What is Paging Dr. Lesbian?
Paging Dr. Lesbian is a weekly newsletter written by me, Kira Deshler. Here you will find articles and essays primarily about lesbian or sapphic pop culture, but anything else that strikes my fancy is fair game.
In regards to the title of this newsletter – I am not a doctor! I have only a humble master’s degree, so please do not call the academic police on me. I have however spent several years in academia studying queer and lesbian pop culture and consider myself something of an expert on the topic. (You can read my Master’s thesis on “Queer Female Fans” here). So, yes, to answer your question, Dr. Lesbian is my given name – I gave it to myself, it’s given to me by me.
If you’re still wondering about the rest of the title, I can readily inform you that no, I have never used a pager nor do I quite understand how their work. In addition to my feeling that the 1990s were a particularly sapphic decade, I chose this title because for me it conjures up an image of Dr. Lesbian (that’s me!) being called to duty when something of lesbian importance happens on the internet. Think Kim Possible (call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me) or Buffy The Vampire Slayer (if the apocalypse comes, beep me!), but for queer pop culture.
But What Do You Write About?
All of this is to say that this newsletter can and will cover anything I deem of sapphic importance that occurs in the realm of pop culture. It could be something obvious, like why there are so many lesbian period pieces, or something less so, like the eternal star power of Patrick Swayze or my obsession with the exceptional heterosexual angst of TV procedurals (Mulder and Scully are a gay straight couple, don’t ask me to explain! Or do, and I will). My fascination with pop culture can generally be boiled down to a single question – what moves people, and why? Whatever unexpected directions this question takes me, I’ll hope you’ll join me along the way.
I write two newsletters a week: One, the Sunday Edition, is longer essays, articles, or interviews with people I find interesting. The other, my dispatch from the lesbian internet, which goes out on Wednesday, is a weekly news update about all things lesbian pop culture.
Subscribe!
If any of this interests you, or if you’re simply a nice person who wants to support niche journalism, please subscribe! Sunday Editions are free to all subscribers, but mid-week dispatches from the lesbian internet are only available with a subscription, which costs a mere $5 a month. Whether or not you choose a paid subscription, your support means the world to me.
