Jane Ward

And it's some mediocre guy.

So around Halloween, we matched on Hinge.

You're listening to Today Explained.

My name is Jane Ward.

I'm a professor of feminist studies at UC Santa Barbara, but I mostly work and teach in queer studies.

So, you know, the book has clearly a provocative and playful title.

But what got me thinking about this book is that queer people, at least in my orbit, had been having these conversations for decades about, are straight people okay?

That even became a meme, but long before it was just a conversation we were having in our kitchens and at the gay bar.

And really what's meant by this is that straight people often seem kind of miserable.

They complain about each other a lot.

Straight women in particular spend a lot of time expressing that they wish that they were lesbians, that it's sort of tragic to be heterosexual.

I was talking to my friend today and she was telling me, the moment that you get over your disgust for men, that's when they become actually quite bearable.

Whatever the, what?

Is that normal to say?

Is that normal to think?

I wish I was gay.

I wish I could be gay.

Do it.

You can.

You can.