“Girls Can Kiss Now” (cover pictured L) by Jill Gutowitz (R). (Author photo by Tucker Leary, both photos courtesy Gutowitz’s Instagram)
In “Girls Can Kiss Now,” Jill Gutowitz, the “self-proclaimed overlord of lesbian Twitter,” takes readers on a thrilling excavation of lesbian pop culture and examines the way lesbian representation in media has directly impacted the way she views her own sexuality.
From a young age, Gutowitz has been obsessed with celebrities, and she has channeled that obsession into a thriving writing career, sharing hilarious insights on everything from the way Cate Blanchett’s outfits have made her gayer to endless speculation (and hope) regarding the sexuality of her idol, Taylor Swift.
Through the refreshing, laugh-out-loud essays of “Girls Can Kiss Now,” Gutowitz proves she is still the reigning queen of it all. Every essay expertly envelops you in her “celesbian” world. Endlessly engaging the whole way through, she demonstrates how pop culture has evolved from the “coded queerness” it once perpetuated to a more outright embrace of LGBTQ identities.
The essays analyze everything from paparazzi photos to Netflix series, skillfully communicating what the phrase “representation matters” is really all about. Infused throughout these stories are Gutowitz’s more serious (and powerful) meditations on the struggles she endured coming to terms with being gay and the way the celebrities she loved helped her become the out and confident woman she is today.
The book is a perfect combination of humor and sincerity, of wit, self-deprecation, and most importantly, self-love. Gutowitz somehow manages not to take herself too seriously while also making it clear that her love of pop culture isn’t just some frivolous pastime.
Through tales of everything from the FBI showing up at her door after a tweet gone wrong to analysis of 2000s MILF culture, Gutowitz shows readers how the most important person she came to love through it all was herself.
“Girls Can Kiss Now” by Jill Gutowitz is out now and available wherever books are sold.
