TV

“America’s Next Top Model”: the Queerest Place on Primetime

It’s easy to dismiss UPN’s America’s Next Top Model as a trashy reality show about vapid supermodel wannabes (cue the requisite long-nailed catfights), but since the program premiered in May 2003, Top Model has become one of the most queer-friendly shows on primetime. This fall’s “fifth cycle” of the series ups the queer ante even more by including its third openly queer contestant: out lesbian Kim.

But the fact that Kim is openly gay isn’t what gives Top Model top honors as the most queer reality show on TV. It’s the fact that Kim is openly butch (in appearance-we don’t know whether she identifies as “butch”), and that Tyra Banks and the other judges overtly support her masculine look and style, going so far as to tell her to “go with your strong masculinity” rather than trying to feminize herself on the runway.

Although reality TV has been the most gay-friendly genre on television, with openly gay contestants appearing on everything from Survivor to Big Brother, lesbian contestants have largely been feminine in appearance. Only three American reality shows have included lesbians who have been masculine or androgynous in appearance.

On a February 2005 episode of Wife Swap, lesbian mom Kristine Luffey traded places with conservative Christian mom Kris Gillespie-and was lambasted for her sexual orientation. Also, during season three of American Idol in 2004, Briana Ramirez-Rial briefly vied for a chance at being a pop star, but was voted off before she could do more flash across our gaydar. Though Ramirez-Rial looked every inch the butch dyke, she never really had the chance to come out. Finally, there was Cynthia on Animal Planet’s King of the Jungle, a cable series that wasn’t seen by nearly as many viewers.

In contrast, reality television in the U.K. has been more flexible in terms of showing variation in gender expression. In 2003, out lesbian Alex Parks won Fame Academy (an American Idol-type program), even with her baby butch looks and sky-high fauxhawk.

But the United States has always been more conservative in its gender expression; even scripted television shows rarely show lesbians who don’t conform to traditionally feminine norms.

Other than The L Word, which has given us the probably-butch Shane and the genderbending Ivan, there have only been three butch lesbians on television in the past year, and only as one-time characters.

On a January 2005 episode of Las Vegas we had Pam, a butch African-American dyke; in February 2005 there was Ricky on HBO’s Lackawanna Blues; and in May 2005 a Cold Case episode investigated the death of a butch African American lesbian. (The fact that all three of these butch lesbians were African Americans is a disturbing indicator that Americans still closely link race with sexuality, and in particular, non-normative sexuality with people of color.)

Given this history of invisibility for butch lesbians, the fact that Top Model includes an openly gay contestant who is not traditionally feminine in appearance is nothing short of incredible. This is one of the first times that Americans will have the opportunity to have a woman who actually looks queer—and who openly expresses her sexuality—in their living rooms every week.

Even more importantly, Tyra Banks and the other judges on the show are openly supportive of Kim’s non-traditional appearance, and have consistently praised her “masculine” look from the first time she appeared, during a first-episode posing challenge when Kim and another contestant are asked to give a “supermodel sexy” pose. In a side-by-side contrast that must have been planned, both Kim and the other contestant wear neckties, but Kim wears pants while the other girl wears a miniskirt.

When openly queer judge J. Alexander assesses their poses, he approvingly describes Kim’s pose as a “very masculine sexy.”

During the finalists’ first judging panel, all of the judges criticize Kim for attempting to be feminine rather than relying on her masculine appeal. Tyra Banks tells her, “You’re trying to be something that you’re not. You’re trying to be so sexy and so girlie and you look like a man in a dress, girl. Go with your strong masculinity. That’s what brought you here.”

The judges’ acceptance of Kim’s masculine—or at least androgynous—look is not surprising, given the past winners of the show. Other than Adrianne from the first season, all previous Top Model winners have been somewhat androgynous in appearance. In season two, Yoanna won after having her long hair chopped off into an edgy, moldable fauxhawk during her makeover. In season three, Eva—also short-haired—won the competition, and has since been dogged by rumors of a lesbian relationship with Missy Elliott (repeatedly denied).

Season four’s winner, Naima, entered the competition with her Mohawk already in place, and is arguably the most queer-looking winner to date. If we go by hairstyle as a predictor of Top Model success, then Kim—and Lisa, the edgy 24-year-old from L.A.—currently have the best chances of winning this season.

The show’s first openly queer contestant, Ebony Haith from Cycle 1, was not exactly super-feminine, but she didn’t really have an androgynous or masculine look. Cycle 4’s Michelle Deighton, who came out as bisexual on the show, was on the more conventionally feminine end of the scale (at least in appearance).

What’s more surprising than the judges’ support of Kim is the fact that the other contestants seem to be fascinated—and titillated—by her sexual identity. Nineteen-year-old Kyle, a former Dairy Queen manager from Dexter, Michigan, says to the panel during the first episode, “I met a girl, Kim. She’s a lesbian. I’ve never met a lesbian before.”

As Kyle says the word “lesbian,” J. Alexander gives a thumbs-up, and Tyra responds, “You have, you just don’t know that they were,” helpfully underlining the fact that lesbians exist everywhere.

Later at the Top Model house, Kim gathers with several other girls around the swimming pool, where she is asked, “Are you a full-on lesbian? Like, you’re not bi?” Kim admits that she only dates girls, but that she has a girlfriend (with whom she’s in an open relationship) and that “I’m not gonna hit on anyone here, that’s crazy.”

Eighteen-year-old Sarah, from Boonville, Missouri, immediately offers, “I’ll make out with you, Kim.” And in her videotaped confession Sarah adds, “Being from a small town, I don’t know any full-blown lesbians. But I’m open about everything.”

She shows just how open she is when, in the limo on the way back from a disastrous runway show, she launches herself at Kim and begins to kiss her. Though initially taken aback, Kim is quick to respond, and after their makeout session (lovingly captured on camera for several lingering seconds) Kim announces, “One down, 11 to go!”

There are likely many reasons behind the contestants’ acceptance of—and even desire for—Kim as a “full-blown lesbian.” First, Kim appears friendly, and does not seem to be defensive or confrontational about her sexual identity. This sets her apart from the first season’s Ebony Haith, whose lesbian identity was worn more defensively (although she also faced more homophobia).

Second, Kim’s boyish good looks place her in a sexual category that teenage girls understand and are not threatened by: the cute boy next door. This distinguishes her from both Ebony and bisexual Michelle from last season, who was less certain of her sexuality and lacked Kim’s confidence.

This means that for the first time ever on broadcast television, we have all the dynamics in place for a show in which lesbianism is portrayed with much more of a genderqueer sensibility than ever before. Kim’s masculinity is accepted and embraced by both the judges and the contestants, and that masculinity also makes it easier for the other contestants to think of her as a sexual being.

Let’s face it: When straight girls do fall for lesbians, they’re often likely to fall for a butch or genderqueer lesbian, because they’ve been raised to believe that masculinity is attractive. Why do heterosexual women everywhere thrill to the sight of Shane on The L Word? Because Shane kind of looks like a man—but there’s the added thrill of knowing that she’s a woman. That’s a decidedly queer thrill that involves transgressing gender boundaries.

It’s too early to make an accurate guess about whether Kim is likely to win the competition. She’ll have to do more than have short hair—she’ll also have to learn to walk in high heels, something that seems to seriously conflict with the judges’ demands that she focus on her masculine identity. But while Kim is on the air, Top Model will be one of the very few places on primetime television where it’s not only okay to be queer, it’s supported and even celebrated. That’s certainly rare.

America’s Next Top Model airs Wednesdays at 9pm on UPN. Find more articles, plus recaps, polls, and links, in our America’s Next Top Model section

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