Judith Masur - The Outwords Archive

Judith and her brother Richard Masur as children, being held by their parents in front of their childhood home, 1949. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judy playing with the hose in front of her childhood home, 1948. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judy posing and smiling, 1955. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judy planting a tree, 1959. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith posing in the Marin Headlands with the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, Sausalito, CA, 1976. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith on the wood swing posing next to Sara, 1978. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith dressed as Prosciutto the clown, holding a poster that reads, “Lesbian Clowns Are Serious About Our Rights!”, Washington, DC, 1979. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith posing and wearing a t-shirt featuring one of her drawings at the Old Wives Tales, 1980. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

The Masur family on their back porch, 1981. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith as part of the Mothertongue Readers Theater group at their music festival, 1981. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith at the Commitment ceremony, 1983. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith dressed as Prosciutto the clown, marching in the parade, 1984. Photo Credit: Cathy Cade. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith showing various watercolor paintings, 1995. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith performing as Prosciutto the clown, Mama Bears Bookstore, Oakland, CA, 1996. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

A portrait of the young Fat Lip Reader Theatre group. Photo Credit: Irene Young. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith sculpting her “Brain Surgery” piece, 2016.

Judith’s signed pastel drawing titled “A Breath of Spring”, 2008. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

“Happy ____!” from Judith’s Big Woman Postcards. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

“Leaping Woman” from Judith’s Big Woman Postcards. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

“Phone Call from the Folks” from Judith’s Big Woman Postcards. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

“T(w)o Women” from Judith’s Big Woman Postcards. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith’s “Moon Resting” sculpture. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith’s signed “Nebula” collage, 2005. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith’s small raku pot, 2016. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

A flier for the Yenta Surfer Dykes, 1992. It reads, “by popular demand: the Return of the Yenta Surfer Dykes at the Red Sea, a prose and poetry performance by the Jewish Women’s Writers Group. featuring: Elena Dykewomon, Jasmine Myrah, Judith Masur, Sabena Stark, and Susan Shulman. Saturday April 25, 1992 at 8PM, Mama Bears, 6535 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA, 510-428-9684”. Photo courtesy of Judith Masur.

Judith Masur was born on February 22, 1946 in Manhattan, New York. She was raised in Yonkers with her brother, the actor Richard Masur. From the age of five, she began drawing, which sparked a lifelong passion for art.

As a child, she enjoyed acting on stage but did not have the ability to memorize her lines. She was a high-achieving student who was selected for the prestigious Columbia Science Honors Project at Columbia University. She then went to Bryn Mawr College, where in 1966 she witnessed homophobic injustice from the college Deans, which radicalized her personal politics but also led to feelings of disillusionment with the college. Still, she graduated two years later, followed by a period of living overseas in Italy. From here, she embarked on many jobs, including selling gloves in the open market in Florence.

In 1976, Judith moved to San Francisco and started writing and performing at Mothertongue Readers Theater. She then went on to co-found Fat Lip Readers Theater – which runs to this day – and the Jewish Lesbian Writers Group. In San Francisco she started hand-drawing posters and flyers, drawing the logo for the Jewish Lesbian Forum, as well as a cover for one of Judith Stein’s A New Haggadah: A Jewish Lesbian Seder. She was also responsible for Big Woman Notecards, a series of greetings cards that celebrates body positivity. The cards, which started as black and white line drawings, were first distributed by hand at the Michigan Women’s Music Festival, then eventually all over the country.

In 1976, Judith came out after her first lesbian seder, after which she started a relationship with her first girlfriend. In 1977, she attended the 1977 Feminist Forum, after which she started volunteering at the San Francisco Women’s Building. She also attended two Jewish Feminist Conferences and helped with the rise of the Jewish lesbian movement. In 1980, she started teaching Italian to Jewish feminist lesbian therapist and writer Jessica Barshay, and a year later they started a relationship.

In the early 80s, she and Judy Freespirit co-founded the San Francisco Bay Jewish Lesbian Writers Group, for which she designed the flyers. Towards the end of the 80s, she attended a twenty-year reunion at Bryn Mawr College, where she successfully campaigned for the college to accept its large number of out lesbian alumni and increase visibility for the college’s lesbian students.

In 1998, Judith and Jessica’s 18-year relationship ended when Jessica died by suicide, after a long period of illnesses. After Jessica’s death, Judith started taking lessons in film editing at community college. In 2004, Judith released the highly-rated Hearts Cracked Open, a film exploring lesbian tantra.

Judith has donated extensive archives to the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York, the Bryn Mawr College Special Collections in Pennsylvania and the Bay Area Lesbian Archives in California. Her collections include a selection of her posters, flyers, films and writing relating to lesbian activism since the 1960s.

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