While
the quantity of lesbian themes and characters
on African-American shows might have increased, the quality
of the portrayal of lesbianism is still uneven.
In
every lesbian-themed episode ever aired on an African-American
show, lesbian characters are still portrayed as the "other,"
the sideshow or distraction from the "real" characters
on the show; they are never one of the main characters. On Girlfriends,
for example, William repeatedly refers to his sister and her partner
as "the lesbians," and on Soul Food both Eva
and the lesbian who hit on Bird in Season Two are there solely
to serve as obstacles in the path of the straight character.
Some
of the episodes do more to reinforce stereotypes than challenge
them.
On
Girlfriends, Linda is inexplicably rude and mean to everyone--the
angry lesbian stereotype come to life. At one point, her brother
asks "what if this lesbianism thing is just a phase?"
and likens her newfound sexual orientation to the time she decided
to play the zither. On
The Parkers, Kim introduces her "other mother"
as the "mannish" one who is "like my dad,"
reinforcing for laughs the stereotype that lesbian relationships
are just imitations of heterosexual ones.
But
in other ways, these episodes portray
lesbianism just as progressively as similar episodes on
predominantly white sitcoms and dramas, and sometimes
even more so. Living Single was actually ahead of its
time when it featured a lesbian wedding in 1996 (only three months
after the first lesbian wedding on TV aired on Friends).
It also preached acceptance of homosexuality, in dialogue like
this between two of Max's friends:
Half
& Half also presented Zora's lesbianism fairly well--the
problem wasn't that Zora was gay, it was that she was attracted
to someone who wasn't. Zora was not stereotypical in any way and
Mona didn't freak out when it became clear that Zora was attracted
to her; when Zora dedicated a love song to Mona in front of all
of Mona's friends and coworkers, Zora clearly didn't feel her
feelings for Mona were anything to hide or be ashamed of.
On
Girlfriends, none of the straight women appear to think
it at all strange that two lesbians are having a child, and on
Soul Food, Eva was a sympathetic, likeable character,
even if she was also problematic as the "other woman"
in Bird's marriage.
But
this kind of contradictory attitude
towards lesbianism--in which stereotypes are simultaneously challenged
and reinforced--is characteristic of almost every television
show that includes lesbian characters, regardless of the race
of the show's cast or viewers. This means that although the obstacles
to better lesbian visibility on shows targeted to the African-American
community may differ slightly in their origin from the obstacles
we face on shows targeted to a wider audience, the ways in which
these obstacles are manifested on the small screen are not all
that different.
Whether
the recent increase in lesbian characters and themes on African-American
shows is motivated by profit or a recognition of changing social
values (or both), this development inches television that much
closer to showcasing the diversity within both the lesbian community
and the African-American community.
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