EROW

I never faced up to the fact I’d one day have to acknowledge that David Bowie isn’t immortal. This morning that news hit me with all the power of a freight train. David has passed away aged 69, days after releasing his wonderful new album Blackstar. He was surrounded by his loved ones, and died peacefully. I am utterly heartbroken and am still struggling to accept that this is real.

I will be king And you, you will be queen

          𝐼 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓃𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝑒

I was quoted in the awesome Nona Willis Aronowitz’s story about the role watching Bowie in Labyrinth had in our childhood sexual awareness.

I really like her piece. It includes some great insights from women our age.

What I wrote was too long to use in its entirety (and I knew it would be) so here’s a cleaned-up version of the full text that I sent her:

I am part of a generation of people who, as kids watching David Bowie in Labyrinth, realized what sexual desire was for the very first time. We grew up watching Labyrinth on the VCR over and over. 

I have had this conversation countless times with people of all genders who are attracted to people of various genders. Bowie has turned us on since we were kids.  From bisexual women like myself, to gay men, transwomen, lesbians, straights, gender-fluid people; you name it. Some of us wanted to be him. Some of us wanted to be with him. Some of us wanted both. All of us knew that sparkly eye-shadow was involved.

From a very young age we could all tell that Bowie was desirable and dangerous. And yet somehow, there he was in our rated G movie, tempting us to sin. He appears in bedroom windows, sparkly cape flapping, luring us away from our boring ordinary lives because we are Special. I was always really upset that Jennifer Connelly’s character didn’t choose to stay with him in the beautiful Jim Henson fantasy world.  

Having an androgynous man as an early sex symbol is pretty significant, because it shows you there is more than one way to be sexy, and that it doesn’t have to abide by your assigned gender. If he can be sexy in eye makeup, then I can be sexy in a necktie. 

I didn’t mention ogling Jennifer Connelly because this was Bowie focused. 

“Oh! My peanut! Yeah, she’s my peanut,” Boyega adorably said on the carpet while talking about his chemistry with Ridley.