Mazer Oral Herstory Project, "Jinx Beers Interview: Creating an Image", Jinx Beers and Angela Brinskele, Jinx Beer's Home, 2013/11/21
Interviewer: So Jinx, I heard from Wendy who’s an ex of yours and a long, long time friend, that there was–
Beers: Yeah, about 44 years, at this point, ago.
Interviewer: Wow!
Beers: I have a friend who’s longer ago than that. I have one friend who’s my ex from 50 years ago.
Interviewer: Wow. That’s amazing.
Beers: It’s amazing we’re still friends, yeah!
[laughs]
Interviewer: Well, Wendy had said that at some point in your life, you would never take off your dark glasses.
Beers: Yeah, that’s my motorcycle days! That was a period where I was living alone, at that time. And I had always wanted a motorcycle. And I in fact did get a motorcycle, and then I got a brand-new motorcycle after that. And if you’re going to have a motorcycle, you’ve got to have leathers–you’ve got to wear leathers, you know. So I had some custom-made black leathers, pants and jacket–the pants were all black. The jacket was black with red trim. My bike was red with black trim. So we were color-coordinated. And at that point, I became a bleached blonde. So now I’m all in black and red, I’m a bleached blonde–and what are you going to do? You’re going to put on dark glasses, right? If you’re going to create an image–and that’s exactly what I was doing was creating an image–and by the way, I weighed 112 pounds at that point. So I was–I’m not all that tall, about five-five-and-a-half, 112 pounds, blonde hair, dark glasses, black leathers, and a motorcycle. Now, if that’s not an image, I don’t know what is. But Wendy was correct. I got so into playing that role, that I didn’t take the dark glasses off even when I was indoors I would wear them. And particularly, we had some friends that we would go and visit, who had other friends, and sometimes we would meet. And one of them was a guy who was a child psychologist, and he worked for the school system. And he got really upset because I wouldn’t take my dark glasses off. He just didn't understand why I would want to wear them inside. And, of course, what his problem was–he couldn’t see my eyes. I mean, these were dark glasses, and he couldn't see my eyes. And as a psychologist, he wanted to be able to look into my soul. So to speak. So he got really, he’d get upset with me because I wouldn’t take my dark glasses off. And for probably a couple of years, I had that image–I’d ride my motorcycle to the bars. And when I met Wendy–that’s the image I was in when I met Wendy, in my black leathers and my motorcycle, and my dark glasses, and my blonde hair–which I kept until I became a redhead.
[END OF VIDEO]
"Creating An Image" as told by Jinx Beers, founder of the Lesbian News (LN) during an oral history for the Mazer Archives as part of our True Life Oral History Project.
Jinx has also written a book entitled, "Memoirs of an Old Dyke" by Jinx Beers. Buy the paperback by contacting us at http://www.mazerlesbianarchives.org/contact-us/
Buy the Kindle version at http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Old-Dyke-Jinx-Beers-ebook/dp/B0040SXY7Y
Sponsorship provided by UCLA Center for the Study of Women & UCLA Library. Find out more at http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/mazer/
Click here to open a PDF transcript.
Interviewee: Jinx Beers
Interviewer: Unknown
Transcriber: Aliyah B.
Transcriber: Dave P.
Formatter: Serena R.
Recording Date: Unknown
Release Date: December 1, 2014
Location: Unknown
Interview Length: 00:03:44