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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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