this woman’s work

Writing writing writing

Aug 15, 2002 Writing

I have two articles due in about a month that are kind of overwhelming me because it’s going to take so much to write them. One is for Brain, Child and the other is for Bitch.

The one for Bitch is for their Fame/Obscurity issue and I’m writing about reluctant groupies. This was my pitch:

In Columbus, Ohio in the mid-80s, it was pretty easy to be famous. First you had to be a boy, second you had to play the guitar. If you were a girl, the best way to get famous was to sleep with one of the famous boys. No surprise there. The thing was, most of us women were sleeping with those boys not because they were famous but because we were writers, artists and musicians in our own right and like meets like. Unfortunately, having a vagina was a definite drawback in getting noticed for one’s work and so we were reluctant groupies; obscure when by rights, we should have been famous, too.

I am proposing an article on reluctant groupies for the fame/obscurity issue. I will interview women who are/were famous in their own hometowns not because of their talent but because of who their boyfriends happen to be. I will discuss with these women their frustrations and how they cope with being in the shadow of someone else’s accomplishments. We will explore, too, the heady attraction of
being with someone famous even when we know that it detracts from other people’s perception of our own abilities.

So if you were ever a reluctant groupie and have something to say about it, let me know ‘cuz I’m interested in talking.

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