A Valentine's Day Story

Text and Photos by Fred Berger

To mark Valentine’s Day, a transgender model assumed the role of Cupid in this 1999 photo feature. This mythical theme is set against the backdrop of Lower Manhattan nightlife, centered around the alternative dance club Mother.

Keywords: Valentine’s Day, Cupid, transgender, LGBTQ, Manhattan nightlife, New York nightclub Mother, Pink Pussycat boutique

This horizontal color photo depicts a Cupid mannequin in the display window of the Pink Pussycat erotic boutique in Greenwich Village, New York City. The mannequin is male with a semi-short blonde wig, and he’s posed in a reclining position on fluffy white cotton that simulates a cloud. He has white wings and a white fur loincloth, and is holding a bow and arrows. He’s fairly muscular with a well-defined torso, and is visible from his head to his legs. Red drapes hang in the background.

This Valentine’s Day window display inspired the Cupid-themed modeling shoot featured in this article. It was at the famous Pink Pussycat erotic boutique in Greenwich Village, New York City in 1999. (Photo & Copyright © by Fred Berger)

In observance of Valentine’s Day 2026 and the concurrent launch of the official Propaganda website, this article portrays a phenomenal personage in the context of that holiday. The transgender model appearing in this article is very reminiscent of ancient Rome’s mythological deity Cupid, whose name in Latin means “passionate desire.” This much celebrated god no doubt owed his extraordinary beauty to his mother Venus the goddess of love, and his expert archery skills to his father Mars the god of war. As for the featured model, she could assume the guise of a Salome-like temptress or a Marquis de Sade-like tormentor, two contrasting personas that would be in keeping with the romantic and violent lineage of Cupid’s esteemed parentage.

This vertical color photo depicts a Cupid-like character with white feathered wings and a white loin cloth. The model is a transwoman with smallish hormone-induced breasts. She has short spiked blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a pretty face and a slim well-toned body. She is touching the hair on the top of her head with both hands and is viewed from the front. She is visible from the lower thighs up. The background is black with shiny reflections from a light stand. Across the top of the photo is the title “Propaganda” in all capital letters colored medium gray. Across the bottom of the photo is the title “Trans Valentine Cupid” in hot pink script style lettering.

Due to privacy concerns, I will refer to this individual by the pseudonym Nera, the feminine form of the name Nero, both meaning “black” in Italian. It has apt connotations of the bacchanalian lifestyle associated with the Roman emperor Nero, and also of nonconformity as in “black sheep.” She presented a formidable challenge to societal gender norms and taboos, which coupled with her innate allure and voracious appetites was the very embodiment of my concept of “radical beauty.” These traits served her well, whether go-go dancing at Save the Robots nightclub or working as a dom at Pandora’s Box house of domination. Not only was Nera one of my most audacious models, but she was also a gifted artist and performer, although she tended to burn the candle at both ends, sometimes to her own detriment.

This vertical color photo depicts the same person on the dance floor of the Mother nightclub in Lower Manhattan. She has a wispy combination of blonde and reddish hair with braided hair extensions hanging in her face. She wears a lose-fitting white pullover shirt with an abstract art print in pastel colors. She also wears extremely short pink shorts, black and white ankle boots, and a red watch with a wide watchband. She is bent at the waist and leaning towards the camera. Facing the camera, her eyes and mouth are wide open in an expression of surprise or excitement. Her hands grab her knees, and her legs are spread far apart. She is visible from the ankles up. In the background to her left is a young man who is dancing. He wears a black short-sleeve shirt and black leather pants. He’s handsome and slim and has short dark hair. The heads of four other club patrons are also visible in the background, but their faces are not fully visible. Behind them is a gray wall with the title HEROES printed in large black letters.

As a romantic deity, Cupid is synonymous with Valentine’s Day, a holiday that has its origins in the Roman pagan Feast of Lupercalia, which involved the whipping of women in the belief that it would enhance their fertility. Couples would then be matched through a lottery and would mate during the three days of the festival from February 13 to 15. For its part, the Catholic Church also observed February 14 as a feast day for Saint Valentine, who was martyred by the Romans on that day in the 3rd century C.E. In typical Catholic fashion, the pagan and Christian celebrations were combined into one, but without the heathen excesses.

It was on February 9 in 1999 that I paid a visit to Nera at her studio apartment in the Meat Packing District of Lower Manhattan, known for its gay bars, sex clubs, and street hookers. Mentioning that I had just seen a Valentine’s Day window display with a Cupid mannequin at the local Pink Pussycat erotic boutique, I proposed to her that she assume the guise of this deity for an impromptu photoshoot. With her enthusiastic approval, I immediately purchased the wings at the shop and returned to photograph her. Although spontaneous and hurried, the shoot yielded superb results. Nera had been in the middle of getting ready to go-go dance at the alternative nightclub Mother, one of her many downtown gigs. But for this graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, art always came first.

AGE NOTIFICATION: The model appearing in the topless photo of this article was over the age of 18 at the time that photo was taken. A photocopy of the model’s U.S. passport and a signed model release from that photo-shoot are on file with the photographer, Fred Berger.

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