari
HEY you should read this beautiful profile of writer Lesley Nneka Arimah, who in addition to winning the 2016 Caine Prize for African Writing Award has also recently colonized Colorado on behalf of Nigeria. It’s a super smart piece and will definitely make you want to read more of Arimah’s work, which I am certain will improve your quality of life overall, so this is really a win/win for you.
Public Personals: A Peek Inside the Queer Instagram Dating Experiment, by Erin
Herstory is one of the coolest instagram accounts or really things on the internet in general, Erin is a gifted weirdo of a writer who always makes me laugh and feel unsettling things and want to eat a bagel meditatively while I think about her ideas, and also these personals are cute and hot and amazing. ALSO if that’s not enough Erin has somehow slipped in like an 80’s lesbian dating flash fiction story in the middle of it? Read it!
Dapper Crip: Queercrip Encounters with Fashion and Community and Sins Invalid’s “Birthing, Dying, Becoming Crip Wisdom” Features Crip Art, Activism, Love and Liberation, by Tovah
This month we have been blessed by Tovah with not one but TWO different incredible and in-depth looks into artistic and community projects centered around intersectional experiences of disability: Sins Invalid, a performance collective that believes “disability justice must be born out of intersectional collective struggle, led by those most impacted by systemic oppression,” and the Dapper Crip project with DapperQ, which features photos and words from Kay Ulanday Barrett, QueenTite and Jax Jacki Brown. Check them both out!!!
Please Let Me Take A Seat: Solange’s New Album and Healing My Black Femme Self, by Ashley
Have you listened to Solange’s album A Seat At The Table yet? If not, get on it! You’re missing out! And then read Ashley’s gorgeous and sharply intelligent review and response about what Solange’s and other music has meant for her in terms of healing and wholeness.
I’ve grown accustomed to that fear; to the anger I feel. As I watch this year’s political proceedings or see Kylie Jenner wear cornrows, I can’t help but feel anything else. How can healing take place when I’m still trying to convince the world that my negative feelings are valid? That I’m more than an Angry Black Woman? I don’t know that I can answer that completely, but I do know that A Seat At The Table represents a starting point for healing my black femme self.
Law, Labels and Justice: A Look Into Cape Town’s Triangle Project and South Africa’s Gay Community, by Kari
Well dang, Kari talked to a bonafide constitutional law scholar about the Triangle Project, one of South Africa’s preeminent LGBTQI human rights organizations, about the status of LGBTQI people in South Africa! Are you really not going to read this? Are you???
Laneia’s Pick of the Month: A Fcking Himalayan Salt Lamp
Ok we need to talk about salt lamps. Do you have one? You should. Don’t fight me on this. Does a salt lamp produce negative ions that work to cleanse the air and make you feel more focused? Calmer? Less ‘polluted’?
Unsure, really.
But I do know this: they’re pretty, feel good on your palms, and give off the warmest light you could ever hope to create inside your home. Imagine a mini sun, one that’s much cooler to the touch than the actual sun, one that’s craggy and one-of-a-kind — that’s your salt lamp. Somehow, after you’ve sat with this lamp on your desk or your nightstand for a short period of time, you’ll begin to regard the lamp as a friend, along the lines of a well-meaning, silent mogwai. How does this happen? Is it the ions? Mind control? Will all of our salt lamps eventually crack open to reveal small alien creatures who’ll then eat our eyeballs and take over the world? I DON’T KNOW. I can only tell you that you do need a salt lamp. You have to get over whatever aversion you have to the lamp — it’s trendy, ubiquitous, too woo for you — and just purchase a lamp made of salt. Get the damn lamp. Get two.
Your Monthly Infographic About You
For some reason, people who visit Autostraddle also occasionally visit and engage with other websites on the very same internet. On our 2016 Autostraddle Reader Survey, we asked about whether or not you regularly visit any of the sites on a very long list of sites that we produced for you. This is the percentage of readers who reported that indeed they did:
Here’s a fun fact: A+ members are less likely than Non-A+ members to regularly visit Buzzfeed, Everyday Feminism and HuffPo, and more likely than Non-A+ members to regularly visit The New York Times, The Awl, and Black Girl Dangerous.
Oh, and here’s an infographic about the sites you used to read:
Here’s an additional fun fact — 65% of A+ members used to read The Toast, compared to 44% of Autostraddle readers who’ve never been A+ members. Conversely, 62% of Non-A+ Members used to read AfterEllen, compared to 50% of A+ Members.
Social Media Spotlight: Other Rachel
This month we found out there is another gay Rachel Kincaid on Instagram who is not our gay Rachel Kincaid. Honestly, it started to make us wonder how many other gay Rachels are running around out there in the wild, potentially masquerading as our gay Rachel. My girlfriend has two entire ex-girlfriends named Rachel, so I know for a fact that the abundance of gay Rachels is a real thing. Anyway, here are ten questions to ask yourself if you think you’re being hoodwinked on social media by a whole other gay Rachel who is not our gay Rachel.
#1 Where’s Dana Scully?
#2 Where are the other Autostraddle senior editors?
#3 Where are the photos of boxed wine, hmm?
#4 Where are the photos of cat feet beans?
#5 Where are the photos of Dana Scully AND cats?
#6 Does this gay Rachel hang out in haunted places?
#7 Does this gay Rachel have perfect hair, on even just a regular day at the grocery store?
#8 Are there tips to help you help yourself?
#9 Where’s the Male Tears mug?
#10 Where’s the fresh produce she GREW WITH HER OWN GAY HANDS?
American Horror Story: A-Camp
Context for the 95% of you that did not attend Fall A-Camp: This camp, Mey and other staff created a character named “Charlotte Jo” who was missing. There were “WHERE IS CHARLOTTE JO” posters all over camp. This all somehow related to the Midwest Gothic A-Camp dance theme. The truth was out there, somewhere, she just needed to be found. Also, there are two sides to the site we used at this A-Camp, connected by a tunnel. Also, there is a store called The Elegant Farmer down the road from A-Camp. If you want to know about Problematic Mary, you’ll just have to come to camp.
Mey: should i go back into that murder hospital tonight?
or rather, into it for the first time?
Stef: yes
film it
Mey: ok
Stef: charlotte jo could be in there
Mey: charlotte jo!!!!!!!
Stef: i love how camp was just like ‘hey this person’s missing but uh, we give up, anyway look it’s vita’
Mey: jajaja
Sarah: I looooved that you passed the torch to Vita that was such a cool moment!
Mey: we’re gonna crown a new charlotte jo at every fall camp
Stef: i like that it makes me a little uncomfortable
like what keeps happening to the charlotte jos
have they been in the murder tunnel?
this is a whole series of american horror story that i would watch
Mey: EXACTLY
Stef: lily rabe is the first charlotte jo
Mey: YESSSSSSSSS
can we please get lily rabe to come to camp
Stef: gabourey sidibe shows up like ‘ok what the fuck is going on here’
angela bassett can play trudy
Mey: jessica lange will be the pastor’s wife
Stef: sarah paulson will be THE elegant farmer
Mey: lady gaga will be problematic mary
Stef: evan peters as the guy in the kitchen we saw putting diced tomatoes in bowls with his bare hands with no gloves
Mey: jajajaja
Stef: hope you guys enjoyed those tacos btw guys sorry i didn’t tell everyone i was too busy crying
kaylah and i were frozen with misery
kathy bates as the snapping turtle
Mey: ppppplllllleeeeeaaaaasssseeeeeee
Stef: we need frances conroy and whatsherface who plays the hot maid frances conroy
connie britton as the ghost that haunts the murder tunnel or else erin won’t ever come back to camp
american horror story: murder tunnel
american horror story: cheese castle
Mey: american horror story: bare hand tomato bowls
Stef: IT WAS SO FUCKED UP
he would like scrape bits of tomato off his hands
into the tomatoes
Mey: nooooooo
Stef: he had gloves all the rest of the time
i know because i glared at him furiously the rest of camp
american horror story: well water
Mey: american horror story: cow palace
or whatever that main stage place was called
Stef: CROWN HALL
don’t you dare besmirch the name of that hallowed institution
Mey: WHATEVER
all i remembered were the cow statues
Stef: i can’t wait for jamie brewer to dj klub deer
i’m still dying about lady gaga as problematic mary
who’s gonna play heather hogan in eyeliner
emma roberts
Riese: can Chloë Sevigny play drunk me
Taissa Farmiga as Ellie I think
she can wear a wig
Lizzie Brochere as the a-camp postal service
Yvonne: I’m horrified by the whole tomato thing, i did not need to know this!!
Audrey: Welp, back to Alpine Meadows I guess. Or hell.
Riese: i’m pleased to hear about the tomato bowl b/c i believe maximum exposure to germs is the best way to become immune to disease
[later in the day…]
Sarah: I am very disturbed to hear about the :tomato: bowl. Ick.
Stef: well riese thinks it’s what kept us from getting the a-camp plague, except we all got it, so
Cee: i did not get the plague. i also did not eat any tomatoes. hmmm
Stef: oh i forgot to mention
this guy
as (carolyn’s wife) shannon
Carolyn: shannon would never shrug like an asshole like that.
Stef: listen i’m just trying to save the hair team some time and money
for what it’s worth i’d like to be played by Bartholomew
also
this guy is gonna play cecelia
