Casa Susanna

I know I haven't posted recently but there is a good reason for that (this time anyway) in that I have been moving house which is something I do mean to post about shortly but before I do I wanted to get in a quick mention, before I forget, to a documentary I watched last week. 

Casa Susanna is a 2022 American-French documentary directed by Sébastien Lifshitz which takes a look at a refuge in the Catskills near New York which was a haven for crossdressing men in the 1950s and 1960s. The documentary tells the story with contributions from some of the participants, now in their 80s and some of which have since transitioned, alongside those from relatives as a group returns to the now dilapidated resort to talk about what it meant to them. 

It's a fascinating look at what life was like for crossdressers back then especially when it was against the law. Throughout the documentary we see a variety of old photographs which apparently brought the refuge to light after their discovery at a flea market and it's a shame we don't find out more about this aspect as it peaked my interest but to be fair that's not the story here. The vintage look of the photos also has an appeal of its own to me as you rarely see images of crossdressers from this time. 

How Casa Susanna brought people together is a wonderful story too in this day and age of the internet and so much connectivity. There was a specialist magazine that people put ads in and then gradually word of mouth got around the community about the place and it ended up drawing in people not only from the USA but other parts of the world. It shows how intoxicating it can be to find a safe space within which to be yourself and the lengths people will go to in order to feel like they belong if only for a few hours on the weekend. Sometimes the best feeling we can receive in any walk of life is that we are not alone and that someone else thinks like we do and accepts that side of us which, as I've said before, is something I wanted to do with writing this blog. 

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a full review but I just thought I would mention it as it was a fascinating look at a forgotten piece of trans history. Here in the UK, the film is still on the BBC iPlayer under its Storyville strand and if this short piece has peaked your interest then please try and track down the documentary. 

Promo poster for Casa Susanna (2022)

 

Check-Up #25

Ok, I've meant to update this for a while now and suddenly we're at the end of December and getting ready for the New Year. I may just go with the bullet points again for brevity's sake. 

• I've had an up and down couple of months. I went away for a few days in November and came back with a cold (nothing serious, not COVID or anything) but it just proved hard to get shot of so I wasn't feeling up to much. Before that though I went to a sci-fi convention for a nice couple of days. I was able to do some cosplay as well, rolling out my 13th Doctor and Star Trek cosplays. In the evenings I also had the opportunity to dress which was quite nice and I had some compliments which is always welcome (apart from the odd moment in which someone half-heartedly tried to steal a necklace from me). 
• I'm glad I had the opportunity to do more cosplay this year but it's something that, for me, the future is uncertain. I'm not sure if I want to keep going to shows as it can be lonely if I'm always going on my own. You do get used to it after a number of years though but then we also don't know how many years we have left. There are still a few I would love to do like the 10th Doctor, Missy, more Clara stuff, more Harley Quinn. Seeing Star Trek: Strange New Worlds this year I've been thinking about Nurse Chapel and also in the last month or so I've been thinking about the 14th Doctor's outfit as well. 
• I recently bought a couple of new skirts, one purple with a black pleather ring around the bottom and the other is an argyle patten in blue, black, white and yellow. I also bought a necklace in the shape of a key but I think that's about it for things I've bought recently. 
• Regarding fashion, I notice that argyle is quite trendy recently, tank tops are back and also large collars on dresses and jumpers. 
• One thing I have noticed is that nowadays when I go out or purchase tickets for events I do consider whether or not I'll be able to dress at them. It's really one of the first things that pops into my head. I did have an event planned for early December which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the ongoing train strikes here in the UK. Luckily though around the same time I was able to book up for a podcast recording and I was able to dress for that which I was quite pleased with. 
• I had a nice Christmas with my family in the end and got some lovely gifts. New Year's Eve is probably just going to involve me and the TV again and to be honest I've been a little down this past week due to changes at work and preparing to move house in January so unfortunately things probably aren't going to settle down for a bit. 

Finally, here's a Christmas caption I devised for a more slimline version of the Christmas advent calendar I usually oversee on Rache's Haven so I hope you like. 

A Sissy for Christmas (2022)

Check-Up #24

 Ok, I've been meaning to update this for quite a while. Nothing earth shattering has happened but I would still like to add a few things. Some bullet points, I think:

• Back to the wedding I attended a couple of months ago and I forgot to add that I was asked the immortal question by a teenager, namely 'why are you wearing a dress?' I just said that it was a wedding and left it at that. I did get serious dress envy at that wedding though, there were some gorgeous dresses I saw that day. Oh and on the flip side the groom thanked me for wearing a dress because it confused an elderly relative of his wife's that he didn't like. Glad to be of service, I guess.
• Went out to an event after work and this involves my aforementioned habit of deciding to change at work and despite the fact that I work in a large building I've come close to running into members of my firm on a couple of occasions. This time (striped top and blue skirt as you ask so nicely. Bare legs too so I was feeling bold but it was still summer) I saw a colleague waiting at a bus stop and so snuck down the road to cross over and make it safely into the tube station. Thinking he must have gone I made it into the station and onto the down escalator...only to see him going up the opposite one. How that happened I don't know but he never said anything so I think I got away with it. I swear it's like a Whitehall farce at times
• Went on holiday for a week and saw a dress in a charity shop. Nearly bought it but, as I was staying with my parents, I resisted. I did think of going back and had many visions of how to get it back into the house through maybe some system of hiding it in a bush or a bin or something and going back. In the end I did go back but it had gone. Always the rule of second hand shops, never leave it more than a day as it will almost always have gone. I did buy a nice dress before I went away though plus a nice necklace. 
• In addition, I am trying to resist buying everything I see and sometimes it's hard but I must try to consider what I really, really want. Which is the true lesson of the Spice Girls. Maybe. Today however ever I did some some great stuff round the shops but if only it had been one of two sizes bigger. Shame really.
• Brad Pitt wore a skirt so...that was that. The debate was reopened in the papers for a bit but that was about it. Not sure if it will change anything but it was nice to see such a high profile male celebrity choosing to dress differently.
• Saw Ed Wood recently. This is a 1994 film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Martin Landau which is based on the life of the famous B-movie director who was also a crossdresser. Perhaps best known as director of Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) he also directed early cross dressing film Glen or Glenda (1953) which I may give a look if I can find it. There's definitely something I like about the RP way Depp says "I like to wear women's clothes. I just feel more comfortable in them." I did think about doing a full review of this but I think the time has passed but I may do in the future
• I still watch most iterations of Ru Paul's Drag Race and the UK version has just started. Dakota Schiffer is the first trans queen on the show (the UK version anyway) and I must say her confessional outfit makes my little preppy girl heart jump. I always love the vintage queens especially if they go all 1960s and already I'm loving her outfits. 
• On a similar tack, I've been watching She-Hulk recently and the character of her paralegal Nikki Ramos (Played by Ginger Gonzaga) is also giving me severe outfit envy. Business wear seems to be a thing of mine and also makes my preppy girl heart sing. 

Quantum Leap #7: Liberation

 Liberation

(16 October 1968)

Sam is...Margaret Sanders, protesting parent

The Mission...Stop women's liberation protester Diana St. Cloud being shot and keep Margaret's marriage together whilst trying to open up her husband George's eyes to the inequality faced by women. 

This is another episode I fondly remember watching while growing up and it's another example of Quantum Leap tackling a big social issue. We open on Sam leaping into a protest and I love the way of Sam seeing his new host body in this one by him suddenly being handed a photograph (and one that will come back to haunt him). After some heckling the police break up the protest and everyone is hauled off to jail. 

It's here that things get a little muddy plot wise as it's Sam standing up to the aggressive police chief Tipton (Stephen Mills) that inspires protest leader Diana (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) to pursue more violent means of getting her message across. So much so that Sam's mission becomes the prevention of her shooting but in that case what was the original history? Did Diana originally reach that conclusion herself following her assault by Tipton in the cell? With a violent father in her past surely it was only a matter of time before she decided to take a more violent approach. Could this be a self fulfilling prophecy in that Sam had to leap in to set in motion the actions that he himself had to counter? It's certainly one of the messier situations he's been in. 

The final showdown takes place at at gentlemen's club in which the women's libbers stage a sit -in...except they don't sit and it's one of the most unpassionate protests ever committed to film. Margaret's daughter Suzi (Megyn Price) heroically saves Chief Tipton from being shot by Diana despite putting his life in danger in the first place by handing Diana the gun that she had bought. Sam gives a typical QL speech about the virtues of using the law to change things. To sit and talk instead of using violence. The ending to this scene is particularly interesting as Diana is led away by police still ranting and Suzi has regrets ever following her and it's at this point a lesser production would have faded to black but Sam takes Suzi aside and convinces her that there was nothing wrong with Diana's views, just her actions. In fact, following her release from jail, we learn that she still played a big part in the movement. 

The other plotline here is with Margaret's husband George (Max Gail) who is a more sympathetic figure than you would expect. He could have been made a misogynistic, bully of a man that Margaret and the kids would be well shot of but instead he's kind and caring (in his own way) but, like Sam, a man out of time. As Al points out, he was brought up a certain way and it's going to take a lot to change his whole way of thinking but there are signs that he is starting to understand. One of the ways he does so is with a little nudge from Sam as two people vie for a promotion at his office - Tipton's son Peter (Bill Calvert) and Evy (Jordan Baker). Evy, despite having seniority, is afraid to put herself forward due to looking bossy but she impresses George with her ideas after a chat with Sam. After this latest rewatch  there was an exchange from the dinner party that I rather enjoyed as Peter bemoans that his wife Dora (Mary Elizabeth Murphy) bought a set of encyclopaedias missing three volumes. "I don't need to know everything" she quips back. It's played a little ditzily but could be a nice zinger if spat back in the manner of either comedies today or the fast moving ones of the 1940s. I could certainly imagine Joey from Friends saying it. 

There are the usual jokes about Sam wearing women's clothes and never wanting to see a bra again after he burns his and he leaps out during an uncomfortable kiss from George which has potential for looking homophobic today but then the idea of kissing someone, male or female, you don't want to is a comedy trope. Al is also quite cringingly sexist when he first shows up in the prison cell. 

Overall I still like this story. Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell are as good as always with Sam being as harassed as ever trying to keep a number of plates spinning and makes a decent fist of trying to explain the issues of the time and societal changes from a suburban perspective. There are a couple of plot niggles as explained above plus the sit-in protest at the club is conveniently explained to George like it was common knowledge and also how did Suzi escape her locked room? 

As I write this, the long awaited reboot of Quantum Leap is set to air on the 19th September 2022 (the same day as the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II which is quite the juxtaposition for you) so there may yet be more episodes for me to comment on rather than the two I have left. although it has taken me nearly a year to sit down and do this after writing initial notes last November. We know from the trailers that the new leaper, Dr Ben Song, will definitely be leaping into a woman at some point, in particular a 1980s rock star, and it will be interesting to see how much of a Trans angle is put on things. There are elements in the original series which certainly felt like it could be further explored. 

Shulkie

Yes, it's another Marvel tie-in. 

Anyway, the new series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law dropped today and I must say I really enjoyed the first episode. A few years ago I did read the graphic novel of Dan Slott's 2004 run on the comic, Single Green Female, which I picked up in a charity shop and enjoyed it so much I bought a few more so I was really pleased to see this one pop up on Marvel's slate. Tatiana Maslany is a brilliant actress as anyone who watched the fantastic Orphan Black will know. I have also toyed with the idea of cosplaying She-Hulk as dressed in the black skirt suit of Jennifer Walters but I think it may be too much make-up for me. 

So as she's currently in the news here's a caption featuring the green goddess I did for Chelsea Baker on Rachel's Haven. I quite like it although I'm not too sure about the scream at the end. Feels a bit much now. Anyway, hope you like. 

Shulkie (2015)

Check-Up #23

On the hottest days of the year so far I attended a wedding. 

Now what was I wearing you may ask? Well I did end up wearing a shirt, tie and trousers but in the end it was my decision and not something I felt compelled to do due to the social situation plus there was a specific outfit I was thinking of doing. My friends are quite liberal and accepting and we were all in a big hotel out of the way so I did feel safe to dress a couple of times, mainly on the night before the wedding and at the reception. I wore my short summer dress I mentioned in a previous post and I did have some nice comments about it particularly how cool it looked on such a hot day although I was constantly trying to make sure it didn't fly up while dancing. I even had someone say to me that they thought that seeing me wearing trousers looked odd now. Always nice to receive some validation too. There were some lovely dresses on show that day as well and I got very envious. 

Speaking of which, I bought a purple maxi-skirt recently and I'm really liking it. I don't often wear maxi-skirts, mainly in summer, and I adore the pleated ones you can get but as of yet I only have meshy light green one. This one is made of a heavy material and is a bit hippyish but I'm liking wearing more than I thought I would.    

Finally, I did have another opportunity to dress at work on a recent dress down day (which are very rare) but in the end I decided not too. I do hear occasional comments from others that make me think it may not be that well received but I may be over-exaggerating slightly. Generally I think it would be ok enough so I don't know what puts me off but maybe it's the different way I think people will look at me if I do end up 'coming out', so to speak. I've been thinking a bit more about this recently and why it concerns me so much and I think that I've got to a point now where it's getting harder to put the genie back into the bottle. I used to think that I would be able to separate my feelings but as I've started to dress more and more especially in more social situations it has started to make me angrier when I feel that I can't because, I guess, that I've gotten so used to it now and myself like this. I used to think it was a secret I would take with me to the grave or that it was the next generation's fight and not something for someone like me but over time I've changed my mind. Maybe one day but then maybe it shouldn't matter as much as I think it does. 

The Capping Years: 2013

The caption I've chosen for 2013 is something a little different which is perhaps why I've selected it. Vancouverite over at Rachel's Haven asked for a twisted wishes type scenario.  There would be a gender change...but with a caveat. In this case you either have large, but fake looking, breasts, a large bum or the dress sense of a hooker once you are outside of the office. As you might be able to tell I loved writing the fashion part of this as I love messing with styles. Never done anything before it before and luckily this was well received so I was proud of it. 

What would you choose? Let me know in the comments...

You Make the Call: Working Girl (1) (2013)

You Make the Call: Working Girl (2) (2013)