representation?
this is strictly about wlw couples. i donât want to alienate mlm couples but im going to simply because this is what my beef is at the moment.
one of my biggest issues with queer women who cry representation are the ones who donât support representation when we get it because itâs not the representation that fits their narrative.
so many times we have these wlw couples who are completely ignored for reasons that are sad to admit. itâs so frustrating because there are beautiful stories being told or developing and before we can even get to the meat of a âshipâ the shows are cancelled, the characters are killed off, put on the back burner or the same recycled played out story is told even worse than the last.
when that happens those same people crying for representation want to cry trope or they deserved better etc etc. why only then? why show âsupportâ or act like you cared when in reality you contributed to literally shunning a couple but now that itâs another queer couple that is no more now youâre upset?
then we have the ones who ship straight women together whilst there is a wlw couple on the show.
supercorp is the perfect example. sanvers was the typical trope storyline but it was like well this is probably as good as itâs gonna get when itâs a cw show. still people trashed sanvers for everything but cried about supercorp ânot happeningâ or writers are baiting lesbians. no.. theyâre not. it isnât the writers fault that the audience feels supercorp should happen. at the end of the day it was never put out there that kara and lena would happen.
the saddest part about this is queer women were more upset about two straight women who are written as friends not being a couple than the actual wlw couple who literally got treated poorly.
sanvers was representation as terrible as they were written SOME of our stories were still in there somewhat. the actors playing those roles cared more about our community than a lot of queer women did. so is it representation that you really want or only when itâs convenient? because representation definitely is not forcing showrunners to put two straight women together for no reason other than to shut people up.
as a lesbian that isnât the type of story that i would want as a way for people to understand our struggles. do straight women fall in love with each other? probably. so to each their own if thatâs the kind of representation youâre looking for but itâs just sad when there are actual wlw couples on shows and queer women choose to be unsupportive for the pettiest reasons.
onto the color aspect. for years and even now i hate ever using color race or anything outside of facts to form an argument. but itâs so hard to not stoop to that level because itâs so obvious. interracial wlw couples are constantly ignored and i mean i donât even think itâs intentional or think that queer women realize they do it but then on the other hand it is and they do.
too many times we have women of color who donât care for wlw couples if the woman of color isnât with a woman of color and too many times caucasian women who do the same. why is that? i personally just donât understand it. i have heard people that i am ashamed to have been friends with now actually recently a âfriendâ of mine said she canât support thundergrace because anissa isnât with a black woman.
i literally asked her what that has to do with anything and her answer... representation. i laughed and said this is why itâs okay for showrunners to not give a shit about representation. this is why itâs okay for showrunners to use the community by baiting gays into watching their shows because itâs not about representation. itâs about literally that glimmer of hope that your fave might end up with someone that you feel represents you when itâs so much bigger than you. and she called me a sell out 𤣠why? cause apparently im âshaming black womenâ. needless to say we are no longer friends because she didnât want to associate with a sellout.
i understand wanting to see yourself representated through a character or couple etc. but it can be done without people of the same color and background being together. at the end of the day it has been done. couples of all sorts. but the issue here is blatant disregard of a couple for reasons like well whites should be with whitesand blacks should be with blacks or another woman of color.
if you do that it alienates other members of the community who are in an interracial relationship or maybe a lesbian dating a bisexual or bisexual dating a transsexual, pansexual, asexual the list goes on. when people live inside this box where itâs only about the representation that they care about or want to see theyâre no better than the people who donât give a damn about our stories and the representation weâre fighting for.
it isnât about you. itâs about the members in our community. itâs about all of our stories. whether you can relate or not because you donât identify as whatever or find whoever attractive okay thatâs fine. but donât cry representation if youâre only crying because itâs not the representation that you want to see.
at the end of the day if we donât care enough about each other, our stories and our commmunitiy outside of ourselves then we are contributing to a world that doesnât care if our stories are told or how theyâre told. it is entertainment of course but we still deserve to be portrayed in media just like heterosexuals are.
it starts with us. we canât expect showrunners or writers to get it right when they donât live this life. we canât expect them to care when weâre complaining about straight women or being together because âthey have chemistryâ. that isnât the point. the point is if we want representation, we need to show that by supporting wlw couples and pushing for these wlw couples stories to develop the characters to develop outside relationships as well. itâs hard cause most shows just donât care but at least weâre putting it out there in hopes that someone else may see it and understand why this is so important to us as queer women. thereâs so much more i want to say but this is long enough already.
idk i just wish it was simple which it is but obviously not for others.
