Photo based on the Birth of Venus by Sanoro Botticelli

The media’s latest take on lesbianism has us redefining the L-word.

Everyone remembers what happened between Britney, Christina and Madonna at the 2003 Video Music Awards. It had all the usual elements of a pop performance: Revealing costumes, back-up dancers and two open-mouthed girl-on-girl kisses.

Wait—what?

It was arguably one of the first instances girl-on-girl sexuality that made it to an international media platform. On top of that, it involved three of the biggest pop stars at the time.

These days, depictions of lesbianism have become a lot more common in Western media. Television shows like Orange is the New Black and Glee feature lesbian relationships. Blue is the Warmest Color, a coming-of-age film that centers on the relationship of two women, won the Palme d’Or—the highest prize awarded to the best feature film—at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

However, the media has been criticized for oversexualizing lesbian relationships as well. “In Blue is the Warmest Color… even the author of the original graphic novel said that she was not comfortable with the sex scenes,” shares Laurel Fantauzzo, an openly lesbian member of the English Department faculty. In many cases, girl-on-girl sexuality is watered down to mere experimentation, such as in Katy Perry’s playful “I Kissed A Girl,” which stayed on the radio’s top 40 playlists for months on end.

But how does local media fare? When Maria Clara prefers tahong over talong, are Philippine media’s portrayals a completely different ball game? Both local and international portrayals of girl-on-girl sexuality have been called into question. When it comes to lesbian relationships, how much are we not seeing?

The wild, wild West 

The lesbian image, risqué as it tends to be in Western media, seems to promote its own niche in contemporary society. This could eventually pave the way to a wider acceptance of homosexuality—or so we think.

Lisa Diamond, a psychological researcher, explains how Western depictions tend to sexualize lesbians. Women are allowed to get it on, but only when their characters are established to be straight before and after the act. Deeming them real lesbians would ruin the fantasy for the main target audience: The straight man.

For example, Russian electronic and alternative rock duo t.A.T.u., adopted a sexualized lesbian school girl image. One of their music videos featured a condescending crowd staring at the pair as they kissed. But when asked about their orientation, the girls would deny being homosexual.

Television is also susceptible to this bias. Ally McBeal, Friends and Will & Grace all featured scenes wherein intimacy between females was at least implied. However, characters are quick to dismiss anything being serious. The shows merely present heteroflexibility. This dismissal degrades the lesbian. “It’s reductive. It doesn’t look at the subtleties and the amazing variations that could happen with people,” Fantauzzo says.

Though seeing lesbian representation in media may seem to promote acceptance of them, portrayals that oversexualize only serve to commodify them. The lesbian relationship is reduced to a sex object that is fetishized rather than narrated.

That’s our tomboy

Philippine media has also welcomed some portrayals of the lesbian. Charice Pempengco was on the receiving end of both worldwide shock and support for her coming out. Local film also features some lesbian characters, such as in Boy, Girl, Bakla, Tomboy, a parody film where Vice Ganda personifies the lesbian, gay and straight characters. To add to these is the ABS-CBN noontime show segment That’s My Tomboy, where local lesbians exhibit their talents on air.

But there remains a lingering sense of estrangement when dealing with homosexuals in the local scene. In particular, depictions of lesbianism, which are largely limited to a tomboy image, fall short in diversity and remain one-dimensional in local media. “[The] tomboy is a (cultural) gender performance, not an identity [as a] lesbian,” says Nico

Canoy, a lecturer from the Psychology Department who teaches a gender and sexuality “The lesbians in That’s My Tomboy are like the society’s court jesters or mascots,” Fantauzzo adds.

This echoes the struggle of a lack of a representation for the lesbian. Andrew Ty, an instructor from the Communication Department, proposes how the media doesn’t present the women’s sexuality the way it has for male on male encounters.

“You don’t see [lesbians] appearing in comedies the way gay actors do. To a certain extent, we still don’t want to caricature women’s sexuality… sometimes we’d much rather not talk about it,” Ty explains.

At the same time, stratification is at work. Canoy notes how the local media services the majority of Filipinos, though its appeal may not be present for the higher classes. He mentions how the media adopts to what is bound to sell well. This way, representations in shows like That’s My Tomboy were made to target specific audiences.

When contrasted with foreign depictions, the crucial difference in local lesbian exposure is that it has not been sexualized. But instead of being a cause for celebration, it’s indicative of another obstacle: We’re not that open yet. “The Philippines is very tolerant with respect to sexuality, but tolerance doesn’t mean that you’re equal,” explains Fantauzzo.

When will my reflection show?

As those with personal experience in the matter can attest, the media has mixed attempts at truthfully mirroring the experiences of a lesbian figure. Foreign media doesn’t always miss. Lara Antonio, senior communications major and member of the LGBT community, cites the richly developed storyline of Callie Torres from Grey’s Anatomy. When Torres became involved with Erica Hahn, the two explored issues of coming out and the struggle to gain acceptance.

But she also notes how the media should aim for a wider range of representation of lesbians. This lack of variation is bound to do more harm than good. “When they find out you’re gay, you immediately fall under categories in their head—stereotypes that are created or propagated by the media,” Antonio says.

Yet steering the media away from the inaccuracy will be problematic, to say the least. Ty mentions that heterosexuality as the norm is a social structure that cannot be easily changed. In a similar vein, he suggests that there is a lack of a “visual vocabulary” in portraying a lesbian relationship without producers resorting to pornography.

“It’s a failure of imagination—we cannot imagine what kind of role they can play,” Ty suspects. This runs parallel to Antonio’s struggle when those used to heterosexuality as the norm ask about their roles. She would promptly shoot back, “Why does there have to be a boy and a girl in the relationship?”

There’s no doubt about it though: The spotlight is being shed more and more on the lesbian figure. Antonio is hopeful for the image, especially with new shows like Orange is The New Black, where lesbian relationships are given focus and explored for what they really are. Perhaps this is a stepping-stone in understanding homosexuality and its rich narratives, though it still requires more attention before any subtle regresses take over the representations.

Similarly, Ty proposes that people ought to find a new visual vocabulary for depicting lesbians. This way, the lesbian figure can be freed of the perils of stereotyping, like in the “tomboy” mold of our culture. “The more narratives there are from the point of view of queer women, the better,” Fantauzzo adds.

Perhaps in the end, all of these boil down to something else entirely. As freshman social sciences major BP Valenzuela, who identifies as bisexual, would put it, “Once you put a human, real face on gayness, it becomes more understandable.”