Lez Get Real!

We have decided that ‘Lez Get Real’ will be a regular segment on WWDN, in doing so we will re-cap on any reality & fictional lesbian on-goings in the TV world.

The UK lesbian reality show Candy Bar Girls premiered last Thursday on Channel 5. It is great to see that the the UK have joined in trying to portray the real lives of lesbians.It promises to be real lives, no cliches. Myself and my lesbian friends aren’t totally convinced what kind of show it is going to end up being, however as they have only introduced a few members of the cast so far we will leave our full judgements for a while. Either way I hope it portrays lesbian lifestyles in a positive way and doesn’t just reinforce stereotypes. Here’s a good article about it in the Guardian.

Advert for the show:

They released some rather comical, tongue in cheek adverts (like the one below) which to no surprise had complaints to ofcom about.

The second episode of Lez Be Proud has aired and you can find it here. It is dedicated to the charity Freedom To Marry, plus features the planning of Dawn & Debbie’s wedding for August!
As I am flying into Dallas on my journey to Whitney, hopefully I will be catching up with the ladies for a quick glass of wine before my final flight to the Carolinas!

The cast are continuing with their shenanigans and have toned down the sex, this could be due to a change in editing who knows. Romi seems to be coming out as our top favourite lately, turning herself around by becoming sober and focusing on her career. Romi has also only just launched her own jewllery line Hija Por Vida with her friend. We absolutely love Romi’s style and think this is a great path for her so we wish her all the best. Also what are the odds that her & Francine from TRLW are throwing a girls party in Hawaii? Fun Girl Hawaii– Just our luck we’ve left!!

Cori & Kacy are the ‘unicorn’ couple and remind Whitney & I very much of ourselves. They seem really sweet and will be contributing to our Real Life Lesbians campaign (thanks ladies!)

With the last post I was asked to discuss the lesbian fictional characters on TV. It seems that within the last couple of years, the representation of lesbians has risen on TV. This is rather welcome as a lot of TV series will bring in gay male characters, but rarely lesbians. There does however seem to be a trend where a gay male character will have a longer standing in a series, and they definitely wouldn’t try turn him ‘straight’ again. That is the only annoyance we often have with fictional TV, is the portrayal of a woman coming to terms with being gay, establishing a relationship. coming out to everyone… and they returning to a male. This is rather disheartening and whilst can be true for some out there, it sets the image that lesbians can be ‘turned’ and gay men cannot. When in fact, (we believe) that we are born the way we are that is that.

There is Shay Mitchell in Pretty Little Liars, who alongside being stunning, plays the lesbian character of Emily. They have focused on coming out to parents (& having disappointment) as well as introduced different levels of being openly and closeted gay with her female interests. All in all I think for show that caters mainly to teenage girls they did a tasteful job of handling such a storyline, plus I think having her friends accept her for who she is is very important.

Onto Glee, there is a rather different story line with Naya (who looks rather similasr to Shay) playing Santana, originally made out to be very boy hungry but is in fact in love with Brittany and cannot come to terms with being ‘Lebenese’. As they have followed Kurt’s storyline of being gay for quite a while, I’m glad to see a lesbian character. Whilst it’s sad to see that she is not yet ready to accept herself fully and come out, I look forward to what the next series has in store and how her character will progress.

There is lastly the couple in Coronation Street, which I admittedly do not follow and so therefore cannot comment much. Though from what I’ve heard and seen it is a fairly positive portrayal. There is however article by surprise, surprise, the Daily Mail who criticise the influx of LGBT characters on Corrie. In which you can read some delightful quotes as the following:

This just highlights the completely ignorant view that sexual orientation is a subject that should be hidden from children for years in a bid to ‘save’ their innocence for as long as possible; when all they are doing is preventing them from the actualities of the real world plus reinforcing the heterosexist believe that anything other that straight is inferior. Of course I don’t believe that children should watch sexual behavior, straight or gay, at a young age though that they should be educated at a young age in order to engrain equality and help prevent homophobic bullying from ensuing, as well as teaching acceptance of those who are different (or of course the same).

With those I have discussed above there does seem to be a move to representing the femme lesbians out there, which I personally love to see as I feel that portrays my life to a certain extent. However, when they only introduce a token lesbian character now and then, and they’re fully femme (as well as their girlfriend, which from our experience of the ‘scene’ is actually quite rare), they are of course neglecting a whole different type of lesbians out there and therefore haven’t quite got it right yet.

With that all being said, we’d love to hear your thoughts: