This has been bugging me for quite some time now. Here's a list of current and recent TV shows I've watched that have, in at least one episode, featured a lesbian, bisexual woman, or lesbian couple in a manner meant to be taken seriously/portrayed in a positive manner.
- Elementary
- Arrow
- The Walking Dead
- Once Upon a Time
- Person of Interest
- Sherlock
- Dollhouse
- Touch
- Last Man Standing
- Stargate Universe
- Heroes
- 24
- Firefly
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Good Luck Charlie (le sigh)
(What's most upsetting about the last one is that the show is targeted specifically to families, on a network for kids. Disney has gone to the Dark Side, and, unfortunately, can't be trusted with my children's entertainment anymore. They have also hastened the cancelling of our cable. I was waiting until the summer (after all our other shows end their seasons), but I think I'll just do it now.)
But back to the topic. Now, of those shows, here are the ones that have portrayed a gay or bisexual man, or same-sex male couple in a similarly serious/positive manner.
This is something I first noticed a long time ago. The rule I've come up with, which might be called the
lesbian rule, concerning homosexuality in TV shows, movies, and other media can be stated as such: if the homosexual or bisexual is meant to be taken seriously, she will be a women. If it will be played for laughs, he will be a man.
Typically, the lesbian(s) will be attractive, upper-middle-class types who don't conform to any of the stereotypes about lesbian women, such as being "butch".
Typically, homosexual men will be portrayed as a metrosexual/overly stylish and generally conform to stereotypes about gay men.
I've wondered about this for a while now, and struggled to explain it. I've pondered over whether or not it might be related to pornography (for surely, "hot girl-on-girl action" is used far more frequently in spam than "hot guy-on-guy action"). I suspect it has something to do with objectification, since when they're included in this way, it's always in an attempt to further an agenda; the character and actress are being, in a way, objectified to fit the agenda. I suppose women are easier to visually objectify than men, which would be the connection to porn.
Either way, when TV writers wish to upset the "hetero-normative assumptions of the culture" and make the unpalatable palatable, they always choose to further their agenda by degrading women.
By the way, "hetero-normative" is one of those words that, if you use it, makes me immediately dismiss you as a loon. Sort of like "Zionist conspiracy" and "the spirit of Vatican II."
