The Femme 2006 Cabaret Review

A friend of mine described the scene at the Saturday Night Cabaret at the Femme 2006 conference, held last weekend in San Francisco. After watching the performances from the balcony, she said, "All you could see was the top of people's heads and cleavage... lot's and lot's of lots and lots of cleavage. I've never seen so much cleavage in one place and time. It was astounding, truly astounding!" After Friday night's performances we were eager to sample more - femmes seemed to want to strut their stuff in front of other femmes and their allies...and plenty of folks were ready and willing to accommodate them!!

The Cabaret, put together by producer, writer, artist, and activist extraordinaire Krista Smith (aka Kentucky Fried Woman/Mrs. Miller), brought down the house again and again. Enlisting the talents of the Snow White and Rose Red diva duo of local favorite Erika (aka "the good one" Bubblinsugare) Rawlins and international Mistress of the Dark Rosie Lugosi the Vampire Queen as co-mistresses of ceremony was a brilliant move, they kept the pace lively and their antics encouraged the crowd to, ahem, beg for more.

And the crew, OMG, the crew made magic happen -- efficient, friendly, hard-working and the best allies this group of performers could have ever wished for.

Some stand out favorites were the over-the-top all-the-way-to fabulous -- Simone de la Getto, oh, and the Amazing Grace and the Flower Bois with their soooo adorable hand-made leaf mitts, and the Twilight Vixen Review, and the Miracle Whips, and Foxy Locks aka Kelly Carey who was a founding member of the Queen Bees, and Darrah de jour, and María Cristina Rangel aka Cherry Galette, and others I never saw before and don't want to insult by getting their names wrong...but ooooh, all of those tassels, the blue feather fans moving in hypnotic synchrony, and the bathing caps, and sparkly glittering adornments, and stiletto heels, and poetry, and rebellion, and intellect, and up-speaking feminine call to our desire and power, and all of that cleavage...did I mention the tassels...did I mention the power???

What was so impressive about all of these women is that they are in full possession of their sexuality and desire. There were no smarmy het men using them to build fantasy encounters that substituted for a pathetic, lonely reality. These women celebrate the power of woman-centered sexuality, reveling in the transgressive shove against a heterosexist society that marginalizes women's control of their own sexuality at every opportunity.

These women are real Patriots, the kind of dissenting, self-empowering radicals that have always been the ones to lead the masses out of oppression. They are the Patriots for they are the ones who articulate the problems of class, age, race, and gender, and call on the forces of liberation and love to heal and feed the world-weary souls of the oppressed and marginalized. I am proud to stand with them.

Special thanks to the sexy, gallant, charming, and sparkling T 'n' T. Ya just gotta love those old school butches...