I don’t know why, but I seem to be in some sort of valley heavily populated with lesbians. Two of the books I’m reading feature lesbian sex; the women aren’t lesbians, per se, but they engage in the occasional girl-on-girl action. Add to that the random TV shows, movies and magazine covers that have come into my home in the last week that feature Lesbians and we’re up to about an even dozen.
It reminds me of a couple of years ago where everyone was infertile. That was a key component of my reading material, viewing material and cultural drive-bys for about six months. It kind of weirded me out, seeing as how we had just got done with the infertility nightmare ourselves and moved over into Childfree Mountain.
Now, I must state for the record that I have not ever had lesbian encounters, desires or thoughts. Kinsey would be very disappointed in me. I do often get mistaken for being a lesbian, most often by catty Baptist women who think my pudgy build and lack of makeup translates directly into batting for the other team. Although there have been many times where lesbians themselves think of me as one of them. I say it’s wishful thinking.
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah…
The thing is that while I myself am not into the idea of that way of life, I do know many lesbian and bisexual women very well. At different points in my life I’ve counted them as my best friends. (You know, maybe that’s another reason the Catty Baptists think I work that side of the street.)
The “lesbians” in these books and tv programs that I’m being peppered with these weeks are NOT actual, true, real Lesbians. They are male authors ideas of how to hook a segment of their audience. It’s not realistic and it’s not even remotely fair. In fact it’s starting to bug me because it’s getting into the area of minstrel show lesbianism. It’s exploitative instead of illuminating.
(Sorry, as I write this my dogs are arguing with each other and they keep breaking up my train of thought.)
According to the back cover of this week’s Entertainment Weekly there is a new show called “The Real L Word” premiering on Showtime sometime soon. It’s supposed to be like those Real Housewives messes, but instead of being married to houses these women are in relationships with other women.
I’m starting to feel like the Entertainment Industry is desperate. The movies this summer all sorta suck. Summer TV generally bites. And judging from what i’ve seen lately, Lesbian Action is the go-to ratings grabber that writers rely on when nothing else is working. Prime example: last night we were watching Firefly on Netflix Instant. Episode 10 featured some lesbian lovin’, as Inara took on a FEMALE client. Episode 10 was undoubtedly written and filmed when the show was getting whiffs of pending doom from above. It had that Don’t-Cancel-Us-Sweeps-Week air about it.
I just wonder if this is what the LBGTXYZ community wanted when they asked for greater awareness. I can’t help but think maybe it isn’t.
Just Another Pretty Farce 
I just wonder if this is what the LBGTXYZ community wanted when they asked for greater awareness. I can’t help but think maybe it isn’t.
Depends on who you ask. I know some gay folk who just eat it up. IMO, you hit the nail on the head with minstrel show analogy (I think I’ve used that exact term before when speaking of the entertainment industry’s depictions of gay men).
Yet, on the other hand, it’s something. I think Will & Grace did as much as anything (prior to her finding out that I am gay) to get my mom’s general feelings towards gays and lesbians changing. While media depictions of gay people are almost always disappointing and sometimes infuriating, I’m starting to think the minstrel show phase maybe a necessary step, so long as we can avoid getting stuck on it.
“I seem to be in some sort of valley heavily populated with lesbians” – dang it, I can’t find this on Google Maps! 🙂
Well, good luck on getting men to treat fictional women they have created as beings worthy of being taken seriously and presented right. I mean, some men (a lot, actually) will do that, because they take creating seriously. But in our culture they have no obligation to, except to themselves. Certainly not to women. So they often won’t.