The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
readingbrb's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Rape
Minor: Outing, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
stevia333k's review against another edition
I first want to say that there's only 1 other chapter/essay in this anthology that I'm interested in finishing & that's the "step on me" one I haven't started yet. Anyways, i'm not that inclined to rush to that right now, but I wanted to at least acknowledge it.
2ndly I want to acknowledge the book isn't written in comedy, it's written in a different sociolect without the code switching to more academic sociolect.
Basically this is technically an autotheory book. Here are some examples of some better ones,
Â
-Â Emma Dabiri's Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair CultureÂ
The author was willing to give name drops, but excluded historical information such as deep canvassing from 2008-2015 & how celebrities are underrepresented in terms of their lgbtqia+ populations suggesting that there are still more closeted people in the famous population than in the general population, when posing this quote..Â
[about how taylor swift is exceptional]
saying taylor swift's fans would back her up is free-marketist AKA neoliberal logic that is denialist of not only state/institutional/street/domestic violence being a problem, but then also argues for a trickle-down theory of liberation. this denies how advertisers & ratings boards are anti-trans, anti-intersex, anti-queer, as part of the dictatorship of the racial capitalist patriarchy. this book was published in march 2022 so i'll extend some grace, but considering how the ACLU has a donor campaign to buy & distribute books that are being banned in Florida, how white supremacists are getting entrire libraries removed from communities, this is the kind of things that make this book a shit show.
however, i don't think considering her discussion of taylor swift that she understands gay-for-pay, even though she seems to understand WLM-for-pay when it comes to like Lindsay Lohan & socially enforced sexuality. the point being is that read-people-fic & specifically gaylor -- which to be fair has historical precedents such as conservative/fascist white supremacists speculating that shakespeare was straight & exceptionally "normal" in contrast to gay & or bi+ -- uses great man historiography.
Â
[insert about is it the celebrities that soften the culture, or is it the culture that softens the celebrities, jill gutowitz then saying she sides with the celebrities soften the culture.]Â
She explicity sides explicitly sides with that historiography when it is a factually wrong position. basically she's looking for work/employment & trying to save her own ass by putting out a book that presumably teaches current day teenagers about george w bush era-typical homophobia. (so think about say white women teacher's power in the context of the school-to-prison-pipeline? that's the play she's making for.)
since jill gutowitz explicitly said this, i think she's trying to be hired by higher-up orgs (IDK pragerU? -- whoever is white & capitalist antisemitic, yet hires lgbtqia+ people) to develop propaganda for them. basically since this is an autotheory book & she's explicitly supporting/siding with great man historiography, then she is trying to develop enough of a personality cult to where she can have a less public-facing job.
these last 3 paragraphs are in response to the bookclub i went to, but when i speak in generic role statements, the policy is that if the role description fits, then voila.
as for people who object to the sociolect &Â
- the lack of code-switching (it's not comedy, it's a subcultural sociolect!)
- where they don't understand the point of at'ing a bunch of people (to try to drum up replies to her work to then have something else to publish & hopefully make money on)Â
- & don't know the pop culture references (which if I'm reading a book about somewhere i've never been, i use google or something since the fascists haven't taken it away yet!)
i despise the fact that the rating scale is shared by y'all chauvinists means you're trying to attack me too while i'm trying to prevent a personality cult from forming. like fuck you for your lack of tact because you'd prefer to talk in a way that appeases racial capitalist patriarchy (such as ageism, linguistic elitism, etc). -- jill gutowitz literally name-dropped "harry potter" in 2022 to use a blood libel canard against perez hilton, but instead you'd rather tone police her because you can't be bothered to google celebrities (which you should already be doing when you're reading a book in order to understand where in the conversation the book you're reading fits!) -- if y'all had, then you could've found out the names of sexual harassers to basically block & boycott from. she's literally a gossip writer. even if the list would've been rudimentary, sometimes you miss out. y'all chauvinists openly said you can't be bothered researching to protect your communities.
seriously, conflating the community who uses the same sociolect that jill gutowitz writes in with your criticisms of jill gutowitz is what jill gutowitz is banking on for career advancement. fuck you for giving her capital like that.
TLDR: she's a white supremacist careerist "feminist" weaponizing white tears, who would probably take a job as a school teacher criminalizing marginalized kids in the school-to-prison pipeline if they challenged her pedagogy/authority.
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Sexism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, and Misogyny
taryndeanne's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Outing
kathleencoughlin's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Misogyny, Car accident, and Outing
kshertz's review against another edition
3.5
For me, this was so much fun because I got to relive my entire childhood with all the pop culture references and reliving AOL, the Internet, etc. I really related to a lot and I liked the references because mine were the same. So why not 5 stars? There’s some man bashing that makes it not inclusive and I also feel like this is a memoir that should come out when this person was much much older and it would be more reflective and awesome. Plus, therapy girl. We all need it. Go to it. But I definitely felt it was light and I enjoyed it and I recommend for reminiscing if you grew up like me.
Moderate: Cursing, Outing, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
autumngk's review against another edition
5.0
Pop culture IS a reflection of our lives: present, past, and impending future. While it's clear a queer femme identifying audience is the target majority, readers that are shying away because they're intimidated by the topics, or they don't feel included in the conversation, or for whatever reason they feel this book isn't for them: I very strongly feel you are who should be reading this book most right now. If not this book, use this as a starting point for more queer femme literature. To create a space for ourselves is not our work alone; for you to understand that we belong in your world, you have work to do as well. It is tiring, it is a lot, but it's all we need as queer people.
Much like how Gutowitz struggled with the appeal of Entourage growing up, she's delivered a very unique debut for the audience she yearned to be apart of her entire youth. Out of morbid curiosity, I watched a few episodes of Entourage for the first time while reading this book and it made think "at least my generation had Workaholics instead of this?" And it's so wonderful to be apart of Jill's audience. Not Entourage's.
Graphic: Bullying, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
4.0
There was this one chapter about lesbian yearning that I felt SO called out by that I had to stop listening and collect myself before continuing to read it. I loved the way Gutowitz delves into queer female celebrities and the treatment of them in the early 2000s because I think that is so worth examining - basically, we owe Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson a massive apology.
Another great aspect of the book is the relatable way the author writes about the early days of the pandemic. It was a really funny way of putting it, but also sad. There is also a section where she writes a letter to her younger self, which broke my heart and made me laugh at the same time.
I had some minor issues with the book, but overall really enjoyed it and recommend it.
Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, and Rape
Moderate: Racism and Biphobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Islamophobia
ecn's review against another edition
5.0
If you’re a fan of The 2000s Made Me Gay, you’ll love this.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexism, Outing, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
hmatt's review against another edition
3.5
Unfortunately, I feel like the collection starts strong, but loses steam as it goes. It does a good job balancing the memoir-y bits with the broader cultural talk in, for instance, the essay about the FBI showing up on the author's doorstep. Towards the end of the collection, though, there are a number of strictly autobiographical "essays" that I just didn't get anything from. There is a real gap in the collection with regard to, well, any other sapphic voices besides the author's. I think I would have been more engaged in the collection as a whole if she had swapped out some of the autobiographical sections for broader perspectives on how pop culture influenced the experience of growing up queer in the naughties.
This is short, though, and the audiobook is narrated (importantly, narrated well) by the author, so I'd still recommend going in for the whole thing.Â
Graphic: Sexual content, Outing, Sexual assault, and Rape
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
The description of rape is contained to one essay, "I Know This Now". In an earlier essay, the author describes their own experiences viewing pornography as a minor.mallory10100's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Outing
Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Classism, Confinement, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, and Addiction
i highly recommend this!!