The popular voyeuristic reality series Big Brother is back for its tenth season in the UK, this time with queer female contestants. One of the UK’s more visible television programs, at least according to tabloid coverage, the return of the series last week attracted around half a million viewers.
The format of Big Brother 10 – which is based on the series of the same name developed in the Netherlands, and airs on Channel 4 in the UK, E4 in Ireland, and S4C in Wales – is consistent with previous seasons, and with the U.S. version: 16 participants compete over 13 weeks to win a cash prize.
These “Housemates” of different ages and backgrounds are incarcerated in the Big Brother House (with no contact with the outside world), required to compete in weekly challenges for various rewards, and voted out by their fellow housemates one-by-one each week. (For more on the rules and history of the game, go here.)
At least three of the female Housemates this season identify as something other than heterosexual. Here’s a rundown on each of them via their official bios provided by the show, and their performance in the first week in the game.
41-year old unemployed factory worker Lisa is the lesbian in the House (the last time there was a lesbian Housemate was in the show’s fifth season). Unfortunately, she’s described in a less-than-flattering way in her official bio:
On first impressions, Lisa might look a little bit scary. Some people have even said she looks ready to kill, but far from it. She might have more front than Self ridges, but we suspect she’s hiding just as many treasures behind her Mohican, tattoos and piercings. And we might as well get her bad habit out in the open while we’re here — she loves cleaning up. Lisa’s gonna be real popular. Oh yeah. As long as she manages to control her, ahem, urges.
Lisa is a very sexual being and talks about sex all the time. To describe Lisa as a sexual predator would be like calling a crocodile a sweet itty-bitty thing.
But it’s not all about sex. Spiritualism plays a big part in Lisa’s life and she has all the hallmarks of a genuine, kind individual. Her downfall, she believes, is her lack of confidence. Well, there’s nothing like a BBaptism of fire to sort that out once and for all.
Lisa has said on the show that she likes to try and convert straight women, but describing her as a “sexual predator” seems a bit much. So far, she’s coming across much better on the show than on the website.
Angel, a 35 year-old professional boxer from London, is openly bisexual, and a little … odd:
Moving to England from Russia 12 years ago, Angel is a professional boxer and is very self-confident. But she does have a soft side — she runs a keep fit class for the elderly ladies of Herne Hill. Aww, bless.
But, never mind that — let’s get back to the hard stuff.
Angel claims that she is mentally strong and can’t remember the last time she cried, and when she was little she wanted to be a detective. She also believes that in the future, there will be a war between fit and unfit people. Okay, so apart from the fact that we know which side she’ll be on, does anyone else think her biography sounds a bit like a Terminator screenplay?
She’s quite ambiguous when it comes to sex too – she can’t ‘do it’ for a month before a fight, but when it comes down to it, she’s another one who’s not quite sure whether she’s Arthur or Martha. Bring it on…
Forgot the strange “Arthur or Martha” description – I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea of a war between the fit and unfit. (Seems like it would be a pretty short war.)
It’s for strange ideas like this (and her rather unconventional appearance) that Angel is already disliked by many Housemates and viewers, which doesn’t bode well for her tenure in the Big Brother House.
A third contestant, 27-year-old beauty consultant Saffia, kissed a girl once and liked it, but appears to be considering sleeping with women just because she hates men:
Saffia is certainly not your average shy and retiring type. Strong on voice and opinion, her views on men might shock the faint-hearted: “they are just sperm donors.” Yowch! And heaven help anyone who challenges her skills as a single mother of two. She also freely admits that she always gets everything she wants.
Already sounding like a recipe for trouble, yeah? According to rumour, she’s perceived as a show off, a bitch and a fantastic mum, all of which she confirms as being absolutely true. And the thing she likes most about herself? Why, her appearance of course! Saffia is a beauty consultant after all.
Independence is a massive issue for Saffia too and she won’t even let men buy her drinks, let alone pay for a meal. This is one fiery chick, except in the bedroom department, because as far as Saffia is concerned, she could do without sex for the rest of her life. Or so she says, because in the next breath she confesses that she kissed a girl and liked it. Ooh, what would Katie Perry say?
The show’s marketing department misspelled Katy Perry‘s name, but never mind. The point is, Saffia’s not likely to win any Miss Congeniality awards anytime soon, as she’s already illustrated in her first week on the show, and neither Channel 4’s marketing department or Saffia herself seems to understand that hating men and being gay/bisexual are not really related.
In an episode of the show last week, Saffia declared, ”I’m not gay, I’m not bisexual,” then went into a rant about all the bad men she’s been involved with, and concluded, ”Maybe I am gay!” I hope not.
Despite these three women’s respective personality challenges, they all managed to avoid becoming the first one evicted last week – that honor went to a woman named Beinazir.
While there is more representation of queer women on this season of Big Brother than there has been in awhile, it’s questionable whether this representation is actually beneficial to lesbian/bi visibility, since these particular contestants arguably do more to promote negative stereotypes about lesbians and bisexual women (as sexual predators, man-haters, unlikable, indecisive, etc.) than to challenge them.
But reality shows aren’t in the business of trying to change society, they just want ratings. Well-adjusted contestants don’t make for good drama or good ratings, which is why few contestants of any sexual orientation come off looking good on shows like this. It also seems from the bios that the show’s marketing department is more to blame for aggressively reinforcing those stereotypes than the contestants themselves.
Regardless, perhaps over the next 15 weeks viewers will see past the hype and the stereotypes and get to know Lisa, Angel and Saffia as more well-rounded individuals.
If we don’t all die in a war between the fit and unfit before then.
Let us know your thoughts on the Housemates in the comments, and keep up on the latest happenings in the Big Brother 10 house in our forum.
