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| 'Why can't lesbians just be people?' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Actor, comedian and journalist Liz Carr is disabled and in her 40s and says: "I never see anyone on TV that I can really relate to in terms of sexuality." This is not only because of her disability and her age, but also because she is gay. | Actor, comedian and journalist Liz Carr is disabled and in her 40s and says: "I never see anyone on TV that I can really relate to in terms of sexuality." This is not only because of her disability and her age, but also because she is gay. |
| According to the latest National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, 16% of women said they had had a same-sex experience. Twenty years ago, that proportion was 4%. But if lesbian behaviour – or women's reporting of it, in any case – is now increasingly common, why aren't there more gay women in broadcast and print media? And are the gay women we do see an accurate reflection of what 16% of the female population looks like, anyway? | According to the latest National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, 16% of women said they had had a same-sex experience. Twenty years ago, that proportion was 4%. But if lesbian behaviour – or women's reporting of it, in any case – is now increasingly common, why aren't there more gay women in broadcast and print media? And are the gay women we do see an accurate reflection of what 16% of the female population looks like, anyway? |
| Speaking at "Lesbophobia in the Media", a debate held jointly by Women in Journalism and lesbian magazine Diva last week, Carr called for more realistic depictions of gay women on TV. She highlighted how unlikely it is for disability to be a characteristic of an on-screen lesbian. "I'm not seen as being capable of having any kind of sex as a disabled woman," she said. "I'm asexual. Disabled women are very much desexed." | Speaking at "Lesbophobia in the Media", a debate held jointly by Women in Journalism and lesbian magazine Diva last week, Carr called for more realistic depictions of gay women on TV. She highlighted how unlikely it is for disability to be a characteristic of an on-screen lesbian. "I'm not seen as being capable of having any kind of sex as a disabled woman," she said. "I'm asexual. Disabled women are very much desexed." |
| Writer Iman Qureshi said lesbianism is never "incidental to a character" in TV and film. "You don't wake up in the morning, have breakfast and think – I'm having breakfast as a lesbian," she said. "Why can't lesbians just be people?" Jane Czyzselska, the editor of Diva magazine, agreed that lesbians are either portrayed as heavily sexualised, wacky or asexual. "I don't see any butch dykes on television. I don't see any archetypes or role models and we definitely need more to move things on." | Writer Iman Qureshi said lesbianism is never "incidental to a character" in TV and film. "You don't wake up in the morning, have breakfast and think – I'm having breakfast as a lesbian," she said. "Why can't lesbians just be people?" Jane Czyzselska, the editor of Diva magazine, agreed that lesbians are either portrayed as heavily sexualised, wacky or asexual. "I don't see any butch dykes on television. I don't see any archetypes or role models and we definitely need more to move things on." |
| Czyzselska believes that the situation is just as bad in print. She described how fashion PRs deny Diva magazine clothes for shoots, and are reluctant to see their celebrity clients' sexuality foregrounded by appearing on the cover of Diva. "They're very happy to have their talent inside the magazine, but if we wanted to put them on the cover they would be really against that", she said. | Czyzselska believes that the situation is just as bad in print. She described how fashion PRs deny Diva magazine clothes for shoots, and are reluctant to see their celebrity clients' sexuality foregrounded by appearing on the cover of Diva. "They're very happy to have their talent inside the magazine, but if we wanted to put them on the cover they would be really against that", she said. |
| Meanwhile, while young heterosexual women's sexuality is routinely exploited in the media, the opposite is true for young lesbians in the entertainment industry. "Younger lesbians at the beginning of their careers in music are told not to tell anyone that they're a lesbian – that's not commercial," said Czyzselska. "You need to present yourself as being fuckable by men, and you'll sell more records that way." | Meanwhile, while young heterosexual women's sexuality is routinely exploited in the media, the opposite is true for young lesbians in the entertainment industry. "Younger lesbians at the beginning of their careers in music are told not to tell anyone that they're a lesbian – that's not commercial," said Czyzselska. "You need to present yourself as being fuckable by men, and you'll sell more records that way." |
| Journalist Stephanie Theobald agreed younger lesbian role models are largely invisible. The X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan was the only example she could think of of an out young female celebrity. But she argued that once gay women reach a certain age, the media allows them to front primetime shows. Broadcasters Sandi Toksvig, Clare Balding and Sue Perkins are examples. "Sue Perkins is quite asexualised – she's nice and safe," suggested Czyzselska. "If you can get beyond the fuckable age then nobody cares." | Journalist Stephanie Theobald agreed younger lesbian role models are largely invisible. The X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan was the only example she could think of of an out young female celebrity. But she argued that once gay women reach a certain age, the media allows them to front primetime shows. Broadcasters Sandi Toksvig, Clare Balding and Sue Perkins are examples. "Sue Perkins is quite asexualised – she's nice and safe," suggested Czyzselska. "If you can get beyond the fuckable age then nobody cares." |
| The reasons why the media fails to represent gay women accurately are complex. Journalist Julie Bindel suggested the problem lies in the fact that men, who largely still dominate the industry, fear losing precedence. "Men are deeply concerned that if you subvert the patriarchal norm, things will start to fall apart, including the masculine identity," she said. | The reasons why the media fails to represent gay women accurately are complex. Journalist Julie Bindel suggested the problem lies in the fact that men, who largely still dominate the industry, fear losing precedence. "Men are deeply concerned that if you subvert the patriarchal norm, things will start to fall apart, including the masculine identity," she said. |
| So how can the media introduce more sexual diversity? Alice Arnold cited BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax as a rare example of a TV show getting it right. "It has a lesbian storyline to it that is integral but is not the only thing – that produces change in people's attitudes towards lesbians." | So how can the media introduce more sexual diversity? Alice Arnold cited BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax as a rare example of a TV show getting it right. "It has a lesbian storyline to it that is integral but is not the only thing – that produces change in people's attitudes towards lesbians." |
| Czyzselska suggested the media should make more casual references to sexuality, such as female television presenters flirting with other women on screen, as so often happens between talk-show hosts and their opposite-sex interviewees, and called for newspapers and magazines to include columns about everyday gay experiences, such as married lesbian life. | Czyzselska suggested the media should make more casual references to sexuality, such as female television presenters flirting with other women on screen, as so often happens between talk-show hosts and their opposite-sex interviewees, and called for newspapers and magazines to include columns about everyday gay experiences, such as married lesbian life. |
| The panel also agreed that there was terrific lesbian content online. New Statesman columnist Eleanor Margolis argued that the internet is drawing gay women away from the mainstream. "There are lots of exciting, really funny lesbian web series," she said, namechecking US-produced F to 7th and Little Horribles. | The panel also agreed that there was terrific lesbian content online. New Statesman columnist Eleanor Margolis argued that the internet is drawing gay women away from the mainstream. "There are lots of exciting, really funny lesbian web series," she said, namechecking US-produced F to 7th and Little Horribles. |
| Traditional media, on the other hand, has a long way to go. In January, Carr broke ground by appearing in the BBC drama Silent Witness as Clarissa Mullery, a regular character whose disability is incidental to her profession as a forensic examiner, but whose sexuality is offbounds. The BBC's guide to her character describes her personal life as "a complete mystery". | Traditional media, on the other hand, has a long way to go. In January, Carr broke ground by appearing in the BBC drama Silent Witness as Clarissa Mullery, a regular character whose disability is incidental to her profession as a forensic examiner, but whose sexuality is offbounds. The BBC's guide to her character describes her personal life as "a complete mystery". |
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