Dangerous Minds always finds intriguing pop-cultural artifacts, and this cachet of drag-themed magazines from the 1960s are no exception.
In fact, Female Mimics magazine was the first-ever glossy publication to focus on cross-dressers. Launched in ’63, the premiere issue profiled Kim August, a popular drag entertainer at the East Village’s 82 Club who was renowned for her impersonations of Bette Davis and Judy Garland. (The publication would continue to run its campy content under different names until 1979.)
Related: PHOTOS: Revisiting The Golden Age Of Men’s Physique Magazines
The writing here is particularly curious, as it works overtime to present the subject matter through a supposedly “heterosexual” lens. For example, “Joi Fulnesse” was allegedly an autoworker from Detroit who would remove his work overalls to slip into gorgeous Dior creations after hours… or so the copywriter valiantly attempts to convince us:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Recently Joi Fulnesee’s wife gave him a Dior gown for a birthday gift. Joi spends his evenings gloriously gowned female attire. Can you imagine how surprised his co-workers at the auto plant would be?
Here’s a collection of highly vivid Female Mimics covers that span sixteen decades:
Discover more
DMRX
I can’t even get through the first sentence.
Good grief, Queerty! Type your stuff in a program with a grammar-check.
Cache — not cachet — which is singular, not plural, so that “are” should be “is.”
Come on, guys. This is ridiculous.
Stilinski26
The new layout of this website is really bad please change it to the older layout
canadalaw
Sixteen decades? the magazine lasted for 160 years?