Why are most TV lesbians lipstick?

My first guess would be that they fit the general public's preferences for women--feminine, pretty, etc.

Lesbians like all kinds of women, but I'm skeptical that the majority of lesbians on television are by and for lesbians. Most (confirmed or presumed) heterosexual women on television are also more feminine, I think.

 

That is why I don't watch gay shows. They never, ever, have a believable Butch character.

They think Shane from the L word is a Butch! Seriously? She is soft butch at most, and more androgynous actually. Ruby Rose is supost to be Butch, but again they fail. So, I pretty much give up until they start having people like KD Land and Ivan Coyote on there( real actual Butches), I refuse to watch any gay shows.

 

^ There is Big Boo on OITNB.

 

This is something I heard from a drag queen "Lipstick lesbians are much easier for straight men to fantasize about. However with a butch lesbian, straight men are like 'She can fix my car but don't come near me.'"

I've seen many fem gay guys hang out with straight girls while butch lesbians often hang out with straight guys. Me on the other hand (I'm more of a masculine guy), people say I "blend in" with the straight guys, like... what?

I have seen a masculine "non-stereotypical" gay guy on TV before, he's Max Blum from Happy Endings. The characters often call him "a straight guy who likes dudes." I actually could relate to him very well in an episode where he had to have a straight female friend pose as his girlfriend and his awkwardness on "being a straight guy" comes out, and I'm just like that.

 

Like the poster above me said, it's because that's what straight men fantasize about.

 

I guess its to encourage viewers to stop stereotyping lesbians and show that being gay doesn't mean you should act or look a certain way

 

Alot of it has to do with the fact that lesbians on TV are most often designed in a way that appeals to straight men who fantasize about the idea of lesbians; and that idea involves very femme "stereotypical" looking women.

 

I honestly don't believe that. If writers of TV shows genuinely cared about lesbians (and how people see us) there wouldn't be so many lesbian characters who end up dead, unhappy or with a man. Because you know what this told me as a (young) lesbian? That I'd never be happy or that I'd eventually find 'the right man'.

And like OP already mentioned, if they just want people to stop stereotyping... how come this doesn't apply to male gay characters?

I agree.

 

To me it's about what straight like. Feminine lesbian for straight men to fantasize about, camp gay men for girls who want a "gay best friend".

 

Unfortunately, in mainstream media you are never going to find genuine queer experiences portrayed. Everything gets twisted for a heterosexual viewing audience. Since women are regularly objectified by straight men as sexual objects, lesbians--as women--are pushed into the same mold. Therefore, lipstick lesbians are favored because they are easier for heterosexual men to fantasize about. Gay men who have feminine, eccentric, or camp qualities are favored because they can be feminized and be considered "non-threatening" in the minds of heterosexuals.

If you want more realistic portrayals of queer people in your media, you are going to have to abandon the mainstream stuff and really go underground. Look for low budget stuff made by queer people for other queer people. Most of it is hit or miss (mostly miss) in terms of quality, but if you want more realistic portrayals that is where you're going to have to go.

Maybe one day our community will stop throwing our money at the mainstream media for the crumbs they give us, and instead work toward funding projects produced, created, and directed by our own people.

 

The only butch lesbian on TV or in a movie that I remember was Christina Ricci and her partner in Monster. Obviously, it was a very unflattering portrayal.

I guess the closest was Ellen, but I see her as somewhere in between lipstick and butch.

 

Meh, somewhat closer to Butch at least. The closest I have seen so far at least.....Have not watched OITNB enough to form an opinion on her.

 

I think a lot of shows feel like they might insult people by having a "stereotypical" lesbian.

 

I think it may be because Lipsticks seen as being more "acceptable" to the general public, than their butch counterparts.

If you want to see the more butch variety, you can't go wrong with Ellen, cooking shows, and women's sports.

 

Because the straights are selfish as hell and they see lipstick lesbians as their form of fetishisation and I think its very sickening that they are only able to "accept" this not because they do not mind it but because they only care for their viewing pleasure so lmao yeah quite disgusting

 

Because straight people are blind if the person they're looking at doesn't fit the vision in their head.
A lot of people who aren't LGBT+ find it hard to empathise with a woman if they don't find them attractive, for some reason.
Perhaps because they don't want to kill their boner over that lesbian porn they were watching the previous night.

Of course, these are just generalisations.

Female actors are usually very pretty and feminine, anyway. It's not unheard of for women who are brilliant actors to get second rate roles purely because they 'aren't pretty enough' or are 'too masculine'.

---------- Post added 1st Aug 2015 at 08:02 AM ----------

This is actually a pretty good point. I've never seen a butch lesbian in any show that didn't already have a lipstick lesbian in it. It's almost as if they feel the need to go 'look, we're breaking the stereotype!' before they can add a butch character