Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-05-04 14:16:36
- Update Date：2025-09-23
- Status：finish
- Author：Jill Gutowitz
- ISBN：1982158506
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Perfect for fans of Samantha Irby and Trick Mirror， a funny， whip-smart collection of personal essays exploring the intersection of queerness， relationships， pop culture， the internet， and identity， introducing one of the most undeniably original new voices today
Jill Gutowitz’s life—for better and worse—has always been on a collision course with pop culture。 There’s the time the FBI showed up at her door because of something she tweeted about Game of Thrones。 The pop songs that have been the soundtrack to the worst moments of her life。 And of course， the pivotal day when Orange Is the New Black hit the airwaves and broke down the door to Jill’s own sexuality。 In these honest examinations of identity， desire， and self-worth， Jill explores perhaps the most monumental cultural shift of our lifetimes: the mainstreaming of lesbian culture。 Dusting off her own personal traumas and artifacts of her not-so-distant youth she examines how pop culture acts as a fun house mirror reflecting and refracting our values—always teaching， distracting， disappointing， and revealing us。
Girls Can Kiss Now is a fresh and intoxicating blend of personal stories， sharp observations， and laugh-out-loud humor。 This timely collection of essays helps us make sense of our collective pop-culture past even as it points the way toward a joyous， uproarious， near—and very queer—future。
Jill Gutowitz’s life—for better and worse—has always been on a collision course with pop culture。 There’s the time the FBI showed up at her door because of something she tweeted about Game of Thrones。 The pop songs that have been the soundtrack to the worst moments of her life。 And of course， the pivotal day when Orange Is the New Black hit the airwaves and broke down the door to Jill’s own sexuality。 In these honest examinations of identity， desire， and self-worth， Jill explores perhaps the most monumental cultural shift of our lifetimes: the mainstreaming of lesbian culture。 Dusting off her own personal traumas and artifacts of her not-so-distant youth she examines how pop culture acts as a fun house mirror reflecting and refracting our values—always teaching， distracting， disappointing， and revealing us。
Girls Can Kiss Now is a fresh and intoxicating blend of personal stories， sharp observations， and laugh-out-loud humor。 This timely collection of essays helps us make sense of our collective pop-culture past even as it points the way toward a joyous， uproarious， near—and very queer—future。
Reviews
Macy
，
I didn’t love that it sometimes felt like a long-form tweet， but there were some really sweet moments and moments that made me stop and reflect about how far we’ve come in such a short （or so it feels） amount of time - both in the way we engage with the internet/pop culture and queerness。
Quincy Ratledge
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Beautifully written and hilarious。 Gutowitz' has a unique writers voice and brings both life and light into experiences I once thought be be isolated experiences。 Through her writing， I know that things like googling "am I gay？" are actually quite normal in the queer community。 Additionally， I loved all of the celebrity deep dives this book sent me on！ Beautifully written and hilarious。 Gutowitz' has a unique writers voice and brings both life and light into experiences I once thought be be isolated experiences。 Through her writing， I know that things like googling "am I gay？" are actually quite normal in the queer community。 Additionally， I loved all of the celebrity deep dives this book sent me on！ 。。。more
Alana
，
I am the target audience。。。and consider it reached。 As a lesbian millennial， the exploration of cultural themes felt all too relatable。 Gutowitz has a striking voice that verges on funny while also exploring fear， anger， and hopelessness， and somehow she manages to encapsulate the 2000s vibe （sprinkle in a little 90s and onward） in a stunning collection of essays。 Few parts fell flat， but on the whole I loved this book which made my lesbian heart happy。
Richie
，
content warning for sexual assault in chapter 10
Krystin Rachel
，
Book Blog | Bookstagram⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 4 stars Book Blog | Bookstagram⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 4 stars 。。。more
Cathrin
，
This book is everything I never knew I needed。 If you spent too much time on lesbian Tumblr in your early twenties this book is for you！
Hillary Friedman
，
cis gender lesbian lens on pop culture in the earlier aughts。
Athena
，
read for my book club， Sapph-Lit ！！！ i laughed， i cried， i screamed。 sometimes you just get to read a book at the perfect time in your life and lesbian visibility week was THE perfect time ！ i want to give Jill a forehead kiss for this book。 i felt so seen as a pop culture obsessed closeted lesbian who grew up in the 00s/10s。 i related so deeply to Jill and hearing her talk to our book club about this book made me love it and her so much more。
Keren Xu
，
Like a diary。 This is interesting to see how a millennial growing up and recognizing her queerness。 Learned lots of pop culture from this book。 Milf canon etc。
Sarah
，
4。5 ⭐️
s ⚢
，
a bit of a hit or miss， i think。 i related a lot to the author's reflections on coming to terms with being a lesbian， and enjoyed the discussions on celebrity culture and its links to queer communities， but some parts just dragged on and overall， this book just felt so。。。 white？ idk。 and the countless harry potter references were so unnecessary and random and millennial a bit of a hit or miss， i think。 i related a lot to the author's reflections on coming to terms with being a lesbian， and enjoyed the discussions on celebrity culture and its links to queer communities， but some parts just dragged on and overall， this book just felt so。。。 white？ idk。 and the countless harry potter references were so unnecessary and random and millennial 。。。more
Dara
，
This was a quick read， and I enjoyed parts of it。 Overall， it felt a little too fresh for me — like what she’s writing about is so recent there hasn’t been time to properly reflect。 The cover is so gorgeous！
Jo Conley
，
so entertaining I loved it， the audiobook was amazing
Sarah Ondak
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This is a lovely and mostly lighthearted analysis of the past and present state not only of lesbian media， but what it means to grow up in a society slowly beginning to accept LGBTQ+ existence。 Most chapters look backwards， perusing the halls of sapphic history with quippy and informative narration。 The author delves into the traumas of first loves & first losses， mess breakup， and her experience with sexual assault in a way that is humorous—and most importantly—human。 One star deducted because This is a lovely and mostly lighthearted analysis of the past and present state not only of lesbian media， but what it means to grow up in a society slowly beginning to accept LGBTQ+ existence。 Most chapters look backwards， perusing the halls of sapphic history with quippy and informative narration。 The author delves into the traumas of first loves & first losses， mess breakup， and her experience with sexual assault in a way that is humorous—and most importantly—human。 One star deducted because she said Awkwafina is cool。 。。。more
Shelvey Swett
，
4。5！ SO fun and funny。 I've seen lots of people say they thought the humor/writing was really cringe-millennial， but I think it translated better in the audio format bc I didn't find it too bad。 4。5！ SO fun and funny。 I've seen lots of people say they thought the humor/writing was really cringe-millennial， but I think it translated better in the audio format bc I didn't find it too bad。 。。。more
Roxann
，
I just don't care about Taylor Swift。 I just don't care about Taylor Swift。 。。。more
Haru
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I guess the only thing im interested in is only her 'road toward gayness' I guess the only thing im interested in is only her 'road toward gayness' 。。。more
Allie
，
Funny and extremely relatable。 I read this as an audiobook and really appreciated that format。 I’m not usually huge on essay collections but I could see myself reading this one several times over。 I really enjoyed the stories in here and each chapter length kept me engaged and wanting to read more。 This soothed my queer little millennial soul， I tell you what。
Lauren Cosby
，
cw: rape， sexual abuseI liked this book， but I think this is one of those rare instances where I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had read it in physical form instead of audio。That being said， I did enjoy hearing about her love of pop culture， coming of age and coming out， and just her sense of humor that paints all things in a funny light。 Definitely read if you’re a fan of Lindsay Lohan circa the Samantha Ronson era， have had to come out to your friends and family， enjoy pop culture， or u cw: rape， sexual abuseI liked this book， but I think this is one of those rare instances where I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had read it in physical form instead of audio。That being said， I did enjoy hearing about her love of pop culture， coming of age and coming out， and just her sense of humor that paints all things in a funny light。 Definitely read if you’re a fan of Lindsay Lohan circa the Samantha Ronson era， have had to come out to your friends and family， enjoy pop culture， or use the phrase “step on me” regularly。 。。。more
lizzyy
，
gay
Leslie
，
4。5 stars。 Funny and wholesome， yet honest。 If I had to describe this book to someone it would be part-memoir， part-pop-culture-analysis。Important note: The chapter titled “I Know This Now” includes depictions of rape and sexual assault。
Zuzka Jakubkova
，
Eloquent white girl essays on growing up queer in 90s。 Very personal。 Some general good points were raised。 🤷
olivia
，
thank u jill for seeing me and every other terminally online， burgeoning sapphic nightmare child of the 90s-2000s with these rad essays！！！ perfect for anyone who has ever sought validation for rewatching rachels weisz and mcadams in disobedience like 200 times exclusively for their stellar performances and Definitely Nothing Else ！
Chance
，
made my queer pop culture brain feel not lonely
Anne West
，
I was hoping for more kissing girls but I enjoyed it nonetheless。
Kiersten
，
I’ll be honest: I didn’t know who Jill Gutowitz was prior to reading this collection。 I saw Girls Can Kiss Now on Scribd and decided to read it based on…well…really just the title Since coming out during the pandemic， I’ve been mildly obsessed with reading memoirs by other queer folks。 （Though I did find and start following her on Twitter while I was reading this book。） In case you’re as clueless as I was， Gutowitz is a pop culture writer。 In Girls Can Kiss Now， Gutowitz talks about being a lesb I’ll be honest: I didn’t know who Jill Gutowitz was prior to reading this collection。 I saw Girls Can Kiss Now on Scribd and decided to read it based on…well…really just the title Since coming out during the pandemic， I’ve been mildly obsessed with reading memoirs by other queer folks。 （Though I did find and start following her on Twitter while I was reading this book。） In case you’re as clueless as I was， Gutowitz is a pop culture writer。 In Girls Can Kiss Now， Gutowitz talks about being a lesbian in a culture that - especially during her childhood and adolescence - was pretty damn homophobic。 She makes the argument that things are much better now which， in a sense， they absolutely are （though I have to imagine the essays in this collection were written before the latest attack on on the queer community at large， and trans folks in particular）， but I think part of that impression stems from the fact she lives in LA， and not somewhere like Florida or Texas。 But as far as pop culture is concerned - which is her main focus throughout the collection - she’s absolutely right that being queer is far more accepted and even mainstream now than it was even 10 or 20 years ago， and that’s an incredible win， especially for queer kids who get to see themselves talked about in a positive light in a way that wasn’t really the case when stars like Lindsey Lohan came out and Perez Hilton was outing others）。 Girls Can Kiss Now reminded me a lot of The 2000s Made Me Gay by Grace Perry， which I read last summer。 Like Perry’s collection， Gutowitz’s incorporates her love of pop culture and， in particular， the pop culture of the 90s and 2000s that she grew up with and that influenced her。 I enjoyed the chapters about Taylor Swift in particular， but the entire collection was excellent。 。。。more
Roser
，
¿Que si me he leído otro libro de ensayos sobre cultura pop， fandom y lesbianismo？ Sí， ¿por？ No tengo ninguna queja: son ensayos divertidos， confesionales， escritos por alguien que está cronicamente online （y se nota） pero sin resultar vergonzoso。 ¿Es un libro serio？ No。 ¿Quiere serlo？ Tampoco。 （Aunque， aviso， hay una escena de abuso sexual， y eso en sí mismo si es un tema muy serio）。 Puede que algunos capitulos sean un poco your experiences are not universal però aún así son graciosos y entret ¿Que si me he leído otro libro de ensayos sobre cultura pop， fandom y lesbianismo？ Sí， ¿por？ No tengo ninguna queja: son ensayos divertidos， confesionales， escritos por alguien que está cronicamente online （y se nota） pero sin resultar vergonzoso。 ¿Es un libro serio？ No。 ¿Quiere serlo？ Tampoco。 （Aunque， aviso， hay una escena de abuso sexual， y eso en sí mismo si es un tema muy serio）。 Puede que algunos capitulos sean un poco your experiences are not universal però aún así son graciosos y entretenidos， y el capítulo de la carta dirigida a su yo más joven （triste pero precioso） lo compensa todo。 La autora además de Swiftie es Gaylor así que， por supuesto， Taylor （y las swifties） aparecen en casi todos los ensayos。 I've been the target of an organized campaign that landed feds on my doorstep and trust me when I say: nothing fluffs me more than a Taylor Swift superfan tweeting me "Aren't you like 40？ Mind your business" So true bestie， swifties are so scaryHay otros capitulos muy chulos， como:• El dedicado exclusivamente al lesbian yearning （ft。 that one toxic relationship）: Lesbians， in general， live in the yearn。 We've been taught to。 Wanting anything is embarrasing， but having something？ It can't be done AAAAAAAAH • El dedicado a las lesbianas de twitter con （violent） Mommy Thirst。 That was。。。 enlightening。• Los dedicados a su novia， que cuquisFlor， LÉELO！！！！ Te lo han escrito para ti específicamente 。。。more
Maddie
，
A must read for any millennial/gen Z sapphic— funny and insightful and entirely too relatable。 I would also mention that it does have a TW for SA， so keep that in mind。
Samantha Collins
，
4 at the start， 3。5 by the end
Debbie
，