“Not ‘Lebanese,’ Blanche. Lesbian!” The line originated on The Golden Girls in 1986, after a lesbian friend of Dorothy’s came to visit and Blanche mistook her for “Lebanese.” A decade later, Ellen DeGeneres riffed on that same play on words, coming out as “Lebanese” on the Rosie O’Donnell Show shortly before publicly coming out. “Lebanese” lesbians would go on to appear in Mean Girls, on Glee, and even RuPaul’s Drag Race. In this episode, Jess and Susie get to the bottom of what made that joke so enduring… and talk to an actual Lebanese lesbian about what it meant to her.

GUESTS:
Maya Salam, culture editor at The New York Times
Drew Mackie, cohost of the Gayest Episode Ever podcast

FOR MORE:
Dorothy’s Friend is a Lesbian (Gayest Episode Ever)
The Very Slow Rise of Lesbianism On Screen (Maya Salam, NYT)
In 1986, Golden Girls Created the Most Enduring Lesbian Joke on TV (Autostraddle)
Blanche’s Brother is a Homo, and More Gay Golden Girls’ Moments (Gayest Episode Ever)

“Not ‘Lebanese,’ Blanche. Lesbian!” The line originated on The Golden Girls in 1986, after a lesbian friend of Dorothy’s came to visit and Blanche mistook her for “Lebanese.” A decade later, Ellen DeGeneres riffed on that same play on words, coming out as “Lebanese” on the Rosie O’Donnell Show shortly before publicly coming out. “Lebanese” lesbians would go on to appear in Mean Girls, on Glee, and even RuPaul’s Drag Race. In this episode, Jess and Susie get to the bottom of what made that joke so enduring… and talk to an actual Lebanese lesbian about what it meant to her.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://lebaneselesbian.com">Maya Salam</a>, culture editor at The New York Times</li>
<li>Drew Mackie, cohost of the <a href="https://www.gayestepisodeever.com/">Gayest Episode Ever</a> podcast</li>
</ul>
FOR MORE:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.gayestepisodeever.com/episodes/golden-girls-dorothy-lesbian">Dorothy’s Friend is a Lesbian</a> (Gayest Episode Ever)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/29/arts/television/lesbian-tv-shows.html">The Very Slow Rise of Lesbianism On Screen</a> (Maya Salam, NYT)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.autostraddle.com/in-1986-golden-girls-created-the-most-enduring-lesbian-joke-on-television/">In 1986, Golden Girls Created the Most Enduring Lesbian Joke on TV</a> (Autostraddle)</li>
<li><a href="https://gayestepisodeever.libsyn.com/category/golden+girls">Blanche’s Brother is a Homo, and More Gay Golden Girls’ Moments</a> (Gayest Episode Ever)</li>
</ul>

Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.

Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.

Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.
Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.

In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett

How ‘Golden Girls’ Spawned an Enduring Lesbian Joke (Pt 1)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/75f036ac-1f30-4c66-ba44-b10800fdf41c/transcript

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