You're listening ad-free on Amazon Music.

The Double X Gab Fest is brought to you by Squarespace,

the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website, portfolio, and online store.

For a free trial and 10% off, visit Squarespace.com slash double.

A better web starts with your website. The following podcast contains

explicit language. Welcome to the double X gap fest for Thursday, May 1st, the Bechdel test

versus the jiggle test edition. I'm Hannah Rosen in the DC Studios, and I'm joined to New York by June Thomas, editor of Outward, Slate's blog on. June, I'm trying here, LGBTQ. I really want to say gay issues, but I can't, I can't say that. It's always just a mouthful for you to say, LGBTQ, LGBTQ. Here's the thing. cute. Here's what I tell myself. If you write all the time about gay things, you're always like craving another phrase. And so I'm just grateful to LGBT for that. Maybe it's like the word gender. Like that's a terrible word. Like, LGBT is like an awkward construction, but we got nothing better. It's useful anyway. It's useful. And Noreen Malone of New York Magazine. Hi, Noreen. Hey, huh. So before we start, a few announcements, one is Slate Plus. For any of you, Slate readers, podcast listeners, Slate has this new thing called Slate Plus, which allows you to see the wizard behind the curtain, get all sorts of features and gadgets that average readers can access.

Of course, you have to pay for these things, but they're wonderful things like live stream video podcasts, ad-free podcasts of some of our most popular podcasts.

You can get Slate with No Pagination.

You can hear our awesome producer, Chris Wade, discuss Game of Thrones,

count the bosoms and the rape scenes. In fact, maybe you could have heard our off-might

conversation about Game of Thrones, which was quite entertaining. But anyway, sign up through our

URL, www.slate.com slash XX plus. That's www. slate.com slash xx plus. And I will say that if we at double X get enough people to sign up through that URL, maybe you will get our podcast ad free as well. Okay. On to the show. First, the letters. We got such fabulous letters this week on all three of the subjects that you discussed last week. I'm going to read

one of the letters about basic bitches. For one thing, people were insulted about how bitchy we were. I'm not going to read that letter, but I just want to tell you ladies that because I wasn't there, you were very bitchy. That's kind of basic thing to say, hon. I'm sorry. Real basic. But, you know, that's just how it was.

And then I'm going to read a letter from a you know, that's just how it was.

And then I'm going to read a letter from a guy, James Medina, who felt we were sort of gender exclusive.

This is like men can be basic bitches, too.

They said, is there any difference between the theoretical basic bitches talking about who they are on sex in the city?

And geeks repeating Monty Python jokes and purchasing Star Wars merchandise,

are they any different than REI people or gluten-free liberals? I think basically the point of this letter is that the whole world is basic bitches, men, women, everyone. I'm sold. You're sold? Yeah,

people just want their tribes. People just want their tribes. A basic bitch is just your tribe. And I will say, James, because a lot of letters from men begin this way, men say, I'm not your average listener. I would just say you would be very surprised. My guess is that we have more male listeners than female. I can't prove that, but you might just be our average listeners.

Okay, let's move on to our show.

...