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warning: this report contains a lot of messages of homophobia and sexual assault/harrasment
With the turn of the 21st century, we see more LGBTQ+ characters represented in the media. Riverdale (2017), Glee (2009), Queer Eye (2018), and even kids show like Steven Universe (2013). Having characters from an underrepresented community is good for a lot of people who are trying to discover themselves. And it's a good thing that more minority groups are being represented in the media we consume in general, but like with everything, it comes at a cost.
A disturbing trend I've noticed is the sexualisation of femme lesbians and the demonetization of butch (masculine presenting) lesbians. Often times, lesbian relationships feature 2 conventionally attractive femme women. Their relationship is often represented as almost always being fun and healthy. I think this is because a lot of straight women view sapphic relationships as an aesthetic, rather than a real relationship with all the same struggles heterosexual couples face. Straight men also view lesbian relationships as not a serious relationship, but instead of viewing their relationship as aesthetic, they fetishize it and sexualise it. Though, I'd argue that they're both equally bad.
This sexualisation is something that not only is placed on fictional lesbians, but real ones too. It creates a stigma around the word and this hyper sexualisation is DANGEROUS. According to a 2021 study posted by https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31347442/, "Lesbian and bisexual women experience significantly higher rates of sexual assault and rape compared with heterosexual women (...) Overall, 63% of bisexual, 49% of lesbian, and 35% of heterosexual women reported experiencing rape in their lifetime. When holding all other social characteristics constant, sexual orientation remained a significant predictor in the model".
Media is a reflection of our societal beliefs, and the media influences others of said belief. They feed off each other in a loop, what hurts the media hurts the world.
But that's femme women, what about butch? Well, butch women are very rarely ever represented in a positive light, if at all. They're depicted as aggressive, violent, and cruel. The "lesbians are mean" stereotype comes from the fact that many people believe butch lesbians are trying to be men. And all the stereotypes used against men are also applied to butch women. Not only that, but they face general misogyny and homophobia on top of it. Butch lesbians are usually depicted as comedic caricatures rather than serious fledged out characters. In media "made for lesbians" that star lesbian characters, they're almost always femme presenting.
This demonization is to stigmatize lesbianism. It makes sense, two WOMEN being in a relationship with each other? Not needing to rely on men? People are quick to shame this and make it out to be hypersexual, disgusting, unreal. The only time lesbianism is acceptable to men is if it's in p0rn, because then it's something men can enjoy. Because god forbid someone makes something without male validation. Even then, it's a sexual thing that should only remain in NSFW.
I'm passionate about this, as a masc woman myself. I've always wondered if I am a lesbian, the answer to that I do not know. What makes it so much harder is all the stigma surrounding the label, all the things nobody wants to be presented as. And even though I stay unlabeled, I still face the stereotypes (mostly by the way I present myself). And the sexualisation has led to me being sexually harassed (both in real life and online) and groomed numerous times online. I never talked about this anywhere or to anyone, I've never even written it down before. But I think I'm getting really sick of people pretending this isn't an issue just because it's something in movies or TV shows. This is real life and spreading these lies CAN contribute to someone's life. Whether it be bullying, harassment, violence, sexual harassment, rape, and even death.
But what do you think? Is there any good representations of butch women that you like? Have you or someone you've known been affected by this?
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Epic_Gamer_Pokémon_Ranger
What's really sad is that I can't really think up any butch lesbians in film besides your mention of Steven Universe, which has Ruby (and possibly others that I can't remember off the top of my head). I agree with your post quite a bit.
Growing up, when I still identified and lived as a girl, I was very masculine. "Tomgirl" was thrown around for me quite a bit, and I really didn't care. It was only when I started to garner insults that it really started to hurt. My family whispered behind my back that I was a lesbian, which, had my family not been a bunch of conservative Christian types (with the exception of my dad, who didn't really care that much and is extremely opposed to Christianity), was used to shame me or gossip about me. I got called things like carpet-muncher at school by a guy, and I realized that's how people really saw me. It didn't really make me change. I cut my hair very short and did nothing to change my behavior out of rebellion, but I can see how a less rebellious person would easily be forced to live as someone they weren't over it.
I came out as transgender (very masculine, though I identify more in the genderqueer vein than anything else), and that's how I've lived for a long time now. Growing up, I also said I would never marry, which, for some reason, led to my family gossiping about me being a lesbian even more. This doesn't really make much sense to me, but you know how those people are. They see any kind of queerness and they have to shove it into some kind of box. Luckily I don't carry the same conservative beliefs those parts of my family do.
I think butch lesbians get a bunch of shit from people because they threaten peoples' ideas of what gender is and what it means. Women are expected to be pretty, frail, submissive, and butch lesbians, in appearance and demeanor (though I'm sure there's no one way to be a butch lesbian), defy this. Their choice to be their authentic selves proves there's no one way to be a woman, and anyone that dares defy gender stereotypes and gender in general is going to get shit for it, as sad as it is.
I hope we see more representation for butch lesbians in the future. They deserve it.
Thank you for sharing your experience as a trans-masc person. Trans-masc and Butch lesbians actually have a lot more in common than people think, despite being two very different things. Trans-masc (AFAB) face transphobia AND sexism despite being men. Because a lot of people tend to view trans-men as masculine women. So it's common for Trans-Masc to be perceived as lesbians and therefore experience lesbiphobia.
I think the big difference between how people treat trans-masc VS butch lesbians is that butch lesbians are demonized and trans men are infantilized. I'm going to be honest, I don't really understand why this is. Both in my opinion are equally bad
by cat; ; Report
I think a lot of people might view trans-masculine people as "women that have lost their way" or something to that effect. When I was growing up, it was fine to run around and play in the mud until I had to start wearing a bra. Then, all of a sudden, I was a weird little girl that wouldn't grow up. Maybe that's why? There's similarities between butch lesbians and trans-masculine people for sure, though when you focus the lens into either identity in real close, you see the differences.
What really sucks is that butch lesbians will be called predatory or will be shown that way in movies and media for no good reason. I hope, one day, people will stop judging off of appearances alone.
by Epic_Gamer_Pokémon_Ranger; ; Report