I Am a Woman
by Ann Bannon
I found three of the Bannon novels next to one another on the "new" shelf at the library and snapped them up. Was that unfair? Perhaps, but I'll try to return them quickly.
I wasn't expecting much from Beebo Brinker before I read it, which contributed to how much I enjoyed it. I was trying to keep my expectations low for this as well (because---shockingly---I am totally fascinated with Beebo and I knew she was a more minor character), and was again surprised.
Sam keeps making fun of me for reading pulps, and I keep telling her that she needs to read them so she can at least understand exactly what she's mocking. I don't even know what I like about them, exactly. They make no bones about being trashy; they have an aura of cheapness and they are rushed and convenient and ridiculous in places. And yet I get very involved with the characters and completely wrapped up in their world.
I was kind of surprised by the heavy-duty issues (apart from homosexuality, of course) that got brought up.
The characters' attitude toward sex is surprisingly up to date, but their attitudes toward many other things are not. I think that's another reason I like these books: they remind me how much I don't have to face in my daily life, and how much has changed in such a short time. (Would I work as an elevator operator just to be able to wear pants?) While I am becoming reasonably confident in dressing as I prefer for work, attitudes towards (and protections for) transgender people are still for the most part stuck in the fifties. Things are starting to change, but here's hoping it takes less time.
Ooh, ooh, and now I know why a butchy friend has a dachshund named Nix!!