Lesbian Herstory Archives AudioVisual Collections

Mary Ann, October 15, 1988 (Tape 1)

Item

452.jpg

Title

Mary Ann, October 15, 1988 (Tape 1)

Subject

Prostitution
Lesbian parents
Lesbians--Identity
Lesbian Community--New York (State)
Lesbian and Gay Experience
Lesbian bars
Clothing
Discrimination

Description

Side A: Mary Ann discusses her experiences going out in public with her girlfriends, and the treatment they receive at restaurants, bars, and on the street. She mentions that their public treatment is very often instigated by the masculine way her partners are dressed; she herself has always been very femme. Mary Ann talks about her incarceration for robbery, and her time in a psychiatric hospital for depression and attempted suicide.

Side B: Mary Ann continues to discuss her time in jail. She took on a butch look, and began to receive small gifts under her cell door from femme girls in other divisions. She developed relationships with different girls that she worked with while in jail, and talks about lookouts, or "chickies," standing watch for girls who were with their partners in the showers or elsewhere. She then talks about her sex life with a long-term partner of 22 years, with whom she raised foster children. Later, she touches on her job as a dancer at Buffalo clubs, and a two-year period when she worked as a prostitute.

Creator

Mary Ann

Publisher

Lesbian Herstory Archives

Date Created

1988-10-15

Contributor

Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science, 665 Projects in Digital Archives Students

Is Format Of

tape cassette "SPW452 Mary Ann"

Extent

Side A: 46:32
Side B: 46:32

Medium

mpeg
wav

Language

eng

Type

Sound
Oral History Interview

Rights Holder

Lesbian Herstory Archives, Contact Designation: Maxine Wolfe, Contact Address: 484 14th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215, Phone Number: 718-768-3953

Citation

Mary Ann, “Mary Ann, October 15, 1988 (Tape 1),” Lesbian Herstory Archives AudioVisual Collections, accessed December 23, 2024, http://herstories.prattinfoschool.nyc/omeka/items/show/7.