Page 6 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE May, 1989
Interview: Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel at CWRU All Ohio Lesbian/Gay Conference.
Dykes to Watch Out For
a
warm
Reception!
196 BY ALISON BECHDELL
OH! WHY, YES! I DO WORK WITH JEZANNA. I'M THE MERCHANDISING CONSULTANT FOR MADWIMMIN!
E
XCITED BY A STEAMY BOUT OF OCULAR FLIRTATION DURING A POETRY READING, LOIS SEEKS OUT HER
INAMORATA AT THE RECEPTION AFTERWARDS.
Photo by Mary Baldo
by Michele Smeller
Alison Bechdel, creator of the comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For," was in town for the All-Ohio Lesbian and Gay Conference in early April. So, I asked her to lunch. We decided on an East Side vegetarian restaurant.
I was pretty nervous, I must admit, because the first time I "met" Bechdel was at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. That, in itself, can be an embarrassment, but my situation was a little more complicated. I was in the middle of the worst case of the 'PMS bitchies' and in a terrible fight with my now ex-lover. Since I thought she'd recognize me, I disguised myself I wore clothes.
My costume must have worked. Not only did she fail to recognize me, but she couldn't recall the incident. Lucky me.
Despite my concern to re-present myself with more civility, Bechdel put me completely at ease. Maybe it was her cheerful smile. Maybe it was her warmth. I don't know, but whatever it was, I felt like Bechdel was the kind of person I would like to have as a friend. She was engaging and had this sparkle in her eye that even the trip from Minneapolis hadn't wiped away.
THERE SHE IS! WITH JEZANNA OVER BY THE WINE & CHEESE! C'MON!
MERCHANDISING CONSULIANT?! LOIS, YOU'RE A CLERK! LISTEN, EMMA, I REALLY HAVE TO GET HOME AND WALK MY DOG. LET'S GO!
LOIS, YOU SAID JEZANNA TOLD. YOU TO LEAVE THIS WOMAN ALONE! I DON'T THINK SHE'S GONNA TAKE KINDLY TO YOU FORCING YOURSELF ON THEM!
OKAY. LET ME JUST FINISH THIS. I'LL BE RIGHT THERE.
SIGN IT
•TO LORNA
WITH LOVE
SO YOU'RE A CLERK! THAT MUST BE FASCINATING!
LEAVE THIS TO ME, GINGER.
OH! WELL, IT HAS ITS MOMENTS. UM... WHAT DO YOU DO?
I asked her those typical background questions and discovered that we had much in common. Bechdel was raised in central Pennsylvania along with her two younger brothers in a "typically rural" environment. She left for a college preparatory school on the East Coast and eventually, she found her way to Ohio, where she graduated from Oberlin in 1981 with a major in art (surprise!).
When she moved to Minneapolis recently, she landed a job with Equal Time, a lesbian-gay community newspaper, where she is the production manager.
"[The job] is great for me, because it allows me the time to work. When I work, I literally lock myself in."
For the unaware, "Dykes to Watch Out For" is a comic strip that deals with the major issues of concern toof all things-lesbians. Her characters have managed break-ups, involuntary celibacy, unemployment, and interracial unions. The strip appears in the Chronicle.
"I think I'm about 30 percent Mo," Bechdel revealed when asked about the central character. "I know that I would have to write from personal experience for the strip to be genuine. So, I tried
JEZANNA! HI! FANCY MEETING YOU HERE! YOU KNOW MY HOUSEMATE GINGER, DON'T YOU?
OH. HI, GINGER. HI LOIS. I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE YOU AT A POETRY READING.
I'M A OH!UM...IM NOT CHEMICAL AN ALCOHOLIC DEPENDENCY I JUST HAVE A GLASS COUNSELOR. OF WINE NOW AND THEN AT, YOU KNOW, RECEPTIONS AND THINGS!
hard, at first, to make her totally different than me. I gave her glasses. But the longer I draw her, the closer we become."
"Mo is like a Charlie Brown or a Woody Allen," Bechdel continued. “No matter how extroverted you are, you find a little of Mo in you. She taps into all of our most basic anxieties."
As a child Bechdel primarily drew men. She reasons that this occurred due to women being defined as Other. In our society women are defined in relation to men, and their activities have little value. Thus, as a child, the people Bechdel looked to as character models were men.
"To get a woman, you draw a man and then add these drag elements. It wasn't until I came out that I could effectively draw women."
The future looks bright for the gang at Cafe Topaz and their creator. She's working on a calendar for next year and expects to finish another book in about a year that will include the strips she's now doing.
Bechdel summed it best when she said, "Comics
are my life. I can't think of doing anything else."
I don't know that we would want her to do much else. ▼
WELL JEZ, I THINK IT'S ALWAYS IMPORTANT TO TRY NEW EXPERIENCES. IT KEEPS LIFE EXCITING, DON'T YOU AGREE?
DON'T WORRY. I WON'T ARREST YOU. THAT'S A LOVELY EARRING YOU'RE WEARING.
I DON'T BELIEVE WE'VE MET! I'M LOIS!
EMMA! I HATE TO DRAG YOU AWAY LIKE THIS, BUT IF WE DON'T LEAVE RIGHT NOW, I'LL HAVE TO FACE FIFI'S REVENGE. NICE SEEING YOU, GINGER! GNIGHT!
CHARMED. I'M EMMA.
DON'T YOU WORK WITH JEZANNA? I'VE SEEN YOU AT THE BOOKSTORE
I'LL SEE YOU AT WORK TOMORROW. WE HAVE SOME SERIOUS CONSULTING TO DO.
Dykes to Watch Out For
The Wage
1989 BY ALISON BECHDEL)
52
JEZANNA, THE MORE YOU TELL LOIS TO STAY AWAY FROM YOUR FRIEND EMMA, THE MORE INTERESTED SHE GETS! YOU KNOW HOW LOIS IS! MENO
OFFICE
IT'S NOT THAT I DON'T SUPPORT EMMA EXPLORING HER LESBIANISM, BUT I'M DAMNED IF I'M GONNA PLAY MATCHMAKER FOR HER!
YEAH, I DO KNOW HOW LOIS IS? THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF HER RELATIONSHIPS IS THREE NIGHTS!/JUST DON'T WANT EMMA TO GET HURT.
UH-OH. DON'T LOOK NOW, YENTA, BUT THINGS JUST MIGHT BE OUT OF YOUR HANDS.
HI, JEZ!
I DUNNO, JEZ. EMMA SOUNDS. LIKE SOMEONE WHO CAN TAKE CARE OF HERSELF.
OFFICE
BOOKS
MAYBE. THE OTHER THING IS, I JUST DON'T WANNA GET STUCK IN THE MIDDLE, Y'KNOW? I'M TOO OLD FOR THIS EMOTIONAL TUG OF WAR STUFF.
OH. YEAH, I FORGOT YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH EMMA'S HUSBAND, TOO.
ου
AFTER ALL, I KNEW JEROME FIRST. WHEN I GOT TO COLLEGE I'D NEVER MET A BLACK ACTIVIST BEFORE. HE POLITICIZED ME! AND IT WAS THROUGH HIS CLASSES THAT I EVENTUALLY CAME OUT. I JUST FEEL A CERTAIN LOYALTY TO HIM.
JEZ, I'M GONNA TAKE MY BREAK NOW. EMMA & LARE RUNNING NEXT DOOR FOR COFFEE. I'LL BE BACK IN 15 MINUTES.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? THEY SEEM PRETTY DETERMINED.
HELL-BENT IS MORE LIKE IT. GUESS I JUST GOTTA LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE
LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE! ACCORDING TO YOUR STATISTICS, IT SHOULDN'T LAST MORE THAN THREE NIGHTS!
$5 SAYS LESS THAN
A MONTH.
WELL...I'MNOTA GAMBUNG KINDA GAL AS A RULE... BUT $2.50 AND YOU'RE ON.
Dykes to Watch Out For
LOIS TAKES A QUICK BREAK FROM THE BOOKSTORE...
GOOD COFFEE, HUH?
LOIS, I THINK YOU'RE A VERY ATTRACTIVE WOMAN! AND I'D LIKE TO SLEEP WITH YOU.
AHEM! YOU DON'T-COFF· FOOL AROUND, DO YOU?
GAK!
BREA SHIP 25
NO, BUT I'D LIKE TO
UM, JEEZ, EMMA... I'D LIKE TO SLEEP WITH YOU TOO... I'M JUST NOT USED TO WOMEN BEING SO DIRECT, Y'KNOW? I MEAN, THERE ARE CERTAIN FORMALITIES WE USUALLY GO THROUGH!
I DIDN'T MEAN TO SHOCK YOU. IT'S JUST THAT I'VE SPENT SO MUCH OF MY LIFE DOING THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE... NOW THAT I KNOW WHAT I REALLY WANT, I DON'T WANT TO WASTE ANY TIME.
1989 BY ALISON BECHDEL
EVERY MOMENT' IS PRECIOUS.
UH. JEZANNA
MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT YOU HAVING A HUSBAND AND TWO KIDS.
YES, JEROME AND I HAVE JUST SEPARATED. MY KIDS ARE 12 AND 18. JAMES IS STAYING WITH HIS FATHER AND AMELIA IS AWAY AT SCHOOL. SHE'S A LESBIAN TOO.
UH. HUH, RIGHT I DUNNO, EMMA... I SUDDENLY FEEL LIKE I'M IN A PLAY. ARE YOU FOR REAL?
I'M JUST BEING HONEST, LOIS. I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR GAMES. SO HOW ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT?
UH... FINE, OKAY.
70'CLOCK, DINNER AT MY NEW APARTMENT? HERE'S THE ADDRESS. I HOPE PIZZA'S OKAY. I'M NOT SET UP TO COOK YET
70'CLOCK. SURE... UM... SEE YOU THEN?
I'LL BE COUNTING THE HOURS.
BYE BYE.