I have a serious question for any gay women reading this...

[battleknight24]

I have been watching 'The L Word' since the first episode... you know that guy, I can't remember his name, the lesbian identified man... well, not to sound dumb, but is there really such a thing? By the way, how accurate is this shows depiction of the gay community?


Peace,

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. i dont see the show

but there are lesbian identified trannies (who are pre-op so still with male genitalia)..is that what you mean?

[battleknight24]

2. So I guess the character in the show...

... has a desire to be female but is still sexually attracted to females?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. have not seen the show so unsure

but my pt. is that it is possible in that regard

[southerngirlwriter]

4. An excellent novel on the subject,

Trans-Sister Radio. My writer's group read it not long ago. It's exactly what you describe -- a pre-op M2F who identifies as lesbian. Great book!

[Plaid Adder]

6. Man, i HATED that book!

Review here:

http://www.plaidder.com/transister.htm

The thing I hated most about it was the fact that once Dana transitioned, suddenly she became a straight woman. One of the members of our book group hypothesized that the author (a straight man) believes in transsexuality but not in homosexuality. I think you can make a case for that based on the way the book handles the transition.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[southerngirlwriter]

7. Wow.

I didn't see it that way at all.

I looked at it as more like, "We don't have to segregate ourselves into rigidly defined boxes. We are free to feel what we feel for whomever we feel it for."

Even if you hated the perceived message, though, the book did a great job of letting me into the mind of a M2F. A real-life friend of mine who's M2F (living out the one-year transition time now) said it was pretty accurate as far as feeling, emotions, challenges, etc.

I've only read one other book by Chris Bohjalian, so I don't presume to know his politics. :shrug:

[Plaid Adder]

9. Well, that's the wonderful thing about reading, isn't it.

People have very different responses to the same text. It's what keeps literature alive.

Audience no doubt has something to do with the reception; I read it for a lesbian book group and the response was basically universally negative. We're more likely to be bothered by how casually Bohjalian handles Dana's shift from being a lesbian to being a straight woman, especially as there are indications even before the transition that Dana is not making a very clear distinction between the two identities anyway (she uses Allison as her model for femininity, without considering the possibility that a straight woman might not be the best model for someone who wants to become a lesbian). It suggested to me that Bohjalian doesn't really understand that whole issue very well. But, I could be wrong.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[Plaid Adder]

5. Haven't seen the show, but

In general, I have found that the portrayal of lesbians on TV is pretty bad in terms of accuracy, although often they're doing their best to make it positive.

The main problem I have with most mainstream entertainment depictions of lesbians is that the gay characters are usually dressed and made up exactly like straight women would be. They don't seem able to break out of the standard TVland idea about what women should look like--which, because it's all predicated on the idea that said women are attempting to attract men, is a pretty far cry from most versions of the lesbian aesthetic. Plus there's the fact that most women on TV these days look like they came out of a factory anyway.

No idea about the lesbian-identified character, but I just want to say: TV is inaccurate about almost everything, so don't assume that it's going to be accurate about lesbians.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. about lesbians

my gf and i are very very femme...its just who we are...some lesbians are femme and some are butch and theres everything in between...tv never captures the diversity that is the world

[Plaid Adder]

10. No, they don't really do that for straight people very well either.

Alas. But, what can you do.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[battleknight24]

11. If you haven't seen the show...

... most of the main characters seem to be quite feminine, with most of the secondary characters and extras being a wide variety... I can understand why some gay women might be turned off by the very feminine portrayals, but TV is a business, and Showtime is trying to get ratings in the straight male department, such as myself... I said I was a guy, right? (I started this discussion thread...)

Anyway, if you haven't seen the show, at least give it a chance... aside from the steamy love scenes, its quite funny too...


Peace,