Queer identity & liberation, Derry Girls, & universal teenage girlhood experiences in media
The Lavender MenaceShow Notes
Today in episode 3 of season 4, we respond to a listener submitted hot take and talk about class being the primary contradiction and why we are not radical feminists, the usage of the label or word “sapphic,” and the myth of queer solidarity. Then we revisit the lesbophobia vs. biphobia discourse through another hot take submission, and how it involves outing or not outing yourself to coworkers. We reiterate the importance of reading theory, online political engagement and the instagram infographic industrial complex, and the reality of working retail and in the restaurant industry while gay. Then we discuss Derry Girls seasons 1 through 3, full spoilers ahead! We both love how this brilliant and phenomenally funny sitcom portrays realistic teenage dialogue, the very few male characters, the honoring of teenage girlhood (our love lasts so long article https://overland.org.au/2020/08/our-love-lasts-so-long-queer-devotion-in-taylor-swifts-folklore/), and of course, its portrayal of the LGBT teenage experience, Lisa McGee is so smart and talented and is clearly "writing from the soul," as Erin proclaims she does. Both of us love media about female friendship and how well Derry Girls examines the complexities of a violent but beautiful world, and discuss the universality of specificity in media portrayal, a la Sally Rooney. Obviously, we love Irish women writers. (Join our patreon and fund our trip to Ireland! https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace) Good TV is spoiling us. Sunny recommends music (!??! Whoa!) to Renaissance, specifically Chappell Roan’s https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GlBOeep6PqTfFi59PTUUN?si=u64LwIy1Rri9a2rGyIVDwA most recent singles, because Sunny loves Naked In Manhattan and My Kink Is Karma; Pink Pony Club is her most popular song that Renaissance already likes. Renaissance recommends the Irish singer-songwriter CMAT https://open.spotify.com/artist/3VBNIRx1LxVdRqOiPgkLwv?si=V6dZhvyQSvSb7ZvkGnqB9w, which they read while reading Conversations With Friends. CMAT’s album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead and the single I Wanna Be A Cowboy Baby are very Irish woman writer coded, according to Renaissance. Sunny then recommends the book Siren Queen by Nghi Vo, which feels similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in the Hollywood glamor elements, but is much better in the writing style and magical realism. Also, support your local library! Thanks for joining us for this episode, and you can find us on twitter, instagram, Tik Tok, and letterboxd if you want to connect! Send your hot takes to [email protected].
More from The Lavender Menace
A very belated part 2 of our 2025 wrap up episode (LOL) recorded the same day as our most recent episode prior to this one. TLDL: art under capitalism is destroying art, anorexia is the devil and so is technology
A very belated 2025 wrap up episode (we recorded for over four hours back in December LOL so this is part one....) in which we discuss: Lesbian Feminist Book Club: https://www.instagram.com/lesbianfeministbookclub/ mindfulness meditation and letting ourselves be bored being anti-overconsumption and anti-internet and social media PHYSICAL MEDIA!!!!! Scorched Earth: Beyond the Digital Age to a Post-Capitalist World by Jonathan Crary All Our Trials: Prisons, Policing, and the Feminist Fight to End Violence by Emily L. Thuma A Brick and Bible: Black Women's Radical Activism in the Midwest During the Great Depression by Melissa Ford When Driving Is Not An Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency by Anna Letitia Zivarts Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism by Leigh Goodmark Perfect Victims: and the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed el-Kurd Kwaneta Harris: https://www.instagram.com/kwanetaharris/ Ra'jiva Tha Rulaa: https://www.youtube.com/@rajiva_tharulaa The Body Keeps the Score Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk Thanks for joining us for this episode! Send your hot takes to [email protected] and support us on Patreon or Substack for bonus content and early access: https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheLavenderMenacePod
Are white queers entitled about their history and culture? Can femmes be nonbinary? And other pressing questions that our listeners, patrons, and substack subscribers have submitted to us... (Email us your hot takes at [email protected]!!!) Queer history is so so so important and most gay people do not know enough of it! The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader edited by Joan Nestle is one of the most important lesbian history books ever BTW, especially for femmes and butches. Silvia Federici's 2004 book Caliban & the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation is a book all feminists, Marxists, and Marxist feminists need to read. The politics of magic, the witch hunts, and the relationship between European colonialism and the dispossession of women and workers are some of the topics this book thoroughly explores. We cannot recommend it enough. Check out Sunny's recommendation of Sophie Lewis's books (Abolish the Family, Full Surrogacy Now, & Enemy Feminism) and Sunny's interview with Sophie, and Renaissance's Letterboxd and their recommendation of the documentary Feminism Inshallah: A History of Arab Feminism. Disclaimer: we recorded this episode back in the spring.
This episode includes discussion of: “butch-femme” aesthetic photos, our problem with Pinterest, internet personas and the importance of being earnest (and also genuine!) Also: the importance of female singer-songwriters and how CINEMA IS BACK which might be a recession/fascism indicator... In discussing the the racial and historical background of Sinners (2025), we examine the portrayal of truth and legacy in this surprisingly good blockbuster movie. From lynching to sharecropping, the frankness with which Ryan Coogler portrays 1932 Mississippi was incredibly moving. Our recommendations: https://www.solidaritycinema.com/ and The Wedding by Dorothy West. 01:04:04 — when we start talking about Sinners Thanks for joining us for this episode! Send your hot takes to [email protected] and support us on Patreon for bonus content and early access: https://www.patreon.com/TheLavenderMenace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheLavenderMenacePod Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/thelavenderpod/ Substack: https://thelavendermenace.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLavenderPod
This podcast episode brought to you today by lukewarm politics of hair takes re: Bush discourse (not the president) and Kanye/Bianca, a hot take from Sunny about the Doechii album, & Black lesbian film love from Renaissance Send your HOTTEST TAKES to [email protected] ! & Support your favorite indie dykes & get early episode access/exclusive bonus content on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheLavenderMenace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheLavenderMenacePod Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/thelavenderpod/ Substack: https://thelavendermenace.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLavenderPod