‣ By Kellie B. Gormly Smithsonian Magazine About Edythe Eyde — also known as “Lisa Ben” — who founded America’s first lesbian magazine in 1947, when homosexuality was criminalized under state sodomy laws:
Eyde, a 26-year-old lesbian, recently moved to Los Angeles from Northern California to escape her oppressive family. She uses her free time from work to write about vice versaShe used carbon paper to copy the typed pages, printing only 12 copies of each issue in total.
The free, rather plain publication had no byline, no photographs, no advertising, and no masthead. It had a blue cover and consisted of typed pages stapled together. Ed passed it around to friends, who in turn passed copies around to other friends. She also mailed copies to a handful of people and distributed them in gay bars. Overall, vice versa Feldman said there were probably no more than 100 readers.
The magazine’s articles ranged from book and film reviews to poetry and readers’ comments. Cultural historian Rodger Streitmatter wrote in a 1998 journal article that Eid sometimes adopted a proto-feminist tone, praising “time-saving innovations such as frozen foods and electrical appliances that made it easier for women to live independently of men.”
‣ Reflecting on the 2016 treaty unveiling at the National Museum of the American Indian, scholar Olivia Chilcott (San Luis Rey Indian Mission) delves into the lack of federal recognition for California’s Native American tribes, including her own. Los Angeles Times:
I was honored to be a part of the unveiling and proud of my California Indian identity. But I also felt very uncomfortable as I was surrounded by delegations from federally recognized tribes. I felt uncomfortable thinking about how no one had invited me or my tribe to participate in this historic moment.
The treaty was a stark reminder to me that despite our negotiations during the Gold Rush, the United States does not recognize the inherent sovereignty of the San Luis Rey Indian Mission. I wondered why the museum had not informed my tribe of this, and I couldn’t help but think that my community’s lack of federal recognition might be the reason. I looked at the treaty and saw the X mark of Ka-wa-wish alongside the X marks of the signatories of Luiseño, Cupeño, Cahuilla, and Serrano. One hundred and sixty-four years later, I stood with representatives of the same group of people.
My experience attending the unveiling illustrates the complexity and contradictions of California’s unrecognized tribal status. The failure of the 18 treaties set the tone for the federal government’s long history of unfair treatment of California Indians and tribes. At the same time, the treaties became key to strengthening California Indian activism in the early 20th century, leading to contemporary tribes seeking federal recognition.
‣ ‘Science opinion’ may be dangerously close to ‘science journalism’, journalist Gregg Gonsalves and virologist John P. Moore write in nation Right now New York TimesRecent opinion pieces are undermining our understanding of the coronavirus:
The key point here is that we see a “science be damned” tone to both Chan’s commentary and the decision to publish it. No new facts are presented in the article. Much of the article is devoted to speculating about the role of the NIH as the primary funder of virology research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is only a small portion of the institute’s funding, most of which is provided by the Chinese government. Much of the article is also devoted to promoting a “cover-up” theory that depends on paperwork rather than virology. All of this plays into the hands of right-wing politicians who are eager to attack science and find scapegoats. Science moves slowly—it took years to understand the origins of HIV-1 in chimpanzees, for example—and the arduous process of scientific discovery is weaponized here to promote conspiracy theories and sinister motives that are not supported by evidence.
From our perspective as researchers who have been involved in AIDS research for decades, we view this as similar to articles that claim HIV is not the cause of AIDS. These claims were made by non-experts in the early days of the AIDS pandemic, but the New York Times never allowed them to be published – in fact, the exact opposite was true.
‣ South by Southwest has officially ended its sponsorship of the military after more than 100 artists withdrew from the festival in solidarity with Palestine, reports Selome Hailu type:
Several music groups have pulled out of the 2024 SXSW music festival over its sponsorship by the U.S. Army, citing the U.S. military’s relationship with Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza. Among the protesters was the Irish band Kneecap, who wrote that the “significant economic impact” of a boycott of the festival would be “nothing” compared to the unimaginable suffering that the people of Gaza endure every moment.
‣ Psychologist Robert Epstein delves into the myths surrounding our brains, including the fact that they are not actually computers and should not be treated as such. AEON:
Because there are neither “memory banks” nor “representations” of stimuli in the brain, and because all that is required for us to function in the world is that the brain changes in an orderly manner in response to our experiences, there is no reason to believe that any two of us will change in the same way in response to the same experience. If you and I go to the same concert, the changes that occur in my brain when I listen to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony will almost certainly be completely different from the changes that occur in your brain. Those changes, whatever they are, are built on unique neural structures that are already in place, each of which develops in response to unique experiences over a lifetime.
This is why, as Sir Frederick Bartlett argued in his book Memory (1932), no two people will retell a story they have heard in the same way, and their retellings will become increasingly different over time. No “copy” of the story is ever made; rather, each person is somewhat changed after hearing it—enough so that when asked about the story later (in some cases, days, months, or even years after Bartlett first read it to them)—they can somewhat re-experience the feeling of hearing it, though not in a good way (see the first dollar bill, above).
‣ Curator and writer Eunice Bélidor reflects on curating from the perspective of BDSM, hospitality, and consent in an article C Magazine:
In the context of curation, “hospitality” describes the premises and conditions that create, shape, and modify curatorial relationships.2 As the German art historian and curator Beatrice von Bismarck elaborates, hospitality can be seen as a mechanism in which each curatorial encounter acquires its specific meaning or, as I would say, its own dynamic. In the art context, hospitality extends a wide range of invitations: to artworks, artists, curators and critics, but also to institutions, visitors and different publics. These “guests” are initially unfamiliar with each other, but “the curatorial context provides space and time for all participants to encounter; […] Furthermore, it provides the means to meet a variety of needs, offers material support and sustenance, and satisfies people’s desire for recognition, respect, and attention.”3 This is merely a preface to understanding how hospitality works in a similar way to BDSM.
‣ Is pornography damaging our relationships? Let’s talk about it, by Michelle Santiago Corté cut:
“I’ve been in the most ridiculous lesbian relationship so far,” Olivia, a 22-year-old artist from New York, told me. “I put a lot of romance into situations that weren’t actually romantic,” as she compared her life to the pornography she read online. At its worst, Olivia said, pornography is like a “black hole” or “the void,” an endless stream of obscene passages primed to help readers escape reality. Olivia’s current partner also enjoys reading and enjoying pornography, and she knows that her relationship with pornography is healthy when she feels fulfilled and excited, rather than exhausted and “drained.”
“My friends and I always talk about how we expect too much from the books we read,” Tanya, a 28-year-old TikTok creator, told me. Tanya said she reads to feel what she’s not getting in her love life, to escape reality, and to comfort herself. When Tanya first started reading pornography on a regular basis three years ago, she wanted to read the most exciting book she could find. She began to rediscover the Fifty Shades of Grey series during the epidemic, and then turned to Three simple rulesauthor Nikki Sloane (the story takes place in the “illegal blindfold club”), and QB Tyler Unexpected Lovea taboo novel. “I think the ‘addiction’ of it comes partly from the thrill you chase when you first read it.” Now, she prefers to tell stories between sex scenes as much as during the sex scenes themselves, preferably “in a way that makes the heroine feel powerful.” The protagonist always falls in love and has great sex. “I like formulas,” she says.
‣ Imagine rejecting this CharliXCX album cover crochet masterpiece (during Pride Month…):
‣ A Man Will Be a Man, New York Edition:
‣ No need to fight over checks when you’re at the public library!
‣ Bronzino knew what he was doing:
Published every Thursday afternoon, Must Read contains links to art-related longform articles, videos, blog posts, or photo essays that are worth checking out.
