Where queerness and pop culture meet, you will find author Jill Gutowitz. And that’s the cross she deftly explores in her debut book “Girls Can Kiss Now” (Atria Books, 240 p., Out now).
In her collection of essays, Gutowitz, 31, explores cultural shifts in pop culture, social media, and the mainstreaming of lesbian culture, and how all three shaped her into the writer she is today, with a sharp wit and an even sharper pen. Between every single line and a nerd, Gutowitz delivers not only himself, but universal truths that everyone can relate to.
“An investment in pop culture is a good thing, a natural thing,” Gutowitz says. “It’s having an interest in human stories.”
20 must-read spring books:Viola Davis, Janelle Monáe, Robin Roberts, Don Winslow and more
5 books not to be missed:Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier bio, new Maisie Dobbs mystery
Gutowitz is the latest in a long line of female humorists who not only make us laugh, but also make us think. Her new book sheds light on part of the female experience that she is intimate with and has not seen represented enough: how pop culture and the toxic media landscape of cruelty shaped girls’ perceptions. Especially her, a gay girl from New Jersey. And while she certainly does not claim to represent everyone, Gutowitz’s authorship and ability to find humor in her life experiences transcends etiquette. Hers is a refreshing perspective that is often overlooked.
Gutowitz has a comic approach to recounting his formative years in the late aughts, producing a clever, fiery look at a time and place that did not bring out the best in us culturally. Social media was in its infancy then and everything went. Nothing was private and everything was fodder when bloggers like Perez Hilton extracted every misfortune to laugh.
“I think it kind of manifested itself in that Perez Hilton and men took their anger out on young women in really outright malicious ways,” Gutowitz says. Having grown up in the toxic environment means that much of Gutowitz’s humor comes from a dark place. Then again, tragedy plus time equals comedy gold.
Gutowitz remembers all too well. “I went to high school, and unfortunately my most formative years were 2007 to 2009-ish, which was such a weird time. But I almost feel like we were actively trying to erase from our memories because the culture was so harsh.”
A lot was happening back then – especially a global economic crisis and the birth of social media. “I think the toughness really affected the pop culture in this way, and everyone got really bad.” Becoming an adult at that time was not for the faint of heart.
It was against this background that Gutowitz as a teenager questioned and came to terms with her sexual identity in a world that made it difficult for her. She was particularly struck by the harshness with which the media treated stars like Lindsay Lohan.
After a sharp rise, Lohan went through a turbulent time that included a DUI, a stay in rehab and a much talked about relationship with DJ Samantha Ronson. She became a favorite target of the media, and many critics associated Lohan’s addiction and mental health problems with her sexuality.
“The premix between drug abuse and mental illness with queerness was a really harsh message for me to endure,” Gutowitz says. “I came to see queerness as something I needed to beat, just like a drug addict would beat an addiction.”
Pride Month reading:10 notable LGBTQ novels that will educate and entertain
Gutowitz found her worthy despite the poisonous messages that the tabloid media projected in the late aughts. As a result, ‘Girls’ is a bittersweet comic reminiscence of what was a tragic time in pop culture. In her essays, we are commissing with Gutowitz as she grows philosophically over “before times” of social media in “I’m a Famous Actress, MOM!” We nod in agreement as she kills a supercut of the epitome of lesbian longing in “The Ten Most Important Juicy Paparazzi Pictures in Modern History.” And we howl when and remind ourselves of “you can not choose your trauma soundtrack; your trauma soundtrack chooses you” in the funny “A Britney Spears Blackout – No, Not That One.”
When asked if there is a writer who inspires her, Gutowitz immediately answers Chelsea Handler. “I think we both came from the exact same area of New Jersey, both Jews from New Jersey. So I felt this closeness,” Gutowitz says. But it was more than that. Traders’ honest and funny attitudes to politics and sexuality were as inspiring as they were hopeful. “I think I just hadn’t seen anything like it before. Not to say it did not exist, because it certainly did, but for me, she really opened me up to this kind of writing.”
More:Chelsea Handler ‘gets turned on’ in coronavirus quarantine with NSFW book recommendations
When pressed for other influences, Gutowitz points to not only writers but artists from her youth who influenced her writing, especially from “Saturday Night Live.”
“When I was growing up, I was a big ‘SNL’ girl. Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wigg … I just do not think I found so many men so funny, you know? I finally saw people that I could relate to. ”
With “Girls Can Kiss”, Gutowitz’s humorous missives on sex, politics and pop culture continue a tradition of women reaching out through their own stories to also give new generations a voice to relate to.
