January 8, 1988 – Elvis’ birthday
"Why Elvis?
My first awareness of Elvis was when I was about five (1957) and my babysitter
would play his records and squeal, giggle and dance (Lois Shaffer, I bet
you’re playing his records right now). They could encourage me to
do the same and would even comb my very dark hair into a D.A. … Once
my mom, in desperation, got a a "pacheco’ to babysit (‘pacheco’
was a name for a Mexican tough, a word not lightly used and one I was
not allowed to say). His name was Johnny: he wore jeans, a tight white
a T-shirt, a leather jacket and a D.A. haircut. Obviously, he admired
Elvis as much as the other babysitters… I spent the entire evening
(till he put me to bed) staring at him in awe and admiration because he
looked like Elvis and I-was-in-LOVE! (If my younger brother had not been
there, who knows what I would have done – Johnny was definitely the
one in danger).
Elvis as a standard and the personification of masculine beauty must
have gelled into my psyche from then on. And let’s not forget the
effect of his music. Bacchus finds the Bachantes in the sleepy America
of the 50’s. Even the most aloof observer can’t help notice
that something wild was let loose when one watches Elvis in his earliest
appearances.
I chose Elvis as much for what he did for the great American vulva including mine as anything else. Did I come close to my ‘ideal’ of Elvis Presley through these poses? Yes, I came very close – I treated it like an acting job. I felt the make-up and the clothes were not just important to the appearance but also to the process or the magic. The critical detail was not the side-burns, but the shoes. Once they were on, I felt like someone else. As for how convincing it was to other people – ask anyone who saw me!"
Leasley Lowe
Winter 1988