We are all emotional truffle pigs, if you think about it, really.

The 33rd, 34th & 35th weeks of queer things we’ve been up to and into.

We were gone for a few weeks to see family in California for the first time since COVID changed our lives in March 2020. It was a good trip even though it’s still difficult to understand (much less navigate) other people’s lack of or regard for proper COVID precautions, especially masking indoors. While we got good quality time with family, we also kept up with watching, reading, and listening to queer things. Here is our Top 9 (in no particular order) from the past few weeks: 

1. Aftersun (2022) written and directed by Charlotte Wells. We’ve been wanting to see Aftersun for many months now but our very small city never programmed the film and MUBI hasn’t streamed it yet, so we are admittedly late to this particular party. Thankfully, a particularly awesome queer friend came to the rescue, having a box delivered to our house that contained the Aftersun Blu-ray, which we promptly watched that night. Thank you, Audrey. <3 Aftersun is one of the best films we’ve seen since Portrait of a Lady on Fire. We will save our deeper thoughts for a long-form essay, but we have to recommend this film that continues to haunt us. Wells’s debut is a quietly devastating meditation on the child-parent relationship, memory, depression, grief, and the loss of childhood innocence. 

2. Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop Netflix docuseries. We’re big fans of women rappers, a love affair that certainly started when we first saw Queen Latifah perform in the late ‘80s. Queer women have anchored much of the hip hop culture movement for the last 50 years, but, not surprisingly, many understandably remained in the closet for decades (and some still do). While this docuseries makes clear space for the queer rappers, the main focus is on the forgotten women MCs who paved the way and lesser known artists who were not given the respect, credit, rewards, or support they should have been given. Any history about women in any field is filled with frustrating and infuriating stories, and this one is no exception. But the voices spotlighted, the talent showcased, and the music featured will have you cabbage-patching in your living room.      

3. What Fresh Hell Is This? Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities and You by Heather Corinna. As we are both in the perimenopause age range, we have been trying to learn more about some of the changes happening in our bodies—especially since society teaches us almost nothing about our bodies, instead constantly regulating, legislating, silencing, and shaming us. Corinna is a queer feminist who mixes memoir with scientific knowledge to help anyone who would need this information feel informed and prepared for the myriad nightmares that await bodies with uteruses and ovaries (and other parts). We’ve been reading this book to each other before bed at night and are as entertained as we are informed—we wouldn’t want to learn about this ‘fresh hell’ any other way or from any other source. 

4. Sha'Carri Richardson winning the women’s 100m at the World Athletics Championships and becoming the fastest woman in the world. We were so pissed when sprinter Richardson was banned from the Tokyo Olympics for marijuana use (which happened here in our state where weed is recreationally legal), a decision that was so wrong and so racist. It’s great to see her vindication as she returns to greatness on the world stage. This generation’s queer Flo-Jo, Sha’Carri also won another gold medal as part of the 4 × 100m relay and bronze in the 200m. We’re excited to see what happens next.

5. Deadloch created by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan. This Australian show is a fun and funny twist on the crime drama and buddy detective formulas, starring IRL queers Kate Box and Madeleine Sami. We laughed our way through the debut season while being absorbed in the mystery of it all. We don’t want to give away the plot, so we’ll just say that you will be treated to a plethora of lesbians; a women’s choir singing an a cappella version of “I Touch Myself” by the Divinyls; a lesbian-owned restaurant named the Bush Wolf; someone being called an “emotional truffle pig” as an insult; a film within the show titled Poseidon’s Uterus; and Tasmania location porn, including a glow worm forest. 

6. Contigo, Jenni. If you read our last post, you’ll know we enjoyed watching the Women’s World Cup and that we are burgeoning sporty spices. We weren’t expecting Spain to take the Cup, and we certainly weren’t expecting Silver Ball winner Jenni Hermoso to be forced with a non-consensual kiss on the lips by the shitty president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, during the medal presentation. Rubiales’ sexist action (which is all too familiar to women globally) and terrible subsequent reaction has thrown Spain into a major cultural reckoning (à la #MeToo), with the story still unfolding, including scores of football players around the world striking or speaking out in support, too many men doubling down on misogynistic justifications for Rubiales’ action, a hunger strike by his mother, and protests in the streets in solidarity with the Spanish players. This action has pulled focus from the Spanish team’s win, but the ever-mounting global support for Jenni is heartening. Hopefully this will lead to much needed changes to misogynistic actions, practices, and policies, and not just for women’s football in Spain. The twists and turns in this story have the makings of a future sports movie—let’s hope it has a real-life triumphant ending for Jenni, women athletes, and all women really. Se acabó.

7. Red, White & Royal Blue. We dove right into the film adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s 2019 book (which our lovely friend Joe had us read and talk about with him earlier this year), eager for cute and horny boys in a delightful rom-com with support from Uma fucking Thurman and the gorgeous Sarah “we’ll never forgive Shane for leaving Carmen” Shahi. Let’s just say: they weren’t able to match the cute horniness (nor depth of characters) of McQuiston’s novel, but for those who have not read the book, there’s plenty to entertain and delight. We’re holding out hope for a director’s cut for more gay-cute.

8. Butch (2017) directed by Mia Jagpal. This documentary short is a beautiful celebration of both activist artist SD Holman’s work and of masculine women. SD is a portrait photographer who grippingly captures the beauty of butches in a way that reinforces their dignity, sexiness, strength, and tenderness. This doc shows butch as an identity… as a reclamation… as something beautiful. We watched this 13-minute doc, cried—and then immediately watched it again. Every butch deserves to feel “disastrously handsome.”

9. Jenna Lyons on The Real Housewives of New York City reboot. Don’t judge. The world is literally burning and flooding, so we seek some lesbian distractions—and fashion icon Jenna Lyons agreeing to be the first openly lez housewife on RHONY is just what the lesbian distraction doctor ordered. If you enjoy watching a Gen X Power Dyke simultaneously (and nonchalantly) confound a bunch of younger straight “housewives” and upend the conventions of the Real Housewives norms and expectations, join us. Anyone want to start a group text thread?