I wish there was less lesbian representation

submitted by RedditHatesLesbians from (self.Lesbians)

Because it seems plastic, ingenuine and rooted in stereotypes and tired tropes most of the time. I don't want "representation" I just want lesbian relationships that are treated like any straight relationship and not marketed as "queer" virtue signal so everyone involved can pat themselves on the backs. It's like having a poc character and everyone going on about how there's a poc character and that being their defining trait, same thing happens with lesbians and it's tiring.

Honestly I'm so sick of this ham-fisted inclusivity thing. Yes, it's lovely how lesbian characters are so prevalent now, but most of the time the way we are portrayed leaves a bad taste in my mouth. We're not treated like everyone else, it has to be oh she's a LESBIAN look at us including a LESBIAN romance. And then the characters seem flat and the plot sucks, it's never a real lesbian relationship with issues unrelated to men or their sexuality.

Thoughts?

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[–]FrostyNugs 23 insightful - 4 fun23 insightful - 3 fun24 insightful - 4 fun -  (2 children)

Yes please! Every lesbian character in woke-leaning media today is the exact same one dimensional cardboard cutout. She's a Strong, Independent Woman™ who must subtlety diss any men or straight characters every five seconds, and must effortlessly be better than the male characters at anything she tries. But don't worry, she has flaws too! Like how those boring unwoke straight people don't accept her KWEEEEEER lifestyle until she preaches at them! It feels like I'm reading some virtue signaling queer theory feminism fanfiction instead of a published work.

[–]BraveAndStunningTERF 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I think this comment is pretty accurate but i want to pick your brain a little further.

Do you think the representation we are getting is because of:

1: Lack of content being written/directed by lesbian (not Bi) women?

2: The media wanting to hammer-home their one dimensional view of being a lesbian and make that view as appealing to men as possible for views?

3: The general myth in most societies that women are utterly incapable of being happy & content with their lives when left "to their own devices"

Surely, S-U-R-E-L-Y there has to be a ton of lesbian writers/film makers who's content/ideas are being nexted because it "doesnt appeal to a wider audience" ?

[–]FrostyNugs 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Wall of text ahead:

There could very well be some lesbian writers who are putting out this kind of content, because lesbians are just as vulnerable to woke queer theory rhetoric as anyone else. Maybe even more so, because most lesbians lean very very liberal and will default to the viewpoint they see as the most progressive.

Men are no longer the target audience for most lesbian stories nowadays. Of course there is still a huge market for lesbian content directed towards guys, lesbian is the most popular porn genre in many countries. But most story based content is marketed towards the woke LGBTQIAWTF demographic. It's a very easy audience to reach because you can appeal to them just by adding a few one dimensional characters whose only trait is that they're a member of the alphabet soup, and whose character arc is only about issues relating to their queerness (god, I hate that word.) Even if the story is abysmally written it will be praised by the woke crowd for having representation. Very easy money.

I'm sure that if a writer wanted to include a lesbian character who was a normal person, i.e. not just there for sex appeal or for virtue signaling about how woke the writers are, that they would be told by their superiors to change it. A normal homosexual character would catch a lot of flak from both the alphabet soup brigade for not being queer enough, and the old school conservatives who get their panties in a bunch whenever a gay person is featured in their favorite show. And so having one is just a bad marketing decision. In the end, it's all about the money.

Tl;dr: it's always been about the money, woke people have lots of money and influence. Might fix this later so it's less of a disjointed mess.

[–]FlanJam 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'm kinda on the fence here because idk if I'd prefer no representation over bad representation. For example, the L word (the OG series not the new one) is trashy but I kinda love it in a so-bad-its-good kind of way. But there are other cases where I'd prefer to not have a lesbian character at all. So I guess it really depends on how bad the representation is. Obviously not everything can be a masterpiece, so mundane but serviceable representation is acceptable to me.

[–]yousaythosethings 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I totally agree. I don’t want shit representation. It’s embarrassing. I can understand a gay-focused publication publishing on firsts for gay people but I have no idea why we need to hear from The NY Times, Good Morning America, Buzz Feed, or whatever every time someone is the first “LGBT person” to do something random like be the voice of a Disney Princess or the first male Disney Princess or first Disney Princess to get a double mastectomy. None of this is “news” in any meaningful sense. It’s just a weird prescription of culture and feelings from perhaps well-intentioned but insufferable people who are far removed from our real life experiences.

I just hate the widespread demands for an accounting of every type of diversity in every medium or work of art. Just focus on putting out good stuff and prioritize talent, skill, and merit, don’t discriminate and censor, and let the cream rise to the top.

Also a lot of this emphasis on diversity is misguided because it puts us all in weird boxes. Why should I be in the same box as a man who identifies as a woman? Why should I feel represented by that? And why should someone in a wheelchair feel represented by someone who is blind because they both have “disabilities?” Why should a Chilean feel represented by a Mexican because they’re both Hispanic? It’s just a weird, overly simplistic way of thinking. Everyone is not going to get represented all the time in everything.

[–]Lesbianese 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I feel the same way. I often prefer characters from older media who are implied to be/hinted at being lesbian, somehow they feel better written and more relatable.

[–]CatsOrGoHome 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I feel you. I roll my eyes at most of the things the community applauds for representation. I never like the ones they like. She-ra is one I do because I can easily look passed the queer stuff with the gc perspective.

I wish we could be depicted as normal people under this current climate. Recently, I've started to watch one show I watched when I was little called Stargate Universe. One of the characters was a lesbian and I think this was the first show I ever saw with lesbians in it. It wasn't central to her character and she was just like everyone else in the show. Can we please get back to being seen as that and not the empty virtue signaling the queers like?

[–]Innisfree 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It helps focusing more on some positives: the critical community that has sprung up around bad representation. Namely lesbian bloggers and journalists. About 10 years ago this community was verging on the mainstream one, even breaking through at times. And no doubt played a great role in improving representation. Clexacon comes to mind, and some new Yorker journalists, but I'm sure there are better examples you guys can give. There used to be great places online were we could come together and discuss what specifically was bad about such and such character's storyline.

Unfortunately as you all point out, queer theory has made the whole entreprise toothless by diluting it with a myriad of identities and contradictory demands.

[–]LeaveAmsgAfterBeep 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The objective wasn’t numbers, it was quality.

[–]carrotcake 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah I don't care about "representation". I don't want to see movies about lesbian sexuality or lesbian romances, especially if the problem is coming out or men. I don't care. It has been talked about enough already. I wanna see a protagonist that lives her life and happens to be gay. And I want good storylines. Just a normal good movie idk why that's so much to ask.

[–][deleted] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Me too.

[–]hunther 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Can you some examples of bad representations?