#jill gutowitz

Jill Gutowitz is a voice I recognize. She knows that New Jersey aughts life, a time of Z100 and gossip magazines and normalized homophobia. In Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays, Gutowitz breaks down what it was like to grow up in a time when queerness was great as long as it was for the male gaze, when otherwise being a “dyke” was the worst possible thing you could be, and what it’s meant to her to watch our pop culture shift from that to a generation of out queer pop stars, online lesbianism, and queerness being “cool." 

Gutowitz’s cultural commentary is funny, heartfelt, and earnest. She writes about why sapphics are so into "step on my neck” mommy culture; she writes about lesbian yearning and that time she was visited by the FBI for making an “Arya Stark” list of the senators who confirmed Kavanaugh. . I didn’t agree with all of her takes. She leans a little too hard into the idea that queerness is cool now, so we’re all ok. I struggle with the claim that insisting that celebs are secretly gay is fine nowadays because it’s no longer as big a deal to come out, and because the people doing the speculating are queer. I’ve ranted about this topic, and her arguments weren’t convincing. 

But all around, I really enjoyed this essay collection. It was funny and honest, Gutowitz baring her most vulnerable moments with a rich dollop of queer-ass millennial humor on top, digging into the gayest paparazzi photos of all time or picking apart her childhood desire to be a celebrity. It’s a vivid window into millennial queer culture as well as the current lesbian canon, and is relatable, touching, and a lot of fun. 

Content warnings for homophobia, emotional abuse, sexism, sexual assault/coercion.