Last Friday around midnight, as I was being entertained by Wang Newton at a Phreak N Queer event, I got a phone call from my father. He left a message saying that he was sorry to call at such a late hour but he was just watching the news and saw me on TV kissing some woman in front of a Chick-fil-A. He called to say he was proud of me for organizing the event and standing up to bigotry. It was very nice of him, but other than smooching a stranger on the cheek and holding a sign, I didn’t have anything to do with the event. But I did talk to one of the actual organizers for this week’s portrait: biologist, BBW model, musician and feminist blogger Jenn Anderson.
PGN: What do you remember about the place where you lived as a child? JA: I grew up in a small town in western New York. There were 57 kids in my senior class and it had a very small-town mentality. Everybody knew each other and knew each other’s business. And so I left right after graduation.
PGN: Tell me about the family. JA: My mom lives in the Philadelphia area now, my dad lives in the Rochester area and my sister still lives in Avon, where we grew up. We’re a little spread out but we’re still close.
PGN: Lots of places to visit. JA: Uh-huh. I’m going home next week for the corn fest, which is a big social event in my town. But it gives me a reason once a year to go see family and friends.
PGN: Is there a corn queen? JA: [Laughs.] No, but there was a guy I went to high school with that dresses up in a corn suit. It’s the funniest thing ever. But he’s not anywhere close to being a queen.
PGN: What clubs were you a member of in high school? JA: Oh my God, French club, chess club, choir, band, drama club. I was in a fire department band, the color guard, marching band, concert band. I even got to do a pips concert with the Rochester Philharmonic one time with the choir.
PGN: What instrument did you play? JA: Tenor saxophone and guitar.
PGN: Are you still interested in any of the same things? JA: I was in the Philadelphia Freedom Band for a while, which was really good for me. I was in the Chester County Community Band. And for singing, I was in the Philadelphia Voices of Pride and I have an audition coming up for another choir. And I’m actually still friends with my French professor on Facebook! PGN: Worst performing mishap? JA: So one time, we were doing the Helen Keller play “The Miracle Worker,” and I was playing her teacher, Annie Sullivan. And in this one scene I’m supposed to chase her, and I’m not even going to lie to you: I stepped on the hem of my 1800s dress and tripped myself in front of hundreds of people! I tried to act like I meant to do it, but I was limping for a minute so it was hard to pull that off. I tend to damage myself far more than other people. It can be very entertaining.
PGN: I have a talent for losing things without moving. I’ll be at my desk and manage to lose a stapler without leaving my chair! JA: I do that with pens. I stick them in my ponytail and then forget that they’re there. Later I’ll get tangled in a seatbelt in the car or when I go to change clothes it’ll get stuck on my shirt.
PGN: Who was your best friend? JA: It’s a three-way tie, but I’ll go with Leah. We’ve been friends since fifth grade and, it’s so funny, she was the last person I came out to and she was so mad at me because I didn’t tell her first. She lives near Baltimore and we’re still inseparable.
PGN: Did you go to college? JA: Two of them. The Eastman School of Music in Rochester for vocal performance: I was going to be an opera singer and then there were some circumstances that wouldn’t allow me to continue there. So I moved to Canada and all over the place from there. Then I enrolled in SUNY Purchase up in Yonkers.
PGN: What was life like in Canada? JA: I have to tell you, man, you pay more taxes but universal health care is fantastic! It’s soooo nice to be able to just walk in and see a doctor at any time, even after hours. It’s really great. That’s what I liked most. And Toronto is a really clean and gay-friendly city.
PGN: Was it nice not having guns so prevalent? JA: You know there are always crazy holdouts that have them, but it’s something that you’re far less afraid of. Though I was out with a friend one night and we got mugged. The guy had his hand in his coat so we were like, “Oh God, what does he have in his hand?” But some guy rode by on his bike, saw us and got off his bike and threw it at the mugger! Turns out, the guy just had a beer bottle in his hand, but it was scary. Fortunately, there are some seriously good Samaritans in Toronto.
PGN: Back to your family: one sister? JA: Yes, she’s two years younger than me and I love her to pieces. She’s incredibly talented. She was a wonderful gymnast until she got too tall. She’s now a licensed hairdresser but recently she’s started working in the business industry with a friend of mine. I’m so proud of her: She’s awesome. I’m excited to go home for the corn festival and to see her.
PGN: And what do you do now? JA: I have a bachelor of science in biology with a concentration in microscopy from SUNY Purchase and a double minor in chemistry and gay and lesbian studies, so I spend a lot of time under a microscope at Penn at the Abramson Cancer Center. I’m lucky that I get to work in a center that does cell-therapy vaccines for cancer patients.
PGN: And why gay and lesbian studies? JA: Well, at first I didn’t even know you could study LGBT issues. But it was pretty awesome. There I was, going to school for the very conservative field of science, and some of my teachers were very old-fashioned in the ways they spoke to women, so it was nice to have classes that helped break down gender roles and societal expectations and other things I’d never even thought about. It helps even now, since most of my coworkers are straight men. I’ll bring something up and they’ll say, “I didn’t even realize that was a problem.” Well of course you didn’t, because it doesn’t directly affect you. PGN: What are some of the other things you’re involved with? JA: I’m an organizer for Dyke March and I’m the Tuesday trivia writer for Blitztrans.org. I’m also a blogger for www.toughxcookies.com, a feminist website, and I also work with “Miss Representation” here in Philly. After I saw the documentary on the way women and girls are represented in the media, I really wanted to get involved, so I came up with the idea to do private screenings of the film. I’ll go to someone’s house to show and talk about the film for a small group of people and bring resources to show them how they can get involved.
PGN: I saw the film at the Stimulus screening, but for those who missed it, explain. JA: The film is about the sexual objectification of women in the media and some of the image issues and body shaming that comes from that. Some interesting and scary stats: Among youth 18 and younger, liposuctions nearly quadrupled between 1997-2007 and breast augmentations increased nearly six-fold in the same 10-year period. Also, about 65 percent of American women and girls report disordered eating behaviors. It’s crazy. Part of the problem is that most media is run by men: Women hold only 3 percent of clout positions in the mainstream media.
PGN: Yeah, I recall them saying that the U.S. is 90th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures. We only have 17 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives, whereas the equivalent body in Rwanda is 56.3-percent female and only 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are female. JA: Yes, so we’re working to get more women into positions of power in government and the corporate world, and also doing things on a smaller level with something as simple as pointing out things that are offensive to women through the “Not Buying It” program. We also have some great mentoring programs.
PGN: I’m not familiar with “Not Buying It,” but I know the “Get Real” campaign. JA: Yes, there was a 14-year-old girl, Julia Bluhm from Maine, who wrote to Seventeen magazine and asked them to print just one unaltered, non-Photoshopped photo spread per month, saying that the unrealistic altered photos made girls feel bad about themselves, and Seventeen said no. After a huge online petition campaign, they agreed that they would stop digitally altering the pictures.
PGN: Jumping topics, when did you come out? JA: I came out in high school, but not to my family. It was very difficult and I had to deal with some violence and abusive language and harassment. But I thought it was important to be true to myself, and I’m one of those people who’s kind of in your face about who I am. It wasn’t until I was in college that I came out to my family and it wasn’t awesome. But they’ve come around and they’re pretty accepting now. Though I’m not expecting to see them at any Pride parades or anything …
PGN: What was an incident you remember? JA: Well, I thought for sure that guys would be a problem, but it was the girls who got physical and abusive. I remember getting called queer and dyke and getting that “I know you’re looking at me” nonsense. It was all straight-up fear on their part, but I’m not going to lie, it scared the hell out of me as well. You’d have kids taunt you or drive past the house in the middle of the night and throw beer bottles. But I guess I never learned my lesson and I’d put myself in positions that, in retrospect, were not too safe.
PGN: Such as … JA: [Laughs.] Dancing with your butch partner in a straight bar in an Army town in North Carolina was probably not the best idea. I’m a little bit more aware now, but I’m still pretty sassy. I’ll ignore comments or say something back. I’m still not afraid. If something does happen, I know that I do have legal options and can report it to the police and bring attention to it. If all that comes out of it is that I become a statistic, it’s at least one more case spotlighting violence against LGBTQ people. It’ll be on record and counted.
PGN: Let’s end with some random questions: Favorite piece of clothing? JA: The dress I wore to the rally. I saved up so long for that dress and it was totally worth it. It’s a retro design with a full circle skirt and I love everything about it. Either that or fishnet stockings; I’m telling you they go with everything. I’m all about the pin-up era, the 1940s. I love the whole aesthetic of that period: It was so much fun. Especially when it’s updated with piercings and tattoos to give an edge to it. I love the mix.
PGN: Something you liked to buy as a kid? JA: After church on Sundays, my parents used to give us a dollar to spend at the corner store. They had those 5- and 10-cent candy bins and we made out like champs with that dollar! It was one of my favorite memories. It was all me and I got to pick out whatever I wanted!
PGN: If you were a Smurf, what would your name be? JA: Geeky Smurf. No one knows what an absolute geek I really am. I love science, I love “Star Trek,” I love anything on SyFy, I would rather read a book than go to a bar. I’m a geek.
PGN: I have two “Star Trek” episodes on my DVR right now, including the one called “The Host” where Beverly Crusher falls in love with a guy only to realize that he’s a symbiont using a host body. When the host body dies, he gets a new body but this time it’s a female form. When “he” goes to kiss her but is in female form, she says she’s not quite advanced enough for that. It’s a good one. JA: I love “Star Trek.” I wanted to make a T-shirt that said, “Tasha Yar made me gay.” And I totally follow Wil Wheaton on Facebook. He’s hysterical.
PGN: I liked Tasha Yar as head of security, but Seven of Nine in that skintight body suit was my gal. She didn’t make me gay but she confirmed it. JA: [Laughs.] I never imagined I’d be having a queer “Star Trek” conversation with Suzi Nash. This makes me happy!
PGN: Me too! Other hobbies? JA: I love doing crafty things. I love making things for people and I just taught myself how to knit, so my friends will be getting a lot of scarves soon. And I like to cook. I show affection by feeding people.
PGN: So speaking of affection, how did Dyke March end up organizing the kiss-in? JA: We were talking about the Chick-fil-A situation and decided we wanted to do something. There was a lot more that went into it than we thought there would be. In addition to organizing, there was a lot of questioning from the community as to whether or not it was an immature response and if we were impeding someone’s right to free speech. But we decided to go through with it because money from the chain was going to antigay groups that work to suppress gay rights. It was difficult, because we wanted to address the concerns of everyone while still being dedicated to action. We do our march every year, but we’re about more than that. We want to work with and support other protests and organizations. We recently worked with Kate Hinchey on the vigil for the two girls shot in Texas. I love being a part of the organization because it helps me be part of something bigger. It’s a place where I can help people other than myself.
To suggest a community member for “Family Portrait,” write to [email protected].