Archive for the ‘Life Commentary’ Category

Pride and Solidarity

Monday, June 22nd, 2020

It is Pride Month, and we were heartened to see the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 15, 2020 that affirms the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people not to be fired from their jobs because of their sexual orientation or gender.

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis by one if not four police officers. We watched in horror as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd cried, “I can’t breathe.”

No words more painful than those could we imagine.

Throughout history slow methods of asphixiation have been used against African Americans, Jews, queers, women and other despised minorities to silence their voices.

Silent no more, hundreds of thousands of protesters around the world have risen up to say, “No more.”

Black lives matter.

Be Mine

Friday, February 14th, 2020

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Christi & Nan wish you love and affection today and always. xoxo

Welcome Back! A Note from Christi and Nan

Monday, February 13th, 2017

Thanks for hanging in there with us as we move our site to a new web hosting company. The site is almost finished being rejiggered by our illustrious webmaster, new hosts and SSL folks.

The last few weeks have been hellish. Our web hosts of nearly 20 years were bought by a large firm that apparently didn’t realize there were (gasp!) adult companies in its purview. So after botching the server move for us and many other small businesses, the corporate wonks stepped in and suspended Fatale’s site.

That’s the story.

Some things still need tweaking–like, I can’t post pictures in here yet! But soon, soon.

We’re looking forward to moving forward during 2017 and happy to have you on the ride with us!

Summer Heat

Saturday, July 16th, 2016

It’s been sweltering where we are this summer…and air conditioning is something the two of us don’t like too much. Necessary now and then but yuck.

When you can’t open the windows for the wall of heat that comes in, all we do is dream of getting away.

And away we will go next week—to Upstate New York to a family reunion, then to the Hudson Valley for a much-deserved week of R&R.

One thing that air conditioning is good for? Sex in the summer! Sex in the sweltering heat.

Take Her Down pool kiss

 

 

 

 

A nice swimming pool, with cool water to douse all heat-induced summer sluggishness, works wonders too.

We hope you’re somewhere to get away from the heat and enjoy the respite.

Till next time, yours in good love and (air-conditioned) sex!

Nan & Christi
nan@fatalemedia.com
christi@fatalemedia.com

P.S. Hot fun in the summertime! If you never saw Fatale’s sexy wrestling flick, Take Her Down, there’s a great lesbian pool scene in there. Enjoy!

Orlando

Monday, June 13th, 2016

hydrangea-bush

We mourn the dead and pray for the injured from the attack in the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando.

Our Prince Is Gone

Friday, April 22nd, 2016

Prince

 

We were in Minnesota last month for Nan’s mom’s funeral. Nan grew up in southern Minnesota, then headed north to “the Cities” to the University of Minnesota.

From there she and Deborah Sundahl went to San Francisco, cofounded On Our Backs and Fatale Video, and the rest is history.

In our kitchen sits a little wooden plaque painted in blue with black letters: “Minnesota: A Place in the Heart.”

When visiting Minnesota, we always get a chuckle when we listen to The Current, because they idolize Minnesota’s two patron musician saints, Bob Dylan and Prince.

Who could have ever thought that Bob Dylan would outlive Prince?

The shock and sadness when we learned of Prince’s death defies description. Flu. And on the heels of David Bowie’s death, the sadness only deepens. Cancer.

Prince wrote the soundtrack of the early days of On Our Backs and Fatale. He wrote the sexy soundtrack of the lesbian bars where we danced and flirted and celebrated coming out to the likes of “Little Red Corvette,” “Purple Rain” and “1999.”

Four albums released in the last 18 months. The fight for his name and copyrights was settled. He went right back to fueling our imaginations with productivity and creative genius.

For that, thank you, Prince. We will miss you.

Nan & Christi
nan@fatalemedia.com
christi@fatalemedia.com

Taking a Break

Friday, March 18th, 2016

Christi Cassidy and Nan Kinney

 

 

 

It’s not just the publicity stunts of Donald Trump and Company that’s got us in a mood for a break. It feels like that moment of calm before March Madness and the Final Four. Easter—Peeps and Cadbury Creme Eggs, anyone? Baseball’s Opening Day.

Lots of other people must be feeling it too, because we’ve had a run on Bend Over Boyfriend and Bend Over Boyfriend 2.

Most people have been buying both to save 15%. It’s a good deal.

It’s been an eventful month for us, with a trip Minnesota to visit family, and that was lovely.

But we’re ready for a break too. What’s tickling our fancy these days? The classics, of course!

Till next time,

Nan & Christi
nan@fatalemedia.com
christi@fatalemedia.com

P.S. Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. If you’re curious, order the Bend Over Boyfriend combo set and save 15%.

P.P.S. See what LesbianLife.About.com calls “the best lesbian porn.”

Carol – or The Price of Salt

Tuesday, January 19th, 2016

Carol the movie

 

We finally saw Carol yesterday, based on The Price of Salt, a book we’d read long ago, under the pseudonym of Claire Morgan but written (we knew courtesy of Barbara Grier) by Patricia Highsmith, a favorite author.

For Todd Haynes’s movie, we were struck not only by Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of Carol Aird, but by the fresh-faced Rooney Mara.

“Forbidden Love” by Margaret Talbot, from the New Yorker, provides a nice background–to the book and to Patricia Highsmith.

Jeanne Cordova

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

Jeanne Cordova

 

RIP Jeanne Cordova, sexy butch activist who led the lesbian-feminist revolution in L.A. Founded the Gay Yellow Pages. Wrote a beautiful history of the time, When We Were Outlaws (Spinsters Ink, 2011), which won the Lambda Book Award for best memoir of the year. Dear friend and compatriot. We offer our condolences to her longtime partner, Lynn H. Ballen.

In Memoriam: Honey Lee Cottrell

Friday, October 9th, 2015

“Coastbound Train Rachel and Elexis"

“Coastbound Train, Rachael and Elexis,” 1985. Image by Honey Lee Cottrell. Among her well-known photographs is this powerful image of Rachael Williams (the first Ms. Leather) and Elexis that first appeared in On Our Backs.

You may have known Honey Lee Cottrell. For sure you know her life’s work as a photographer and cinematographer.

Honey Lee Cottrell passed away on September 21, 2015, of pancreatic cancer. She was 69. We lost a friend and compatriot of Nan’s from  the early days of On Our Backs and Fatale Video. She was one of the “core four” at On Our Backs, along with Nan, Deborah Sundahl and Susie Bright.

Deborah Sundahl wrote of Honey Lee: “The most influential photographer of the 1980s and ’90s in her innovative and original representation of lesbian sexuality. Her specialty was articulating the butch-femme of the 1950s for a new era of lesbians.”

Honey Lee filmed Clips, which featured “the first-ever-seen-on-screen authentic female ejaculation. Nan said, “She was right where she needed to be to get that shot, strong and steady to capture the event.” What an historic event it was, too.

Honey Lee was a force behind the scenes at Fatale and lesbian pornography. She chronicled the world of lesbian sexuality at On Our Backs, Fatale Video and beyond. Her subjects were open and honest with her, gazing directly into the camera’s lens.

What writers and academics refer to as “the lesbian gaze,” Honey Lee personified in her work. Her images were published in books and journals and shown in exhibitions and shows. Her work is archived at the Human Sexuality Collection at Cornell University. (Read the whole obituary, written by Brenda Marston of Cornell University, here.)

Self portrait.  2009.  Image by Honey Lee Cottrell

Self portrait. 2009. Image by Honey Lee Cottrell

 

We’ll let Honey Lee have the last word:

“The lesbian gaze meant that there was a contemplation,” she said, “a restraint, a sincerity and a warrior-quality. This lesbian look was compelling. While your heterosexual woman model might compel the rest of the world to look at her, a lesbian was addressing you.”

Until next time,

Nan & Christi
nan@fatalemedia.com
christi@fatalemedia.com

P.S. You can see Honey Lee’s work in Clips and some of her photos on Fatale Media’s Pinterest boards. Kitty Tsui, Honey Lee with tux and oar, as well as some others.