How Misrepresentation in Mainstream Film and TV Affects Queer Femmes

It’s not news that cis-women are misrepresented by Hollywood. We see the same conventionally attractive cis-women, playing the same flat-characters, in almost everything we watch. It could be a rom-com: where girl meets boy, falls for boy, for whatever arbitrary reason they decide boy and girl can’t be together, and then one either suffers exasperating heartbreak OR they inevitably get back together in some sort of fairy-tale inspired ending (see: 500 Days of Summer, Friends with Benefits). An action film: where let’s be honest, women serve little to no purpose — unless it’s a movie based off of a comic — other than eye candy (see: every James Bond movie ever). Or horror: directors will use any excuse to over-sexualize the female characters (see: The Exorcist — I know it came out in 1990 but the little girl screams FUCK ME in the movie for fuck’s sake).

However, what I don’t hear about enough is the misrepresentation of queer femmes in film. One reason being that queer femmes are largely ignored by mainstream film — that’s why there’s a Gay & Lesbian section on Netflix, right? Let’s just throw all the homos in there and call it good!

Let’s not.

When queer femmes are featured in a space that’s typically saved for cis-gendered heterosexual couples, their sexuality always serves a specific purpose that ranges from attempting to create “diversity” among the characters to attempting to exploit queer culture for views. Because let’s be honest: in Hollywood, the default is always the social norm — cis-het white couples — and anything else is just “substance” or “depth.” A character’s queerness is the most interesting thing about them.

But this isn’t something that’s exclusive to the heteronormative standard of mainstream film. In queer specific movies and shows, queers are not only misrepresented, but under-represented as well. Films about queer femmes are much harder to come by than queer male ones, and films that focus on trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming people are virtually non-existent. What gives?

Let’s start with the fact that every time you see a queer femme couple in a movie or a show, they are almost always both highly feminine-presenting. For those of you not so familiar with the term feminine-presenting: a high femme is basically looking like a “girly girl.”

Here’s a few examples:

Of course there are high femme queers in real life. And in the real world, they’re largely invisible to the rest of the queer community because they don’t “look” queer. Their representation is important too.

But do all queer femmes look like this? Not even close. Femininity and masculinity are expressed on a spectrum. I identify as a feminine leaning queer, but even I don’t look like any one of these ladies.

In Jane the Virgin, all of Luisa’s romantic interests are high femmes. As are Callie’s from Grey’s Anatomy. As for OITNB and The L Word, if you’ve seen the show, representation is undeniably better. But take a look at the main characters: all highly femme-presenting. We are not all conventionally beautiful femmes like depicted.

This plays into the exploitation and fetishization of femme sexuality as a whole. Here’s a Hollywood example: unnecessary sex scenes in movies, such as Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried’s in Jennifer’s Body. Their steamy kiss had absolutely nothing to do with the plot, or even the scene for that matter. It contributed nothing to the movie but a reason for people to flock to the theatre to watch two hot chicks make out (because let’s be real, that movie sucked). But movies are worth watching for lesbians, and lesbians are only worth watching if they’re conventionally attractive.

And the more that Hollywood uses our sexuality for cheap thrills, the more difficult it becomes to be a queer femme on the street. My sexuality is continuously invalidated by people who view lesbians as a fantasy for them to get off to or a kink. Men on the street will sexually harass us while we’re holding hands, but say nothing to the straight couple right behind us. I once got asked if “gay” was my costume on Halloween. I draw unwanted attention at parties for kissing my partner — so much so that last autumn, a man pointed us out to all of his friends and then asked to take a picture with us. I’m tired of having to deal with these homophobic microagressions because some peoples’ only experience with lesbians are through television and porn.

What’s more, I have yet to see a movie where a queer character’s sexual identity isn’t their entire identity. Where are the movies about friends who are queers? No romance, no relationships. Where are the comedies with a main character that just so happens to also be a queer? Or better yet: the lesbian version of Scooby-Doo where the dog is played by a talking cat? I would watch that. There are so many more interesting things about a queer femme than who they sleep with, and we need to stop pretending that there’s not.