forcing people out of the closet, lesbian loneliness, & Jill Gutowitz's essay collection Girls Can Kiss Now

Catching up on some hot take submissions from the past couple months, we discuss the politics of "coming out," especially within the context of online queer fanbases bullying celebrities out of the closet re: Kit Connor (whom we mistakenly call the name of an American Girl Doll in this episode lol), Becky Albertalli, and the misusage of the term "queerbait" in the current media landscape. Sunny complains extensively about the popular liberal queer assimilationist politics especially as mediated by the internet, and references the following books this episode— The Society of the Spectacle by Guy DeBord, Lesbian Choices by Claudia Card, The Persistent Desire: A Butch-Femme Reader edited by Joan Nestle, and probably some other titles. We talk about using the word "dyke," the loneliness of lesbianism and isolation of navigating the world as someone who doesn't center men, history of autistic lesbians, and online queer community vs. IRL lesbian spaces (and the lack of them.) We discuss an essay collection we both adored but that Renaissance connected with on a spiritual and psychic level; Girls Can Kiss Now by Jill Gutowitz. We talk all about the lesbian pop culture hilarity it compasses, as well as how earnest and genuine the writing feels. Jill, please come on the podcast! For media recommendations, Sunny really enjoyed watching an Irish lesbian film A Date For Mad Mary (2016) in their COVID quarantine era, and Renaissance raves about Tár (2022). Thanks for joining us for this episode! You can find us on Twitter, YouTube, Substack, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Letterboxd if you want to connect! Send your hot takes to [email protected] and support us on Patreon for bonus content and early access: https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace