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"She's Got the Look" Makes Lesbians Look Good
This Thursday night, cable channel TV Land (one of the many channels owned by Viacom, which also owns this website) premieres the second season of She's Got the Look — a modeling competition for women over 35 — with a lesbian among the contestants. Hosted by Kim Alexis, the competition is judged by Beverly Johnson, Robert Verdi, and Sean Patterson, and follows a familiar format: each episode contains photo and runway challenges, one contestant is eliminated at the end of the episode, and the final model left standing receives a contract with Wilhelmina Models, a photo spread in Self Magazine, and $100,000. The primary difference between this show, The CW's America's Next Top Model and Bravo's Make Me a Supermodel is the average age of the contestants, which is about 20 years older than the contestants on other modeling shows. This translates to more grammatically correct sentences, a little less gushing, and slightly better behavior. I say "slightly" because, like all good reality shows, this one has its share of drama queens (and I don't mean the gay judges). One contestant in particular is so obviously a train wreck waiting to happen that you're only a little surprised when she intentionally tries to get eliminated by pulling a stunt that's over the top, even for reality TV. Fortunately, she's not the lesbian contestant. In fact, unlike the UK's Big Brother 10, the parade of lesbian vampire movies, and every recent Megan Fox interview, She's Got the Look actually makes lesbians look good. Here's how TV Land's describes gay New Yorker Sandy Young:
In her audition interview (which you can watch in full on the show's website, but you'll only see snippets of on air), Sandy reveals that she grew up in an abusive foster home, married a man, had two children, and then came out as a lesbian five years ago. When the judges ask Sandy why she wants to be a model, she responds:
During her audition interview, the judges seemed pre-occupied with the fact that she's gay, and especially concerned about her ability to tap into her femininity, asking questions like "can you wear heels?" and "how often do you wear a dress?" The judges' focus on the femininity issue seems largely due to the fact that Sandy came to the audition wearing a (very cute) boyish outfit, and the fact that she's in a rock band, but it also seems fueled by stereotypes about lesbians, which is a little disappointing. Fortunately, most of the "can you be feminine?" conversation isn't in the broadcast version. Sandy manages to convince the judges she can embody femininity as well as masculinity, so she lands one of the coveted finalist spots, and quite ably displays her femininity in one of the first challenges. Here's Sandy all dolled up for her official post-make-over photo:
Personally, I liked her jacket-and-tie look better, but I'm not a modeling agent. Besides Sandy, there are a handful of other interesting and likeable women to root for, including 72-year-old grandmother Dolores, 35-year-old former military captain Raquel, and 39-year-old divorcee and single mom Shelly, who has really, really low self-esteem. There are also some really annoying contestants, too, like 37-year-old Australian redhead Rachel, which keeps the contest engaging. Because She's Got the Look only consists of eight episodes, it moves along fairly quickly. In the first episode, we see some bad/funny auditions, meet the 20 semi-finalists, and then see them compete to become one of the final 10. In the second episode, two contestants are eliminated after an impromptu casting call doesn't go so well for some of them (including the aforementioned train wreck). While it's too soon to tell how Sandy will fare in the long run, she definitely manages to hold her own on She's Got the Look. If you're a fan of reality shows — and decent lesbian visibility on TV — I'd recommend watching. She's Got the Look premieres Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. on TV Land. Check out Sandy's band at MySpace.com/WhoButShe. |
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pre-makeover, please
The first two photos of her are smoking HOT, and gave me an insta-crush.
But then the post-makeover photos are seriously not that appealing -- even for the "feminine" look, in my opinion. Crush faded.
What's up with that??
To each their own
Some of us LOVE our makeovers. We do it for ourselves.
Some people like glam, some people don't. No problem. I'll be on the arm of a girl who appreciates my glam side.
Totally agree. Pre-makeover
Totally agree. Pre-makeover is gorgeous.
She doesn't even look like the same person.
Oh wow
What a drastic change! If I saw only the photos and not the article I'd never ever tell it was the same person! I definitely prefer the "dolled up" version of her :D but she has a natural beauty.
"I believe that I will be with one person for the rest of my life, but that person will be a woman." Luce-Imagine Me&You
Go grandma!
Nice!!! I should tune
Nice!!! I should tune in!!!
She is awesome
Will u miss me?
She got that looks. She can rock the party.
gotta watch it
Im not really into reality shows, and i despise all modeling reality shows such as ANTP and such. but this seems like a great oppurtunity to raise awarness about real beauty and real women (Dove commercial anyone?! :P)
but seriously, i was overblown by the fact that there is a 72 year old amongst them, Dolores is beautiful and she would be a great inspiration to many women out there. i wouldnt give a hoot really if there was a lesbian with them or not, its just great that such an idea was considered for a show.
this show
oh really...thats a shame.
love it
hell to the yeah, this woman's presence is sexy because it is simple, calm, and confident (without being arrogant). i love it.
i thought the judges were idiots. they obviously haven't spent any substantial time with lesbians ever. oh well. maybe they'll learn a thing or two from this season.
actually i wouldn't have recognized her in the make over photos, but i'm open to see what'll happen with her.
yay for awesome, stable, positive lesbians in the media!
Rachel
In her audition, Rachel says she's from New Zealand, but why is she tagged as being Australian? They are two separate countries after all..
I'm rooting for her.. she's going to bring that Kiwi spunk and charm!
She Rocks!
I love that Sandy is a Lesbian Mom and can rock out!
I am going to tune in for sure!
shes hot i didnt realise it
i didnt realise it was the same girl in both pics
gorgeous.
i like her either way
how can we watch this show?
im from australia so i doubt they will play it here
So, if she couldn't wear high heels?
She "makes lesbians look good." SHAME ON YOU!!!!!
Is it because she is pretty and is able to walk in heels? Is it because she can "pass" for a straight woman? Is it because she is a mother who happens to be a lesbian?
I am still trying to figure out how one person who is participating on a reality show that is geared toward satisfying the media's perception of what is beautiful and womanly can make a whole coommunity of people look good? What, we're supposed to feel good because she past the homophobic test of the judges? "Whew, she passed! She proved she is femme enough...she makes lesbians look good!!"
I am still trying to figure out how you as lesbians responded with your own incredibly homophobic statement by saying she makes lesbians look good. Shame on you! Lesbians, like heterosexual women come in all shapes and sizes. We range from butch to femme and everything in between. I take the implication that just because someone is model worthy she makes lesbians look good as a slap in the face to the rest of us who aren't. What, we don't make lesbians look good?
WE ALL MAKE LESBIANS LOOK GOOD BY WHO WE ARE AS PEOPLE, NOT BY HOW PRETTY WE LOOK IN HEELS AND A DRESS!!!!
I get that this is a modeling show, and for most of society that means in order for a woman to be beautiful she has to put a dress on and wear lots of make-up. That's not my criteria for what constitutes beauty, but I get that is what the show is about. However, you making that statement makes me sad that you feel we need that type of image in order for us as a community to "look good."
We not going to break sterotypes just by throwing a femme lesbian at straight people, and saying, "see...look at her! We can be femme too!!" Besides, it's not up to us to have to break sterotypes for straight people.
The title is not about her appearance
I'm not sure if you just skimmed the article, or are projecting your (understandable) frustration with society's relentless emphasis on femininity on the article, but I didn't say or imply Sandy makes lesbians look good because she can wear heels or put on a dress (in fact, I said the opposite - that she looked better pre-makeover).
The title of the article, "She's Got the Look" Makes Lesbians Look Good, is partly a pun on the name of the show, and partly a reference to how bad we look (again, not referring to physical appearance here) on so many other shows/movies/Megan Fox interviews right now, as I also referenced in the article.
Sandy makes lesbians look good because she's survived an abusive childhood to build a successful life as an adult; come out; is a mother and a rock singer; and — most important of all — comes across as likable and stable. I didn't spell this out, because I didn't think I had to — I thought it was clear from my comments (e.g. "Fortunately, she's not the lesbian contestant" when referring to the one whose behavior is really bizarre; noting that I preferred Sandy's pre-makeover look; grouping her with the show's "interesting and likable" contestants, etc.).
I did call the judges out for their assumptions in the interview that lesbians can't be feminine, because they're buying into stereotypes by doing that; but that doesn't mean I think all lesbians should be feminine. I don't, and I didn't make that assertion in the article.
As Kevin from the Office
As Kevin from the Office would say.. Mmmmilf.
She's gorgeous...
"There would be no black and white, the world would just treat my wife right. We could walk down in Mississippi, and no one would look at us twice. That's my dreamworld." - Dreamworld by Robin Thicke
I swear at the beginning of
I swear at the beginning of her interview she said she's single but then a few mins in she said she's dating the guitarist in her band for 5 months. huh? also, she sounded like Dara Nai at one point
the judges were kinda ignorant sounding, Idk if they thought she couldn't be feminine just 'cus her outfit was not feminine or if it was cus she was gay. She's cute. very cute and I like how she seems childish yet mature. Cuter when she's tomboy
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so odd..
i just so happened to be flipping channels last night and i landed on the show for the first time and she was the one who was on stage. i was instantly like "wow."
and now i come on here today and find out she's one of us. nice.
She is absolutely beautiful…
I really don’t get why it’s so hard to embrace what we are, whether it be femininity, masculinity, and everything in between. Regardless of gender, sexuality or whatever we want or need to satisfy the heart, mind, or spirit. Isn’t it preferable that we embrace and accept instead of criticizing and rejecting?
Personally I love women… the heart, the mind, and the body is just a beautiful bonus…
Perhaps if women over all showed more unity and less criticism regardless of the way they dressed we would have more energy to face the real issues of the world.
p.s. I love the dress!
I love Sandy...
...because I know her personally and I know she's true to herself, funny, talented, driven, and loves my dog Brownie and her dog Gizmo, her cat Gracey, and her farret Milo...and above all her children. She's adamant on dressing creatively, hand making clothes, wearing converse, wearing cut up jean skirts and skinny jeans, and rocking out!
Modeling is a job.
I love you Sandy!
aw that seems like
a pretty cool show. almost makes me wish i had cable.
___ __ _____ __ _____ _ ___ _ ____ _
I dangled my participle in her fragment and stretched it into a run-on.
Adrenaline Rush: Badasses with Hearts of Gold and Other Honorable Traits TooAlsoAsWell-slash-Suavee.
Will there be..
Check my Queer Women in TV round up in BLWE
If you don't get the channel...
She's Got The Look
An older woman lover's fantasy show! I was pretty amazed at all of the sexy, beautiful women over 35 giving women my age a run for their money! I heart older women!
I would choose her