41 Comments
User's avatar
Diana N's avatar

I hate to be that person, but I guess I am. 100% is 100% more than 50%, not 50% more. That said, I think 100% more Bindel and Stock in my life is still too little!

Expand full comment
helena's avatar

So this is the first time i've thought "you need a zoomer/late millennials correspondent". I enjoy hearing the different perspective on pop culture, I want to hear people look at something like Chappel Roan or Hayley Kiyoko who isn't marinated in 20something queer culture. That top list really just felt like the tumblr generation's top list. Dan and Phil have majority female viewers (i guess a large nonbinary identifying fanbase), and they weren't out at the height of their popularity feeding that type of shipping speculation that teenage girls who obsess over gay men love. Tyler Oakley was popular at that time as well. I am a fan of Hayley Kiyoko though, and I remember one time she got absolutely dogpiled for one (1) jokey post in the "lesbians dont need birth control/dont like penises" genre. But I do find it interesting that young women obsess over gay male creators in this way. (Lesbiansovereverything .com has a recent blog post about the zoomers having a warped perspective on lesbian culture through TikTok, which was also an interesting read.)

Expand full comment
JM Burda's avatar

Q for Dr Stock: you said you rarely watch terrestrial television. Does that mean you only watch extra-terrestrial television? If so, is that a way to avoid the BBC license fee? I’ve never heard the term “terrestrial” applied to television. Perhaps you could clarify during next week’s podcast. Thank you.

Expand full comment
JM Burda's avatar

And here I thought it might be a variation on The Twilight Zone. Interesting explanation; never thought of it that way.

Expand full comment
Jayne Henderson's avatar

I thought she might be referring to what we in the US call "broadcast" or "over-the-air" (which is free to everybody), as opposed to cable or satellite which you have to pay for (and then of course, there's streaming...).

Expand full comment
Marcella McClure's avatar

I agree I was very puzzled by Kathleen’s comment. Kathleen, are you watching television from other planets other galaxies I’m confused😂😂😎

Expand full comment
CER's avatar

Hayley Kiyoko definitely is a lesbian icon. And I think what makes her stand out is that she's relatively young but still old enough that she had to be closeted in her career. She's talked about having to make her lyrics gender neutral or "non-binary" so to speak and it made her feel terrible. She hated that her lyrics had to hide that she is same sex attracted. She's fallen off the radar lately and I think it is due in part to her being in a long term relationship and happy as well as probably not wanting to get into the culture wars by excluding anyone from her lyrics.

Chappell Roan on the other hand, I have no idea what she does or if she's same sex attracted. But judging a book by its cover, she's definitely playing the queer card.

Expand full comment
Jayne Henderson's avatar

Why do you say "same-sex attracted" instead of gay or lesbian?

Expand full comment
Julie Bindel's avatar

To include bisexual women (one reason). To mix up the lingo (another). Kath may disagree?

Expand full comment
CER's avatar

Oh that's true. I didn't even notice that. I don't mind using gay or lesbian at all. I think I was using same sex attracted because I was describing what her lyrics were about instead of her song lyrics describing sexuality. But honestly, "lesbian lyrics" would have worked just as well.

Expand full comment
K.'s avatar

I'm starting a petition to add a football ball to the rainbow 2SLGBTQIA+ flag because as a big football fan I feel excluded (yes I am a lesbian too but obviously that category is never considered by the alphabet mafia, maybe football is more likely to be considered?)

Expand full comment
Deirdre Anne's avatar

I think Julie and Kathleen just described the plot of West Side Story …

A rumble after the dance, anyone? 🙋‍♀️

Expand full comment
Colleen Conner's avatar

A great pod recommendation is Gone South - Season 1 - Who Killed Margaret Coon? It's about the murder of a District Attorney in Louisiana in 1987 - still unsolved (well, sort of). A lot of twists and turns and provides some EXCELLENT history about the Lesbian scene in Louisiana. Just a great listen.

And a College bar that's "gone dry"?? Young men are joining Salsa Societies?? WTF.

Expand full comment
Tara Kaufmann's avatar

I don't know where your son is, Kath, but my daughter has just started at Leeds and she does nothing but drink and carouse!

Expand full comment
Lydia El-Shazly's avatar

Pfftpfftpfft (or should that be pxssypxssypxssy?) no men needed for dancing. This is my favourite same sex couple dance, they're both wearing trousers; nothing for the male gaze and heteronormativity and they switch who is lead through the dance (no good for Kath obvs) Enjoy. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/yQPxcEVC31oHBn5G/

Expand full comment
Jayne Henderson's avatar

Loved that. Thanks.

Expand full comment
Marcella McClure's avatar

Kathleen, I got all the references. My mother was a 1st gen science fiction reader. I had many 1st edition copies of famous science fiction books. I am a 2nd gen sci-fi reader, my daughters are third gen readers and film/series watchers, as are their husbands. My four adult grandsons, the oldest of whom thinks he’s a woman, sigh, read and watch sci-fi to the max. I agree, Marvel Loki disappointing, but I can see Huddleston playing you🤣🥰

Expand full comment
Sue's avatar

I thought 'representation' (as in being seen/ being visible/ seeing ppl like yourself in the media and other public spaces) was a means to an end, not an end in itself? We needed visible public lesbians because (in the UK) we were being actively lawfully discriminated against all over the shop - refused jobs, tenancies, loans, children taken away, no specific healthcare, no rights as a partner, sacked with no legal recourse, etc etc. And we were being harassed, bullied, abused, spat at, sexually assaulted. And we were being portrayed in wholly negative ways - risky around children, wife stealing, converting/perverting, dangerous, morally corrupt, man-hating, ugly, disgusting, blah blah, as well as condemned by the media, the religions, and various bits of the state. That's why representation mattered for lesbians - because just about every mention of lesbians was a distorted misogynistic warning = you cannot be lesbian because you are not that awful.

And why well-known ppl coming out (thank you Martina) and campaigns like Pop Against Homophobia and the Absolutely Het/Absolutely Homo outing posters were extraordinary. I'm not saying I agreed with the public outing stuff, but it was a huge visibility moment for lesbians and gay men, and for the wider public, and it was about changing the way we were portrayed so that we could be seen as the friends, colleagues, neighbours, citizens, family members, parents that we were - blimey, remember the disbelief about some of those outed??

Expand full comment
Antonia's avatar

Thank fuck it's Friday for my Kathleen and Julie fix! Thank you both xx Kathleen did you ever play basketball??

Expand full comment
Carole Ann's avatar

Really Kathleen, you need to ditch that intro - you are so obviously embarrassed by it and wish you didn't have to say it. Come up with something else or get Julie to do it! What about 'all the lesbian lowdown' or 'all the dyke dirt' or......

Expand full comment
Anna O'Connor's avatar

No, no! It's one of the pleasures of the show, relishing the squirming intro...

Expand full comment
K.'s avatar

100%, please don't ditch it!

Expand full comment
Marcella McClure's avatar

Oh, go back and watch the first episode ever if you want to see Kathleen really squirm. She’s really quite cool with the intro now and of course we all can use a lot more lesbian in our life.

Expand full comment
Lionheart's avatar

Nooooo! Her irritation with it is part of the fun!

Expand full comment
Marcella McClure's avatar

Oh Kathleen I always lead, my 1st hub, 6ft4in to my then 5ft2 found this hysterical, but we danced much better when I was leading. My second hub, the crazed French Canadian only 5ft8in to my then 5ft4 well we vied for leading and we were considered great dancers.

Expand full comment
Marcella McClure's avatar

Wait aren’t you also MERFs, Male exclusionary, radical feminist? I don’t think we’re really TERFs because we accept trans identified women into our spaces etc.

Expand full comment
Marcella McClure's avatar

Huh what? Murphs are male exclusionary radical feminist. I exclude male from female spaces.

Expand full comment
Lydia Perovic's avatar

Anyone watching Hacks? Lots of lezzer potential there--the two protagonists are pretty much a couple--but it remains largely unrealized. The woke-o-meter also fluctuating wildly; S1 OK, but some later episodes come close to PC.

Expand full comment