#lesbianpulp

[beeesworld]

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[izziesbookreviews]

pulp : a book review

i began reading this book when i started college, and was instantly hooked. i’d take it with me and read it in the morning before class because i could not put it down.

it is an inspiring, relatable, heart-felt book that teaches you - as a teenager - so much about love, heartbreak, and family issues. i found it so influential for me.

the lgbtq+ origins of the book are so amazing too. the main storyline completely revolves around the sexuality of the characters and the plot is so brilliantly driven, supported by strong direction of story and history of the characters; you almost feel like you know them inside out, and know what they are going to do next... how they’re going to react.

if you like rewarding and happy endings, then this one is for you. it perfectly sums up the entirety of the book’s meaning and purpose and fulfils the reader’s desires of the longing of wanting the characters to actually turn out to be happy for a change!!

despite the flawless writing, i was drawn to the book in the first place due to the setting of America in the 1950’s. the diner waitressing and cool, retro bars just strike a cord in my heart and drew me ever closer to my attachment with the characters.

flicking between two perspectives in the book, i would definitely suggest to give this a read; for the laughter, the irredescent glow of love, and the final feeling of relief.

[renareads]

Only a few pages in and diggin' it. #Saturdayread #funread #lesbianpulp

[tvmahampshirecollege-blog]

In Jokes

Lesbian pulp novel covers are pretty much the best things on earth.  My personal favorite cover is for Alone At Last by Paul V. Russo, which has the subtitle “The frustrated bride, hopelessly bound to an older man... the boyish teenager, only too willing to put an end to that frustration!!”  I look at these covers with friends both queer and straight and laugh.  But I was thinking recently that if I ran into a group of straight people who I didn’t know to be personally engaged with any queer community or queer people laughing at the covers, I would be wary and kind of hurt.  It would seem like they were laughing at these books, not with them.  In other words, they’re not part of the in joke.  But what happens when, as in TV, a joke’s audience is necessarily heterogeneous, so some viewers are part of the group for whom the joke is “in” and others are not?

Jordan Gavaris, who plays Felix in the inimitable Orphan Black, speaks well and clearly about the reaction to Felix’s campy, hyper-flamboyant gayness.  Essentially, he says that the concerns he’s received about Felix’s flamboyance have been from straight people concerned on the behalf of queer people, and that actual queer folk have really loved Felix’s character.  He also says a really important thing, which is that it’s ridiculous to exclusively have characters that are in opposition to certain stereotypes, because it erases, for instance, feminine gay men.  However, I think that Gavaris doesn’t address the idea that even though feminine gay men do exist and should and in fact must be represented, Felix will still only confirm stereotypes for certain viewers.  It becomes a balance of figuring out if the good that the character might do is greater than the harm that they might do.  As I’ve mentioned before, one of the reasons that Felix works so well on Orphan Black is that there are other queer characters, so he’s part of a network of people that very clearly displays that there are a wide variety of human beings who share queerness.  Furthermore, Orphan Black knows its audience.  The audience skews young, skews left, skews, well, Tumblr.  They’re part of the in joke.  I’d be more worried if Orphan Black were airing on, say, CBS.  As it is, I think Felix is spectacular, but I do think that it’s important that we continue to think about all of this stuff as we build new characters, even in this time of an increased diversity of representation.

What do you think of representations of feminine queer men or masculine queer women on TV or in movies?  Please be specific!

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[hdrussell]

Very happy to be included in this issue! @lesbianpulp Issue #3 of Lesbian Pulp Zine is HERE. Cover by the amazing @jeniferrprince!!

Follow her new account @lp.zine for the discount link, or become a $1 patron for a $3.50 discount. It’s a nobrainer. https://www.blurb.com/user/lesbianpulp