Linsey Pecikonis serves up cupcakes, which some say are indicative of a return to domesticity by some bisexual and lesbian women. (Blade photo by Henry Linser)
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AMY CAVANAUGH
Friday, August 15, 2008
Cupcakes
are
on
the
comeback
trail
across
the
county
and
lesbians
are
displaying
an
especially
soft
spot
for
the
comforting
confections.
When
local
lesbian
night
A
Different
Kind
of
Ladies
Night
celebrated
its
fourth
anniversary
last
March,
there
were
cupcakes.
There
were
also
cupcakes
at
Dyke
Night’s
third
and
anniversary
parties
in
2006
and
2007,
when
Meaghan
O’Malley,
writer
of
the
blog
Queering
Domesticity,
baked
more
than
100
cupcakes
and
arranged
them
in
the
shape
of
the
leather
Pride
flag.
“I
decided
that
the
leather
Pride
flag
would
be
a
really
vibrant
and
impactful
layout,”
O’Malley,
who
prefers
the
term
“queer
lesbian,”
says.
“Each
cake
took
me
a
day
full
of
baking,
icing,
design
and
transport.
The
most
satisfying
part
to
the
entire
ordeal
was
the
black
and
blue
smiles
I
got
to
see
after
people
dove
into
the
icing.”
Cupcakes,
a
children’s
birthday
party
staple,
have
been
making
a
resurgence.
Beginning
with
the
success
of
Magnolia
Bakery
in
New
York
City,
other
cupcakeries
began
cropping
up
all
over
the
country
and
the
world.
Locally,
Georgetown
Cupcake
opened
in
the
spring
and
lines
stretch
down
the
block
on
weekends,
while
Hello
Cupcake!
is
slated
to
open
in
Dupont
Circle
this
month.
Rachel
Kramer-Bussel
started
her
popular
blog,
Cupcakes
Take
the
Cake,
in
December
of
2004,
and
two
friends
joined
her
blogging
efforts
the
following
February.
Kramer-Bussel,
who
is
bisexual,
says
that
although
there’s
“nothing
specifically
queer
about
cupcakes,”
she
has
seen
some
parallels
between
lesbians
and
the
little
desserts.
“I’ve
been
seeing
them
in
the
queer
community
at
gay
marriages,
and
there
are
also
Gay
Pride
cupcakes.
You
can
very
easily
decorate
them
to
match
any
color
or
theme,
and
do
things
with
them
that
you
can’t
do
with
cookies.”
But
there’s
more
to
the
queer
cupcake
relationship
than
decorating
them.
“There’s
a
segment
of
my
blog
readership
that
comes
from
the
indie-craft
world,
and
I
see
an
overlap
between
people
who
go
to
craft
fairs,
and
who
are
lesbian
or
bisexual,”
she
says.
“I
think
that’s
coming
from
the
‘do
it
yourself’
mentality.
We
can
make
our
own,
and
we’re
taking
back
some
of
those
traditionally
feminine
skills
by
doing
them
in
a
feminist
kind
of
way
…
It’s
kitschy
cool.
Even
though
cupcakes
are
very
mainstream,
if
we
make
Pride
cupcakes
and
bring
them
to
the
parade,
then
there’s
a
reclaiming
of
that
as
something
valid
for
women
without
it
capitulating
that
idea
that
women
have
to
cook.”
Sharlene
Rednour,
a
California-based
writer
and
filmmaker,
became
a
stay-at-home
mom
after
adopting
two
children
through
a
foster-to-adopt
program,
and
she
also
started
her
own
cupcake
company,
Sharlene’s
Babycakes.
“I
have
always
been
a
foodie
and
when
I
became
a
mom,
I
couldn’t
do
creative
things
by
myself,”
she
says,
“Baking
cupcakes
was
something
I
could
do
with
the
kids
and
I
always
got
a
lot
of
compliments
on
them.”
Rednour,
a
lesbian,
has
been
taking
orders
since
last
July,
and
has
made
cupcakes
for
both
gay
and
straight
weddings.
She
also
makes
them
for
parties,
filling
one
or
two
orders
during
the
week
and
a
bigger
one
on
the
weekend.
Rednour
got
married
in
San
Francisco
in
2004,
though
she
does
not
plan
to
do
so
again:
“I
don’t
believe
in
marriage
even
for
straight
people.
I’m
tired
of
jumping
when
the
straight
people
say
jump.”
Rednour
provides
a
slight
spin
on
Kramer-Bussel’s
idea
about
a
return
to
domesticity.
“We’ve
been
living
in
an
expert
world
since
the
’80s,”
she
says,
“Now
you
hire
specialists
for
everything,
like
a
fitness
trainer.
Craft
in
general
is
coming
back,
like
knitting.
I
think
that’s
feminism
—
I
don’t
need
someone
to
tell
me
that
I
can’t
make
a
cake
myself.”
But
if
lesbians
are
making
a
return
to
domestic
activities,
what
is
fueling
it?
“In
general,
I
think
that
lesbians
are
drawn
to
domestic
activities
in
the
same
manner
as
any
woman-identified
person
would
be
drawn
to
them,”
O’Malley
says,
“My
mother,
while
straight,
was
a
fantastic
role
model
for
me
in
that
regard.
She
was
a
powerhouse
career
woman
and
still
made
it
home
in
time
to
teach
me
how
to
cross-stitch,
sew
and
bake
delicious
oatmeal
raisin
cookies.
I
think
that
lesbians
are
slowly
being
drawn
back
into
the
domestic
sphere
because
we
have
found
that
supporting
ourselves
and
our
spirits
involves
both
careers
and
money
as
well
as
the
soft,
nurturing
appeal
of
fresh
cookies
and
homemade
curtains.”
Though
a
traditionally
feminine
activity,
crafting
and
baking
are
not
limited
to
femmes
in
the
women’s
community.
O’Malley
says
that
she
knew
a
number
of
butch
women
who
were
kitchen
managers
and
chefs,
and
this
motivated
her
cooking
and
baking
experiences
as
an
adult.
“It
inspired
me
to
shake
off
my
militant
feminist
view
of
domestic
activities
and
embrace
the
idea
that
all
of
these
domestic
things
are
just
motioning
us
toward
a
warm
and
comfortable
sense
of
home,”
she
says.
“Queers
often
lose
a
sense
of
home,
especially
through
the
coming
out
process
if
it
isn’t
warm
and
kind,
so
cultivating
it
in
adulthood
is
something
important
to
people
of
all
genders
and
sexual
identifications.”
But
lesbians
don’t
have
to
bake
to
...
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