I think if you give your homophobic (or just clueless) parents a DVD of the L Word and say "this is what we're like", they may just end up thinking that most or all lesbians are rampantly promiscuous, irresponsible and materialistic. (Oh, and if you're bisexual, it's best not to say that this show represents you.)

_____

"The people will feel no better if the stick with which they are being beaten is labelled 'the people's stick'."

"A boss in Heaven is the best excuse for a boss on earth, therefore if God did exist, he would have to be abolished."

-- Mikhail Bakunin

I think my parents would freak out more about watching the L Word than me coming out (although.. I did try to come out when I was 16, and they went into denial and insisted being gay made me more prone to HIV and AIDS and that I could never be gay). Although, I don't think my dad really cared. My mom on the other hand...

Also, my mom thinks Sex in the City is soft porn, so the L Word would be like... Lesbian soft porn to her. 

I'm planning on dropping the bomb again soon. Yes! Mom and Dad, I'm GAY GAY GAY!

 Why not supplement my re-coming out with "lesbian soft porn?" :D 

I would hope so,and to your comment of Queer As Folk,

I loved that show,it brought out the caring of people and shows how anyone can love anyone.

I loved watching it,it made me laugh and made me cry,was like real life.

All the actors and actresses played their parts very well,

My mother used to always tell me how u can tell a good actor or actoress is when they can either make u hate them or really love them,and If they can make u really cry,and that show is all that and more.

I wished they would bring it back I mean continue it,dont get me wrong I love the repeats and all,but I would love to know how hunter turned out and how ben and michael are,and of course how Brian and Justin are,are they still together what!!

The last show,the finale when babylon had a bomb and it blew up.,I still cry when I see that episode and look how long the shows been cancelled...

Was a real shame am sure I'm not the only fan that wished they would continue the series and miss the actors and actresses..

I havent yet watched the L word,but would love to watch it to see if its anything like Queer As Folk,or even simular..

I'm going to be getting Showtime back just to check out the show..

I had them remove my showtime when Queer As Folk was cancelled...
Was main reason I had Showtime Network...

But we will see if i like the L word as much..

Queer As Folk helped me realize who I really was and I really Miss the show,Especially Gale Harold and Randy Harrison...

As far as if the L word help families accept homosexuality,I think if its anything like Queer As Folk I'm sure it will help,You can always Begin Watching Queer As Folk again or find a website that helps with that..or seek counceling for lesbians/gays

Good Luck!

Angel 

It all depends in the mentality of the family. Some people take TV WAY too seriously, and if that's the case, then the L Word would definitely not help them understand their daughter coming out.
But if they are more lighthearted and don't take it too seriously, then it could potentially help. For example, my cousin found out I was gay and was alittle sketchy about it. Then one day we got onto the conversation of Alice from the L word, who she adores.
Now, she's totally cool with it.
So, it depends how people read the show :)

-Marly.

It all depends really on how much of a homophobic family you have. I am surrounded by homophobes who wouldnt even think of watching a lesbian show, lets not say have a lesbian within their family circle!. 

I was disowned as soon as I came out, so I have had it pretty rough, they have tried to make me "fear god" and how I would be punished blah blah blah. Yes, they are fecking religious homophobes,  and no the L word wouldnt help at all. But hey, even though it wont help, the show itself is amazing, and very realistic people should open their minds and at least try to watch it, one thing I believe it would do is show the REAL world us lesbians live. 

No. Unfortunalty it is a show like everyothe show produced in hollywood about sex and other things. I do not really watch it b/c i do not have cable....but hollywood is irresponsible in that regard. there is too much sex and it borders on pornagraphic.

If any decint writer /producer in hollywood wants to represent lesbians thier should be a family show. two fathers or two mothers and make it a comedy like everybody loves raymond or the cosby show. HOw else can we stop negitive stereo types? why not have show that make a point that lesbians and gays have morals? of course hollywood is not known for producing shows of good moral standing,,,,,,,so whatever.

well i watched the l word on demand and it saves the programs on a little menu or whatever. well one day my mother saw that it was on there and when asked i told her i was watching it. she completely freaked out! she insisted it was lesbian porn and went on and on about it. well i was telling her about all the plots and what was going on and she didnt want to listen. well everytime i was scrolling through the channels she would make me stop at the l word and i would just change it after a few mins. well everytime i would come in the room she would be watching it! it was like this sick battle of her watching the l word looking for bad stuff in it (she would never actually watch full episodes but just watch little clips to see if she could find something). well the day that she actually found something i just happened to be walking in the room (it was the scene with max and grace i think) and she was all like "omg look it IS lesbian porn". end of the witch hunt. so now i am not allowed to watch it anymore but i still watch (how could i not!) while she is at work and just delete it when i am finished. :-)

There's a straight married couple I know, who, after watching the L Word, began a very important dialogue about their *own* sex life; a conversation that they had been avoiding for a long time, and has proved to be very important to their relationship.

Whether your mom is truly turned on by women or not, I don't know - but it seems to me that any kind of sex can be attractive to anyone - just depends on how it's done. For instance, "lesbian porn" is totally gross to me, mainly because it's made by men, for men, and those women clearly aren't real lesbians. However, I've been turned on by straight love scenes in films, because the story/build-up/relationship is just so wonderful ... So I would think that your mom is probably turned on by the passion itself, rather than the participants. But who knows. Stranger things have happened.

You know she's getting something other than the love of her mother.........

This is an old thread that I was reading and I'd love to hear what folks have to say about this issue now,  a few years later, a few seasons later.......

my parents are pretty cool with my being a lesbian, and have now had about ten years to come to terms with it........but they have a lot of misconceptions and i wonder if watching TLW would help.  not sure i'd want to watch it WITH them.....but it would certainly be interesting to hear what they think of the show.

i'm writing a paper on the social impact of The L Word for school, and I think this is a great example of social impact--of the show's potential to affect people's lives, positive and negative.

Any more thoughts on this issue now?

I have mixed feelings about this. My parents consider homosexual relationships as "unnatural", and I can understand this to a certain extent because they never see any images of gay relationships. I think if I was to come out to them in the future, I'd like to show them a coupla episodes of TLW even just to show Bette + Tina's relationship; its very clear they're in love, and might help her accept these relationships - you can't help but root for them. However, they're also very conservative (eg. always taught me no sex outside marriage etc) and might deem the characters' behaviour as promiscuous and I don't want the only images they see of lesbians to be ones they will dispprove of. Plus they really disapprove of gay people becoming parents and I think seeing b+t having a threesome to produce a child will only reinforce the idea that gay families do not fit into their idea of family values.

Yes, I see your quandry. I suppose TLW is a little too sexual for the average conserative hetero family. It would be nice if there were a show that was more drama/life related instead of partner hopping & soft core porn for straight guys. Then 'regular' people could relate to the women and the stories without focusing on the homoSEXUAL part and being put-off.

Good Luck if/when you tell them, I hope it works out.

My parents are mixed! I've told my mom that, 'Hey, I'm gay!' and she was kinda sad, but got over it quickly and was happy for me. This was right around the time I started watching The L Word. One night, me and my mom were flipping there the channels and TLW was on. My mom made a comment about how that show creeps her out because she think there are to many lesbians on one show and how they all have fucked up problems (season 2). My dad argeed. She continued making horrible comments until I walked away and we haven't talked about TLW or about me being a lesbian. Well, she did warned me about one thing... my dad. He is a 'death to homos' kinda guy. Not someone I'll be telling right away. But after watching TLW, I wanna walk around screaming out to the world the I'm pride of who I am. TLW may have torn my family apart in some way, but it's made me as a person, better. I don't mind talking about it, but the subject makes me a little sad sometimes...

wow. do most gay peoples parents disapprove? ive lived in a small countr town of wolumla with my parents for as long as i can remember, and i thought if my parents acceped it then most would. my dad came up 2 me wen i was little and told me that if i turned out to be gay he would have absoltely no problem with it. i thought "psht , yeh right" lol. my mum said she would prefer me to be str8, but only bcoz of discrimination. shes happy as long as im happy and accepts me for who i am. me and my mum watch movies about lesbians together all the time, and some even before i knew about my sexuality. i think having a gay daughter and watching all these things with me (including the l word) has definitly helped her come to terms with it and understand all the aspects.

wow, ^ sure have wonderful parents...

Yeah, wish my parents were like that!

I've been gradually conditioning my mom with TLW and other queer movies for months now! lol. I started making her watch it and now she's engrossed in the plot and the characters.

Before, anytime she saw any people of the same sex kissing, she got all grossed out, but now, shes fine with it.

Anyways, now that I've got her all into TLW, she's been referring less and less to my "future husband" and more and more to my "future....whatever." Its really awesome cause now when I finally work up the courage to come out to my parents, it should be easy peasy!

Too bad I can't condition my dad the same way...