PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ― About two dozen women drew a crowd of onlookers when they shed their shirts and marched downtown in Maine’s largest city to promote what they call equal-opportunity public toplessness.

It’s not illegal for a woman to be topless in public in Maine, and police said there were no incidents or arrests.

ok, as lesbian of african american decent, we are no strangers in the quest 4 equality. but do we want 2 b equal in every single way? honestly, i don’t want 2 b topless. if other womyn did, i wouldn’t protest it, or b angry about it but i don’t think i’d b all that cool about it either. then again, i’m also a member of this society and i’m sure that some of it’s rules have seeped n2 my psyche just like everyone else.

this week, i saw Erykah Badu’s latest video and it made folks mad. i thought it was great. didn’t have a problem with it. the artist in my loves it! nudity for art is all good with me. nudity in and of itself isn’t bad. it’s natural. it’s the common denominator between all of us. yet, i’m still caught up in the “ultra femme” thought patterns in thinking that my breasts are for function (feeding babies) but also sexual (low cut blouses turn my gyrl on). so walkin around with them all out for no reason just feels…. odd. that’s just me. is it different 4 studs? Studs don’t really use their breasts in the same fashion as femme womyn (stereotypically speaking, of course). would a stud walk around topless, like a man if she could? i wonder…

so it surprises me when i’m asked about why certain people are not represented. well, i thought i was being diplomatic by allowing the community 2 choose 4 itself. i guess i was wrong. or was i?

after getting yet another comment about the lack of “big gyrls”, i looked over the calendar again. i took note that the sizes of my models are in fact varied. it’s not polite 2 ask or reveal a woman’s weight, but i can say that the ladies in the Hard Candy Calendar start on the low end of the scale (myself), 2 very “healthy” sized individuals. take a second look and u’ll c.

then, i’m also confronted by people regarding the ages. ok, i admit, last year’s edition was full of youngsters but this year has a wider range. being a woman in her late thirties, i ain’t exactly a spring chicken. many of the gyrls are in their early 20s and the years expand all the way up to DJ Levi who just hit her milestone age of 50 last year. I even blogged about it. so i really don’t feel so bad. there is variety within the Hard Candy Stud Calendar.

now my question back is…how come so few see it? did i do a super awesome job with the pics? :)well that’s what i’m supposed 2 do right? or are people looking 4 a more natural, more “real” appearance? hey, if that’s what the people want, i can make that happen. we’ll c what next year has in store.

but in the mean time, check out Hard Candy 2010: AfroZodiac. it’s full of sexxxy studs (and femmes) of all shapes, sizes and ages.

The Femme:ME t-shirt does just that. With the word FEMME in bold and classy letters and the last two letters, ME emphasized in an opposing colour.

Available on a wide variety of products at Kinetic CArds & Gifts e-boutique at cafepress in the brand new Femmesational! section.

I Am Thankful 2 Be… Me
I am thankful for being black, female…
and gay
Three strikes against us. That’s what they say…
that’s what they say

They. With their mouths open and their ears closed
Seeing only what they want. Not knowing what they oppose

I am thankful for being black. Rich not in money but in soul
I am abundant in culture more precious than gold

I thank God that I have a deep and complex past
Reminded of it daily. It’s legacy lasts

Facing my oppressors regularly and growing stronger
I don’t have 2 bow down any longer

For the strength of my blackness, I am thankful.
I am thankful

I am so very thankful for being a wo-man
I can do things that no man can. No man

I am full of thanx 4 my ability to give life
I did so happily. Not once… but twice

Thankfully I am reminded of this gift on a montly basis
I gladly deal with the sexists as well as the racists

With a gentle nature, I accept the trials that I must face
Then resist with maturity, style and grace

I am thankful 2 b black and female.
I am so very thankful

Thankful I am for being gay
Relieved that I didn’t have to choose 2 b this way

Thankful for the chance 2 love thru more obstacles than most should

I can experience a bond with a mate that no heteroexuals could

Thankful 4 the courage 2 b out

Out of the darkness of the closet

Out of the restraints of shackles

Out from the illusion of the glass ceiling

Out….
and thankful

I am overflowing with thankfulness for being black, female…
and gay

Strength, grace and courage are not strikes against me…
No not in any way

Gifts that continue to give each day more and more
Black, female and gay are blessings that I am forever thankful for

every time i hear the phrase ‘real stud’ it usually refers to the most masculine of woman. the woman that has erased the most characteristics of being a feminine woman. i’m almost overwhelmed by the irony. the very idea that the less you are what u are the more real you are at something else. crazy stuff.

fact of the matter is. a stud is a completely made up concept. hell, we all know that if u look up stud in the dictionary, the first thing u read is that it’s a horse! then it’s a virile man. ok, so we hijacked the second definition and applied it stereotypically to a woman who has a specific style. that’s cool. honestly, i like the term stud. of course in other areas and groups they are butch, doms and aggressives etc. i even heard somewhere they’re even called machos. whaaa? *shrug* ok. whatever works. but the language is not what i’m discussing here. that’s another post for another day. right now it’s the definition of the terms. when referring to the stud what does it mean? and what makes her real? or not real?

what defines a stud varies from person to person. so there can’t ever be a real one because what’s real to one person gets diminished by another. if a stud does something that is considered “gyrlie” then she loses her stud card. but we all have to agree on what can safely fall into the general gyrl category and the gyrlie gyrl category. can a stud wear lip gloss, thongs? i say yes, of couse. cuz my definition is more of attitude and thought process rather than outward appearances. clothes are just clothes. someone else would beg to differ.

so i’m scratching my head every time i hear the phrase ‘real stud’. “she’s not a real stud” “that’s not a real stud”. well what the hell is? and who gets to make up these rules? it all seems rather silly to me. when a female is born. she’s a categorized as a female simply based on having a vagina. that’s it. before any examinations take place. before she is given a name. she comes from her mother and the doctor says “it’s a gyrl”. that’s it. she doesn’t have a swagger. she’s not lookin for her lipstick. so as time goes on, and that gyrl gets to know herself amidst this kooky society and ever changing culture. she creates a definition. simultaneously, the outside world gives her a defninition. sometimes they match sometimes they don’t. but if the general idea is the same why nitpick over lil details? how u gon tell someone they’re not real? if they’re standing b4 you. they are real. if it’s real to them. then that’s all that anyone can ask for.

I recently read a blog about a butch woman wrestling with her identity due to the fact that her breasts were growing. And I had heard on many occassion that someone said that butch womyn don’t have breasts. Once someone stated very specifically, that studs aren’t supposed to have breasts. Whaaaa? How the hell is that possible? I wondered. Studs are womyn. Period. Just cuz they identify with the more masculine side of their persona does not mean that their hormones cease to work. I guess that means they’re suppsed to will it to be huh? smh. Is this really what’s going on out there?

This idea that breasts aren’t supposed to be there suggests that studs are not supposed to be womyn. And anyone that deals with them aren’t supposed to acknowledge their womanhood. I immediately imagine these womyn’s bedrooms and ASSume that their pillow princess gyrlfriends lie there and pretend that her breasts and vagina don’t exist. My vivid imagination sees studs with bodies like a mix between ken and barbie. no real discernable features on their genetalia.

It seems that the emphasis on breasts are placed upon us by our male dominated society. Cuz apparently, we are going in the total opposite direction. But are tits completely unnecessary to the lesbian woman?
Now as much as I like a dominant woman, that doesn’t mean that I don’t like the “woman” side of her. And that does include the physical parts of being a woman. I love my gyrl’s cha-chas and would never be with a woman who taped her stuff down or didn’t allow me to appreciate them. Not the most important part of a woman but it is a part of a woman and therefore should not be ignored.