Where Are The Lesbians in Film And Television?
By Aoife Etherson
A quick glance at your TV guide, or (in more ‘normal’ times) a trip to your local cinema; it’s not hard to notice the sparsity of lesbian representation in both film and television.
Whilst homosexual filmmakers can relish in the growing success of gay male narratives on screen, such as in Love, Simon (2018) and Call Me By Your Name (2017), respectively earning $66.3 Million and $41.9 Million in global box office sales, lesbian women are not offered the same representational luxuries. Lesbian characters, on the contrary, are much less likely to avail of the spotlight.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) which annually publishes a report detailing the performance of major film studios in regard to their LGBTQ portrayal, found in their most recent evaluation that representations of gay men make up 68% of LGBTQ portrayal, whilst representations of lesbian women only comprise 36%. This marks a significant decline in sapphic representation on screen in previous years, along with bisexual representation merely accounting for 14% of LGBTQ portrayal, and transgender representation sadly remaining at 0% for the third year running.
When looking towards arthouse subsidiary films, which are often recognised as being more inclusive in their portrayals, GLAAD found a similar pattern in that all 17 characters identified across 34 films were white, gay men. The persistence of film studios in exclusively portraying the lives of white, gay men, whilst ignoring the narratives of other queer and POC characters, only aids in painting a false image of the community as a whole.
However, despite shocking statistics and poor portrayals leading to a culture of lesbian invisibility on mainstream screen, there are several organisations dedicated to furthering positive change in lesbian filmmaking.
LesFlicks, a video on-demand service based in the U.K., saw the lack of lesbian films in mainstream cinema, and in response created an inclusive database of sapphic content available to stream worldwide.
The site features hundreds of titles relating to lesbian & bisexual experience, as well as featuring film reviews so the audience can find out more about the features. Furthermore, LesFlicks hold regular screenings and promotes collaboration through various film clubs which aim to connect filmmakers and lovers of sapphic film.
“We aim to produce data and highlight trends that dispel the myth that there is no audience for lesbian films, and to instead highlight the gaps and possible changes to the current distribution model to increase viewers of these films both in cinemas and also through digital channels.”
In addition to the work LesFlicks is doing in distributing positive representations of queer women, GLAAD has championed the cause for LGBT acceptance and visibility in film and media.
Their annual GLAAD Media Awards celebrate the years inclusive filmmaking and television programming, as well as highlighting positive strives and pioneering content in a range of media outlets. Categories include Outstanding Film, Outstanding Video Game, and Outstanding TV Journalism. Most recently, six sapphic films have been nominated to receive the Outstanding Film award. Organizations like LesFlicks and GLAAD provide queer filmmakers with the much-needed platform to exhibit and celebrate their work, whilst proving that there is an audience for LGBT films.