Face to Race

16     Our argument is that Bette's refusal to 'out' herself as a Black woman promotes White privilege. Bette's visible and non-visible denial of her Blackness suggests that if she identifies with her Blackness she is no longer White and loses the privileges of her White existence. Bette's concealing of her Blackness privileges her Whiteness, and ultimately shames her Blackness. Omi and Winant contend that "assimilation was viewed as the most logical, and 'natural,' response to the dilemma imposed by racism" (17). Bette's character does not experience racism in the plush communities of Los Angeles; consequently, her 'lived' experiences center on her life as a lesbian and not as a woman of color who is also a lesbian.[9]Bette's character is also upper-middle class. While this certainly complicates the portrayal of Blackness, her socio-economic status would not, in the United States, insulate her from racism. We can speculate whether Bette's absence of Blackness is intentional by the producers of The L Word; however, we know that mainstream culture values Eurocentric beauty over all other forms of beauty.

17     The aesthetics of the women depicted on The L Word embody the Eurocentric ideology of beauty that is entrenched within mainstream culture. The women on The L Word are portrayed as quintessential lesbians intended to eroticize White straight males' lesbian fantasies. This follows the trend of popular culture representations that heterosexualize lesbians by consistently producing the femme body—a body that is White, upper middle class, and embodies a hegemonic femininity.[10]Ciasullo, 2001 Watching The L Word, one is led to believe that all lesbians are White (even Bette). The L Word does not create a space for Black lesbians in mainstream culture. The women of The L Word are depicted in ways similar to Creed's argument about lesbian representation, "as if [lesbians are] mirror-images of each other: identical faces, hair, clothes" (86). This portrayal leaves no room for Black faces on The L Word. All the women must look and act the same to be considered lesbians.

18     In 1993, super model Cindy Crawford graced the cover of Vanity Fair "shaving imaginary whiskers from the boyish, smiling lathered face of K.D. Lang, the out-lesbian country and western singer," (Creed 86) establishing that lesbians were tall, skinny, glamorous beautiful—White women. This epoch moment in popular culture established White lesbians as the prototype for all lesbians thereafter. Jenkins illustrates that the current wave in teen movies is to cast lesbians as "heterosexually desirable women" (492). The White lesbian characters who appear on The L Word are popular culture's means of privileging and normalizing one particular group of lesbians. These narrow depictions of what a lesbian looks like, we argue, are to stimulate and interest White heterosexual males. Through television shows like The L Word, Black lesbians and other lesbians of color are made invisible. This invisibility devalues the lesbian of color experience and further reifies White lesbianism.

19     One of the first issues we raised in the focus group was what people initially thought about the show. Lisa, the only White informant, explained that she and her girlfriend "had straight people come over and hang out with us. . .and they all came back. They wanted to watch it again." Devon, the 3rd grade teacher, said:

I wasn't able to get closer to the show because it didn't really do anything that I was familiar with. [Initially], I got really excited because I was thinking, 'Finally, there's an answer to Queer as Folk, the lesbian perspective.' And, I'm watching it and I really couldn't identify with it.

We further explored this issue of identification with the show and received a variety of responses, though all informants said they were displeased with the lack of racial diversity:

Every week I wanted to see if it was going to get better. . .I enjoyed it because it seemed like [the producers] sat around and said, 'Okay, what different types of lesbians [should we include]. They tried to make sure they incorporated all different kinds. It could have been more racially diverse I felt. But, as far as different types of us [lesbians], that was covered pretty well. (Natalie, middle school teacher)

There aren't too many types of racially diverse populations brought up into the show. (Toni, chef)

First, I don't feel that the Black lesbian community is represented in The L-Word. Pam [Grier] is not really gay and Bette has major issues when it comes to being Black. So, I don't feel represented in The L-Word. (Pam, 4th grade teacher)

Of all the topics we explored during the 3-hour focus group, the topic of race was returned to again and again. We will explore further our informants' comments throughout the body of the paper. Because our current interest is lesbian women of color and the representations of race and sexuality in The L Word, we examine Kit's character (Pam Grier) below, which Pam's comment above cues. Given that Pam Grier became famous playing specific Black female roles, The L Word shifts the public's view of her, and possibly other Black women, through a particular racialized and sexualized stereotype that problematizes the overall stability of women of color. The L Word, as a pioneer in representing marginalized sexuality on cable television, falls short in addressing the marginalization of raced bodies.

The Taming of Foxy Brown

20     In the 1970's, Pam Grier was regarded as one of the sexist women in the movie industry. In 1974, Grier portrayed a sexy, fearless character named Foxy Brown, a woman who did not take 'no' for an answer. Before her role as Foxy Brown, she played the role of Coffy, a strong Black woman who fought against drug dealers and White power structures that oppressed Blacks in poor communities. A large majority of Grier's movie roles throughout her career have portrayed her as a strong, intelligent, sexy Black woman.