Despite the fact that my father refers to them as “chewing-gum for the eyes,” I admit I love watching music videos. A good video can make me like a song I wasn’t that keen on when I heard it on the radio; a really bad one can put me off a song I thought I liked. But they have to be bad indeed in order to get me to switch off altogether.

Despite all that, I’m aware of a pervasive lack in the majority of music videos. Where — amidst all the heterosexual bumping and grinding and declarations of love — are the lesbians? It’s not like there is a lack of successful out lesbian singers. Melissa and k.d. and Tegan and Sara — they’re all out there. But when it comes to being “out there” in their videos — not so much. Possibly under pressure from their record companies, these singers tend to compensate for their openly gay status in life by keeping their songs and videos carefully gender neutral. In the video for their song "Speak Slow," Tegan and Sara even appear in bed with men — although to be fair, it’s made pretty clear that they are friends rather than love interests.

So where does that leave lesbian visibility in music videos? Every so often, a lesbian couple or two will appear briefly in the video of a (presumably) straight singer who wants to demonstrate his or her gay-friendliness. Vanessa Carlton has them in her video for "Hands on Me." Katie Melua has them in her video for "Call Off the Search." Ex-Spice Girl Emma Bunton has one in her video for "I’ll Be There." British singer Tom Baxter has one in his video for "Better." If you’ve ever seen the video for the Nicole Kidman/Robbie Williams duet "Somethin’ Stupid," you’ll know that Nicole has a split-second moment where she looks like she might switch teams. But by and large, that’s what these appearances are: split-second.

Of course, you can always find the occasional straight male singer who uses “lesbian” imagery or suggestiveness in his videos in a clearly voyeuristic way. Fifty Cent’s video for "Candy Shop" springs to mind. As does Robbie Williams’ threesome in "Come Undone." The video for U.K. dance band Ultrabeat’s "Pretty Green Eyes" basically consists of three exotic dancers “performing” lesbianism for the benefit of the fat, ugly male singer who sits and watches them. Justin Timberlake’s video for "What Goes Around ... Comes Around" has guest star Scarlett Johansson exclaiming — with boring predictability as well as without much conviction — “I like girls.”

In the past 25 years, though, there have been a few music videos that not only feature lesbianish relationships prominently, but also do so in a way that makes it feel like they’re not designed (exclusively) for the benefit of straight male viewers. Here are six of my favorites:

1. Prince, "1999" (1983)

What saves the two ambiguously gay women in this video from being just the usual straight male window-dressing is that a) the camera cuts to them repeatedly, b) they are actually involved in the song, with the brunette apparently playing the keyboard and both women singing, and c) neither of them gets involved with men at any point in the video. The fact that Prince is such a sexually ambiguous creature himself helps — I’m willing to believe that he put them in the video as a nod to sexual diversity, and not just to build up his own reputation as a stud. And I’ll admit it — I can’t resist a blonde in a military cap. … continue reading

Variety magazine is reporting that Mischa Barton will star in the upcoming "Russian coming-of-age drama" Finding t.A.T.u., which is all about--you guessed it--the faux lesbian girl band of the same name. Barton has played queer/queer friendly before, in Once and Again, The O.C. and Lost and Delirious, respectively. And if that's not enough proof that she's well-suited for Finding t.A.T.u., note this photo of her butching it up with a basketball, sports jersey, and, um, a miniskirt.

Here's the lowdown on the film per Wikipedia:

"The story is based on actual events, but the story is derived from the book t.A.T.u. Come Back, not a direct interpretation. Set against a background of music, internet chatrooms and hedonistic Moscow nightlife, the story follows friendless American teenager Janie Sawyer who is trying to escape her lonely life in Moscow through her love of music. Janie meets Lana Starkova in a fansite for the popular pop-band t.A.T.u. Trapped in a provincial Russian town, Lana is desperate to flee her mundane life and the two girls develop an instant connection. Their trip to a t.A.T.u. concert becomes the catalyst for a series of adventures that will not only test their newfound friendship, but also their ideals and aspirations."

The film will be helmed by formerly respected director Roland Joffé, best known for the Academy Award-winning The Killing Fields as well as a little gem called Goodbye Lover (starring Ellen DeGeneres and Patricia "Should Have Been On the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 list" Arquette). … continue reading