"LESBIANS" OF YORE
DEAR MERCURY—Sure, the Mercury is the best newsweekly in town. Is that saying much? It used to be so much better, though, when Julianne Shepherd and Katia Dunn were writing. And it's not just that they were lesbians that I add this question: How come all of your writers are white and straight? I get the white part because this is Portland, and I know the chick in the news department is a dyke, but she doesn't really count. Your sex survey showed that about 9% of your readers are queer. How come 9% of your writing staff ain't queer?
Nikki
BLOGTOWN READERS RESPOND:
[Whoooeeee! It was a good week for letters, with two particularly contentious ones. Not wanting to hog all the fun, we posted 'em on the Mercury blog, Blogtown, PDX, and let our ruthless commenters take a crack at them. Post your own at blogtown.portlandmercury.com.—eds.]
Dear Nikki, I don't think you really count either.
Posted by Dex
Why don't I count? I'm one out of the 11 here—which makes me exactly 9% of the editorial staff.
Posted by Amy J. Ruiz (formerly Amy Jenniges, the "chick in the news department," who recently married her girlfriend in Canada)
FAT GIRL SPEAKS
DEAR MERCURY—"Portland Fashion Issue, for Skinny People." That would've been the more appropriate title for your fashion issue [The Mercury Spring Fashion Issue, April 19]. Oh wait, there was one boutique that goes up to a size 16, but given that these days 16 is pretty average for women, that doesn't garner much applause. I mean, this is Portland, where the fat activism movement is very active, diverse, highly populated, and vocal, but hey, it's not like we have money to spend, or a need for anything but muumuus, right?
Sossity Chiricuzio
BLOGTOWN READERS RESPOND!
Designers do their hardest to create a range of clothing in various sizes and styles, and it's a very shrill and misguided thing to down them for their own personal decisions. Fashion is not a welfare program; it's an art.
Posted by Alex-Jon
Being fat positive isn't about telling people it's okay to laze around and eat bonbons all day long; it's about helping people to see that they are beautiful, sexy beings, no matter what their size, shape, or gender. It's about people not apologizing for the space they take up.
Posted by This.Nik
INDUSTRIOUS PORN
DEAR MERCURY—I can see exactly why these people are getting so flustered about this, but I think their efforts are nearly futile ["Sex in the City," News, April 26]. An adult-oriented business is hundreds of times safer for neighborhood kids than the internet. The adult-oriented business is just that. It is an industry, it boosts our economy. Leave the adult industry alone.
Lacey Kasten
A TERRIBLE MR. BEAN ERROR
DEAR MERCURY—Does your paper employ fact checkers? In the caption to the article about the Hugs in today's paper ["Your New Favorite Band?" Music, April 26], you write "Brits love them! (Then again, they love Mr. Bean.)" Um, sorry, no. According to a recent article in The Guardian, "British audiences have never really taken Bean to their hearts." So, who does love Mr. Bean? Pretty much the rest of the world.
Larold
CONGRATULATIONS TO LAROLD for setting us straight on the Mr. Bean tip. Larold wins two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, and lunch for two at No Fish! Go Fish!, where you may freely refer to your beans as "mister."
CHECK OUT OUR COVER!
This week's cover was won by LARJ CONCEPTS, who had the highest bid for "Design a Cover of the Mercury," in our annual holiday charity auction. They wanted to let you know about their newest venture, The Chesterfield Club (1101 E Burnside), a new bar opening on May 5th(4 pm-2 am). Check out their delish bar food and hot DJ nights, and while you're sucking down that tasty Cosmo, thank them for donating to our worthwhile auction!
