Pastoral Counseling
Jungian orientation

V Psychoanalysis
Individuals & Couples

River Road,
Putney VT
802-387-5547

9 Center Court
Northampton MA
413-584-2442

Janet Langdon, Mdiv, NCPsyA

 

jlies|@sover‘.net

Feminist Therapy

V Leah Wittenberg

Licensed Mental Health Counselor-
Psychotherapy for individuals and couples

— 2 Church St.. Burlington (802)658-9590 ext.4

sliding fee scale

 

 . 1..
VERMONT MODULAR HOMES, Inc.

145 Pine Haven Shores Road ~ Suite 1205
Shelburne, Vermont 05482

802-985-5855

 
 

Building Vermont Dreams

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 

arts

 

BY Scorr SHERMAN

oel Perry is a funny guy. In his

frequent contributions to Instinct

magazine, Perry is sensible, acer-
bic, and sometimes, a little mean.
You ve probably seen or heard him
somewhere; he writes for The
Advocate, Frontiers and‘, according
to his publisher, two nationally syndi-
cated radio comedy services. Maybe
you ve even read Going Down: The
Instinct Guide to Oral Sex. If so,
gulp.

In his latest collection of
short essays, Thats Why They re in
Cages ‘Peoplel, Perry looks at popular
culture and gay life through his witty
gay eye. He writes about ordinary
things: his first Gay Pride Parade, vis-
its to his family, vacations with his
lover, and why a guy doesn t call
back. He also shares his more unusual
experiences: auditioning for To Tell
The Truth, interviewing male hustlers
for their blowjob secrets, and working

i the piercing booth at a Pride festival.

After the seventh time I watched a
steel needle go into a man s penis,
Perry writes, I had to remind myself
how I d gotten into this position.‘
Perry is one of those people
who see the funny things in everyday
life, and who can write about them in
ways to which we all can relate.
Here 5 Perry imagining how some of
TWO s best features might be helpful
if applied to real-life situations. A
similar feature is replay. When you
miss a line, you can go back 10 sec-
onds in time and replay it.'Boy, would
that come in handy on visits to my
parents. There s never a day I m there
that something doesn t fall out of their
mouths that makes me go What the
fuck? Like the time my mom asked
me, In your relationship, are you the

receptive one? Or another time, when ’

she said, I hope you never had unpro-
tected sex with Rock Hudson.

Perry also has some great
one-liners in this book. As someone
pathetically untalented in math, I espe-
cially related to this one: I see num-
bers the way Dali sees clocks.

But the best thing about
Perry is how joyful he is about his
sexuality. Being gay is a great and
hilarious gift, he observes.

Perry applies that positive
thinking to a consideration of gay
divas. Why are so many gays addict-
ed to screen icons like Judy Garland
and Marilyn Monroe? Afier observ-
ing that both women were talented, -
Perry concludes that they were ulti-
mately sad victims. I realize that we
gays identify with a similar sense of
being born with a sparkle and beauty

it gets 
aeragisf 
' as-aegis sees 
these 

 

“es; ataasa -

at??? writer Joel Perry

  

that was viciously mauled by a society
that seeks to destroy what it doesnt
understand. But is clinging to that
healthy?

A better addiction, Perry
writes, is Barbra Streisand. She man-
aged to seize the Hollywood machine
and make it do her bidding, even if
that meant foisting The Mirror Has
Two Faces on us. The point is, she
knows she s a woman battling a
misogynistic town, yet she doesn t let
that stop her because she knowsshe s
fabulous. We too are hated and fabu-
lous, so let s be like Babs and not give
a damn what anyone thinks either.

Perry s abiding optimism
and good will are best expressed in
the book s last essay We re Here,

We re Queer, Now What‘? Perry won-

ders why there are so many visible
gays now. If you believe in reincar-
nation, it s Why did so many gay
souls chose now to incarnate? I think
I chose now because it took
humankind this long to perfect air
conditioning and takeout. But what
about you?

Perry goes on, Could it be
happening because of the gift we have
that the world needs now? I know that
may seem like an odd concept. The
first time I heard it, I thought, Gifts to
the world? I didnt even know the
world was registered. But we do have
gifts. For instance, by our being differ-
ent yet thriving and having fun doing
it, we give others permission to be dif-
ferent and do the same.

Another gift we exemplify,
for those willing to learn from it, is
that despite living in a culture that
spends a lot of energy trying to tell
people what role to be, we shrug it off
and make up our own roles. A man
must be gruff and
tough. Wrong when >>
other people see us