Pop Culture Fix: Janelle Monáe Is Happy, Having the Best Sex of Their Life

I know you’re not gonna read this intro because this headline is too spicy, but hey, here’s your mid-week Pop Culture Fix!


+ Natalie dropped an Associated Press interview with Janelle Monáe into our TV Team Slack channel yesterday, and included a screenshot just in case we were thinking about not reading it. The screenshot: “I’m in the middle of putting together a tour for North America. We haven’t been on tour since 2019. For me, I have a lot of things that keep me busy. I’m practicing guitar. I’m having the best sex of my life. I’m happy. Even in the middle of all that’s going on in this world, I’m finding time to steal joy and to center joy and to stay surrounded by the people that bring me joy and that I can bring joy too.” Carmen said she’s so happy for them and so happy for her, and I agree! Also the absolute flex of casually saying “I’m having the best sex of my life” to the AP between talking about your guitar and, like, brunch with pals.

+ The initial NC-17 rating for Passages highlights a rigid and queerphobic standard.

+ Reneé Rapp is so over it.

+ HBO’s Last Call spotlights rising anti-LGBTQ violence.

+ Witch From Mercury featured a beloved lesbian couple named Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran, who really broke ground in the Gundam franchise — and then Bandai censored voice actress Kana Ichinose’s interview confirming that the characters are married.

+ Listen, if you’re looking to turn someone into a lesbian, apparently the Barbie movie will do it.

+ Joanna Lumley stars in chemotherapy drama My Week With Maisy. Chemotherapy drama means there’s no way on earth my soft heart’s gonna be able to watch this, but you might: “Lumley stars as Mrs. Foster, a retired lady whose cup is half empty, is starting chemotherapy and is anxious. The last thing she needs is to have to share the treatment room with a know it all child, the titular Maisy Jones who wants to grow up to be a lesbian. But through their unexpected friendship, Maisy Jones gives Mrs. Foster much more than just a glimmer of hope.”

+ LGBTQ+ hip-hop artists use their spotlight to express queer joy.

+ The best queer moments in Final Fantasy.

+ Emma Corrin needed a primer on the “absolute mindfuck” of Marvel movies before doing Deadpool 3.

+ Keke Palmer doesn’t want to set unrealistic body standards after pregnancy, as she seeks more action roles.

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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1718 articles for us.

6 Comments

  1. I could’ve told them about barbie turning girls into lesbians. I was 4 and I received my first Barbie, I immediately married her and would play with her as my wife every day for a couple of years. It was at that point that I knew I liked girls and not boys.

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