SAVE FRANCES BEAN
"Frances will not be fetishized. Over my dead body. ... I'll move to Montana if I have to, not to be the martyr mother, but if it came to it, I'd give it all up."
-Courtney Love, 1998
Over a year ago, Tool's James Maynard appeared on MuchMusic wearing a t-shirt reading the phrase- "Save Frances Bean." Immediatly, NIRVANA and Hole fans worldwide began wondering- from what?

As the 6-year-old daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, she receives long distance adoration from her parent's fans- "she's so cute!" "I wish I was her baby-sitter!"- But with potentially disastrous results.

This year Courtney Love sold her Seattle home and moved to Los Angeles, a decision met with-of course- criticism from NIRVANA fans. Recently she began to express a major reason for her relocation- to protect her daughter from the 'fans' who still gather around the property, wishing to catch a glimpse of whatever mystery is held inside the hedges.

I have been horrified to find photographs taken of the backyard of the Seattle house- and objectively, Frances' toys. While the house was on the market, a picture turned up on the internet of a Hole fan standing in Frances' bedroom.

Controversy arose when a recent picture of Frances showed up on the internet, as the photo was private property of a friend of Courtney Love's. Hole and NIRVANA fans scramble for the rare photos of the child- who was included in a fashion magazine 'trend page' several months ago.

I feel that all this is desperately WRONG. Who Frances needs protection from is US.

Please use discretion when posting pictures of her online, and avoid being part of the demand for such things. Appreciate the sporadic references from Courtney Love in interviews. But have the courtesy to not ask for more.

Show your support of this 'campaign' by posting a banner on your web site, and most importantly, acting with restraint and logic to help give Frances the privacy she deserves.

Post your reactions for the world to see in my Dreambook: Read / Sign .

Essay written and first published fall of 1998.
By Katey Corrigan, please credit if reprinted.

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