The biggest difference between lesbians and gay men isn't
who we will sleep with. It's what we put in our mouths.
Take, for example, how we gather to eat. Gay men are notorious
for spending endless days/hours/months mapping out every
last detail of their next thrilling fête. You see,
everything has to be just...perfect. From the rented
napery to the rented "help," it's not unusual for the gay
host-with-a-control-problem to plop down a cool grand on
a simple barbecue.
Lesbians, on the other hand, seem more than happy to make
each soiree into a collective effort, hence the
girl-on-girl phenom that's known as
the potluck.
Keri Salim, a co-owner of the hippie-chic cafe Chez What?,
agrees. For six years, Salim's Alberta Street eatery (she
was one of the first to plant a stake in this "rediscovered"
neighborhood) has served the greater community and been
a welcoming nosh spot for hungry homos. She knows a lot
about food and lesbians.
"I think a lot of lesbians like to eat," says Salim. "It's
a comfort thing. And it's a nice way to socialize."
Salim thinks that all those platters of pita and hummus
taking up every last square inch of the coffee table/lesbian
resource center are actually there to distract, not attract,
conversation. But don't start getting it in your noggin
that these consumptive klatches are any less hot than a
gay men's tête à tête in the middle
of a throbbing disco.
Salim believes women are just more selective in the way
they choose to inimately interact with one another.
"I went to a potluck where we had a game where you had
to kiss a lot of women," says Salim. "I got to kiss a lot
of women who I had always wanted to kiss, and I even got
a girlfriend out of that party. But that was the '70s."
To help all you lezzies out, I have compiled some clip-n-save
potluck themes for you to use in the
coming months:
1) Raver Potluck: Throbbing techno, smart drinks
and pacifiers stuffed
with hummus.
2) S&M Potluck: Cat o' nine tails, fishnet stockings
and hummus.
3) Lipstick Potluck: Mirrors, screenings of Basic
Instinct and The Hunger, and blood-red hummus.
4) Sex in the City Potluck: Airing of the
show that makes you psyched that you're gay, cigarettes
and hummus.
5) Performance Art Potluck: Melted chocolate, Kristy
Edmunds
and hummus.
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