The lesbian community has been the most critical of us. That was amazing to me. I was shocked. I joked in one of the episodes that Jill and I don’t define ourselves by our sexuality; it’s part of who we are along with being aunts and daughters and the rest of the things we are. That comment sparked hatred. People were very vocal on our fan page.
—Nikki Weiss (on left), who stars with fiance Jill Goldstein on Showtime’s The Real L Word, on the vitriol aimed at them from their fellow lesbians [via]
jason
Why should real lesbians like media lesbians? Media lesbians are a joke. Nobody likes them, and rightly so.
drums
Okay, not gonna lie–aside from the fact that they’re gross and fake and materialistic and rich and White and privileged and clueless, I find them really adorable. They’re clearly in love with each other, and that’s fucking cute.
REVEMUPMAN
The lesbo’s the media portrays are only there for heterosexual males viewing pleasure. We all know this but political correctness rears its ugly head everywhere. And the gay community does nothing about this cause their happy to even be noticed by the media.
Dani
As a real lesbian (whatever that is), I think the real problem with Nikki & Jill has less to do with Nikki & Jill and more to do with whoever edited The Real L Word. You know they had hundreds upon hundreds hours of footage, but they chose to present Nikki & Jill (and all the other cast members for that matter) as one-dimensional, static characters. Their whole lives could not have been wedding planning (& they stated this themselves in their blog and on Showtime’s Live Lounge), but that is all we were shown in the entire season. People seem to forget that they agreed to put themselves out there for all the world to see. They dealt with having cameras follow them around just about 24/7 intruding on private moments in their own lives in an attempt to contribute to the lesbian community and the LGBT community as a whole. I get frustrated with the ‘hate’ response. We have enough hate coming at us from the outside world; we don’t need any in extra within the community. I think the show in general tried and missed, but I sincerely hope they get a second season, take constructive criticism, and improve the show. It has potential.
jason
The Real L Word should be called The Fake L Word.
mary
Nikki & Jill (as well as the majority of the “real” L word) are portrayed as harmless lesbians who just want to assimilate & be “just like everyone else”. They are VERY rich, VERY white women who have time to be concerned about chandeliers and wedding dresses & having a professional set a table/bring new furniture over for a dinner party. It upsets lesbians because this is RARELY the reality lesbians inhabit. I think ultimately the hate is in response to the total disregard of the class divide that effects most lesbians & how along w/ that divide comes a desire to NOT assimilate to a heterosexist version of relationships/marriage. These are the gays they use to appease straight people so they wont be so scared of us. its just so far from “real”.
me
as a lesbian, i actually like that they are rich white lesbians. i’m tired of only seeing rich white gay men represented on tv. what’s wrong with rich white lesbians? nothing
StoleeThatsMe
I am so sick of movies & etc. wanting us to accept anything that is gay or lesbians, especially lesbian. Every damn movie is either gay men (mostly white & sometimes interracial) or white lesbians females in crap movies, extra crap movies, okay, rarely good, but we should accept anything thrown our way. Let’s be real here & admit that most of all “lesbian” films are white women or when there is a “black” (and or any other race) female she never dates women of color whatsoever. Anytime I even attempt to look up “black” lesbians movies or just ONE character it always results in a list of porn PERIOD! This show,” The Real L Word”, simply sucks as much as the other show,” Gimme Sugar”. It’s so edited, contains way too many stereotypical lesbians that try on camera to so prove they are gay that it falsifies the show of any real truths. “The Real L Word” is not interesting, entertaining, or a variation of glimpse into individual females lives. As one mentioned this show is a cheesy crap attempt to make us seem okay, but almost heterosexual regarding a few or all things. Don’t get me wrong, “The REAL L Word” original) I applaud even if I do feel they did not venture out as much to give visuals of different women, they still did give us a show of “lesbian” issues & many other issues that are universal regardless of orientation. This show is crap and is not a representation of different people. I understand the want to show a rich white lesbian, not suggesting they should jump to “poor” (which also exist), but more in regards to lifestyles, everyday life, existing while in the “norm” and how others view us, revealing some hardships, true personal thoughts of our ups & downs, and so much more. To each it’s own, but I attempted to finish this season and I barely made it through (3) episodes. In replace of, “The L Word”, we get this crap. White feminine lesbians do exist, but damn give us a variety.- Stolee
jason
American network television has been appallingly negligent in its coverage of butch lesbians. The only time you see them is when there’s a gay marriage issue in some state like Iowa.
I love how Iowa lesbians go against the male patriarchal viewpoint on what a lesbian should look like. They have very short hair – often shaved – and don’t wear make-up. In other words, they don’t align with the viewpoint of patriarchs.
On the other hand, the lesbians from The Real L Word tend to align themselves with the appearances preferred by patriarchs – ie long flowing hair, make-up etc etc.