Margaret Cho took time out for Fenuxe to talk beauty, body image in the gay community and why Atlanta is the San Francisco of the South.

The incomparable comedian and actress was told by network executives to lose weight for her short-lived 1994 television show “All American Girl.” She subsequently suffered from anorexia and drug and alcohol addictions but came back in a big way in 2000 with a one-woman show, concert film and bestselling book called “I’m the One That I Want.” Hit albums and tours followed, including last year’s one-woman show “Beautiful”–a fresh look at body image as only Margaret Cho can do it.

Cho is busier than ever with her Lifetime series “Drop Dead Diva” (shot in Peachtree City) and her upcoming tour and album release for “Cho Dependent.”

Fenuxe: So you’ve officially moved to Midtown Atlanta. How do you like it so far?

Margaret Cho: I really like it. It’s different. I never thought about living here but now I have a lot of friends here. Being here allows me to have much more of a nightlife so it’s cool. It’s a great foodie town. I like Holeman & Finch, I go there a lot with the cast. I go to shows at The Tabernacle and I hang out at the comedy club at The Vortex, The Laughing Skull. Atlanta’s pretty social which is really great.

Fenuxe: You grew up in San Francisco and have seen a lot of LGBT communities in your travels. What is Atlanta’s LGBT community like compared to others?
Cho: It’s really gay. It’s like the San Francisco of the South, especially in Midtown where I live. It’s very politically progressive and queer and the entertainment scene is very indie, like with stuff like MondoHomo. There’s just a lot of stuff going on in terms of the queer community, even more so than I think in Los Angeles.

Fenuxe: How did growing up in a diverse community help shape your outlook about the gay community?
Cho: I think I really take it for granted. Equality and marriage equality…these things seem very common sense to me. But what’s great about the gay community here is that they don’t take those rights for granted because they understand the depth of homophobia and how much exists within the culture.

Living in Peachtree City last year, I noticed how much more homophobia existed. It’s not that they’re not nice; everywhere I went people were very polite and smiley and friendly. But if you ever got into an argument about gay marriage it would turn into a fight. I think people in those communities outside of Atlanta in Georgia are really afraid of disappearing, so they have a really hard time letting go of things like homophobia and the fear of nonexistence.

Fenuxe: So what was it about the message of “Drop Dead Diva” that drew you to it and what’s in store this season?
Cho: It’s really about triumph and self-acceptance and that to me was very appealing. So the script initially was very exciting and it continues to be great so I’m very proud of it. We’ve got a great beauty icon coming in this season, Cybill Shepherd, who’s a gay icon as well as a beauty icon. I love her and I really enjoyed working with her. We’ve got a lot of fun people coming up.

Fenuxe: Let’s talk about what the network executives were telling you about your appearance when you were on “All American Girl.” What did you learn from that experience as it relates to body image?
Cho: I think it’s really all about learning to have self-acceptance. I learned it the hard way and I had to really become anorexic and become super incapable of dealing with that kind of criticism, whereas now I just don’t accept it. Now I find a lot of strength in that self-acceptance and I’m hoping to encourage other people to have that.

There’s no way you can look at society’s standards of what beauty is as totally attainable for everybody, no matter who you are. So in a sense that ideal is impossible to attain, and you’re not supposed to attain it really because the ideal is only to keep us in a state of insecurity which will make us viable commercial targets—and people who are commercial targets in that way are women and gay men. It’s just a commercial ploy to get you to spend money on products, ideas, disciplines. It’s just all kind of an advertising trick.

Fenuxe: Was there a point in your life when you didn’t find beauty attainable?
Cho: Yeah, I was really chasing after something that didn’t exist. It was something that couldn’t exist for myself. I couldn’t ever be that thin or change myself to please whoever was in charge at the time, whether it was the networks or magazines or whatever. I just could never attain that ideal, and really trying to was a ridiculous pursuit.

Fenuxe: You explored the nature of beauty in your one-woman show “Beautiful.” What motivated you to tackle the topic?
Cho: It’s something that is interesting to me and something that’s valuable, and if I’ve learned something, I’d like to share that to help other people. Also you want to find topics that are relatable and interesting and socially important. The idea of creating your own ideal of beauty for people is a socially redeeming thing to push, so that’s why I like talking about that.

Fenuxe: Do you think body image issues affect the LGBT community more so than the straight community?
Cho: Oh yeah, I definitely think so because I think it taps into underlying fears that we don’t fit in anyway, so it certainly has much more of a detrimental effect. In the straight society there’s a level of acceptance and they take that level of acceptance for granted. Whereas in the gay community it’s apparent that that acceptance isn’t there, so we have to overcompensate another way. That’s why if you think about body image for gay men, it’s really unrealistic because there’s nobody that can maintain that kind of image. I think it’s really hard for gay men to feel good about themselves if you’re constantly trying to attain a physical ideal that’s not possible.

Fenuxe: Why do you think the LGBT community needs to feel beautiful?
Cho: It’s important to feel that we’re in control of any ideal, that we’re in control of what we consider beautiful and that we control the standards. It’s about empowering ourselves politically and part of that has to do with a kind of vanity. You have to be able to feel important enough to reach out across what society considers acceptable.

Fenuxe: So are you feeling beautiful today?
Cho: I do! I feel sweaty today too. Lately I feel sweaty here [in Atlanta] all the time.

Fenuxe: The heat is worse than usual this year, just ride it out with us! Thank you for joining us Margaret and we’ll see you around town!
*Margaret Cho stars in Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva” and hits the road in August for a 35-city tour behind her album “Cho Dependent,” closing the tour at The Tabernacle December 12th.Share This Page With Others: