Lesbian media
Lesbians are still rare and far between on television. And while the diversity of queer, female experiences is far from being comprehensively captured on TV screens, there are a handful of great lesbian shows—even more so in recent years—pushing voice forward. Though once a rare televised species, lady-loving ladies now lead sitcoms, teen comedies, family dramas, cop procedurals, reality series, period pieces, and more genres.
Could there more lesbians on TV? Of course! But now there is a (limited, but decent) plethora of binge-worthy shows that depict great visibility of lesbian and bisexual women, plus mythically trendy woman-loving woman bars that go real-life sapphics salivating.
Queer content, of course, isn’t just for queer people. Embracing fully developed, complicated, lovable (and sometimes unlikable) queer characters is also an important part of being an ally. When there are still so several LGBTQ+ characters on TV, sometimes we have to pursue out queer media (including books and movies, too).
You may likeThankfully for all of us, a large range of wonderful lesbian-led TV shows streaming right now. Below, find the best lesbian TV shows and series with b
Happy Lesbian Visibility Week! This week, from April 22 to 28, is a time to intentionally celebrate and show solidarity with lesbians in our community. In honor of the occasion, we’re taking a look back at some important moments in womxn loving womxn representation on TV—from iconic characters to pivotal milestones.
Television, and media at large, both reproduce actual world and create it. Representation has a tangible impact on how the public perceives queerness and how people understand themselves. Not all characters and representation are created equal, though, and an increase of both quantity and quality of lesbian characters is essential. According to GLAAD’s 2022-2023 Where We Are On TV Report (WWATV), there was a decrease in lesbian representation compared to the previous year’s learning. Out of the 596 LGBTQ characters counted across all platforms, 180 (30%) were lesbians. There were also zero confirmed sapphic trans characters.
Queer representation in television is a powerful tool for moving the needle on LGBTQ acceptance and rights, and the stories must be fair, correct, and diverse to accomplish any kind of real change. The impact of lesbian characters and inclusive plotlines canno
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Graphic by Maya Balakrishnan/OutWrite
The entertainment industry profits off the sexualization of women. Whether typecast as a complacent suburban housewife or a mighty crime-fighting machine, women in media are reduced to their sexual attributes, especially lesbians and other queer people.
This phenomenon of sexualizing queer woman and queer relationships in particular is not new in the industry. Though there are tremendous benefits to the representation of gay relationships in the media, this recurrent pattern appears in many films. Two examples of movies that oversexualize women in a womxn loving womxn relationship are “Blue is the Warmest Color” and “Below Her Mouth.”Though both movies take amazing care to detail the sexual aspects of lesbian relationships, they lack the mental and heartfelt components.
Queer people who watch these films may feel uncomfortable, as the relationships move extremely instantly with very small communication or dialogue between characters before extremely graphic sexual scenes. The on-screen sex feels particularly unrealistic, as if the lesbian sex scenes are written and shot for a straight male audience.
With the oversexualization of queer rel