Be a Part of The Real L Word

I look forward to the new show. What I do not look forward to is chatter such is this that lesbians are necessarily something other than glam, fab, etc. So, you may only know Max’s and Tasha’s. Guess what. It is probably because of who YOU are, as opposed to who the rest of us are. Why would people expect lesbians to be so different as to not be cliquish? If you were a surgeon, you would probably know a lot of them. If you were an ultra-urban glam lipsticker, you would probably know more of them as well. Please stop this. I am sick and tired of all the crunchy dykes acting like THEIR version of lesbianism is the ONLY version. NEWSFLASH: there are lessie fashion models and buyers, kick-butt hypercompetitive attorneys, and generally glam and fab and highly successful women who have no interest in the MI women’s festival or crocs or subarus. IC and her crew have it RIGHT. We clearly need to have these images represented. Even our own seem determined to ram some ridiculous and outdated stereotype down our throats. That said, if you happen to be a crunchy dyke, do you. Just stop denying the legitimacy of the rest of us. Whether you realize it or not, you are behaving like those people who accuse middle class black kids of “acting white”. And, it is harmful and hurtful. Get over yourself. Crunchy dykes do not have a monopoly on what it means to be a lesbian.

ReaLes
I am sure that glam and fab lesbians exist, but they do not represent the majority. Just like The Real House Wives of ____ don’t represent the majority of Ameican Houswives. If the only people you know are glam and fab (gay or straight), then YOU are the one living in a narrow circle of friends.

I kind of like the L word. It just seemed very…..Sex and the City mixed with The Hills to me. I’d like to see a show about a variety of Lesbians. Yeah the glamorous I’m living the high life lesbian does exist, but you also young high school and college lesbians. Then there’s the young in college, struggling to make a life together lesbian (me and my partner) who are dealing with common problems (like arguing) and work common 7.25 hour. To me that would be more interesting and relatable. Personally, I’m tired of seeing rich people.

Um, I don’t want to see crunchy lesbians anyway. That is the stereotype that brings us down. There is a large spectrum of us out there. just represent us all…..the problem is, we dont all hang out together and i will admit the ultra glam ones are too good9 or think they are) for me and the crunchy ones scare the shit outta me. so lets do the mainstream middle ones on this show. Like the surf store show and the club promoters shows in Los Angeles did.

Ok let be real! Lesbians are like all other people, we come in all types, sizes, races etc. Let’s stop complaining about types we are human being…

I think the first person was right. There are fab and good girls out there. But, I don’t know why they want cheats and freaks. Guess it makes for better ratings. I think they are just going to get girls chasing the screen, not the true L-Girl lifestyle.

Anything that has to do with L word is fine with me, the Midwest has bored me to death. Bring on the butch babes and lipstick teases. I think you gals out by the coast are just plain spoiled with lez girls walking around with rainbow flags on your back out here in the middle of no where you’re shocked at whose down for the girls team I think that’s part of the fun and our attraction to woman(well I can only speak for myself)young love passionate and reckless not everyone has to be wifed already so bring my shane back to the big screen, it takes a life time to find a soulmate no matter what your into so have some passion in between test your boundaries thats what i want to see

I agree with thecaring1- what does it matter if you are femme, lipstick, glam, butch…we are ALL lesbians..we all love the soft tastey parts of other women..everything else is irrelevant and honestly..it’s stupid to fight over who is what. I think that we need to be glad and excited that they are going to put a show with “lesbians” back on the air. I don’t know about you but i think that to have any of “us” on air is a good thing, especially because there is not much in regards to lesbians as there is with gay community..let’s live it up lesbians..and let’s get past the minor things

Isn’t it wonderful how far society has come, to have a show like this. We have a long way to go with GBLT rights, but good exposure is better than being in the closet.

I would have to say I am surprised by what controversy has arose by this whole topic. Yes we have girlie gals, boyish gals, fat, small, wanna be, and even boy/ girl gals! Whats the difference?!? Everyone makes up a part of the lesbian community (if your a les of course) so this is a time to take someone from each part to make this a diverse reality TV show about the WHOLE community. I wanna see the boi’s, lipsticks, poor, rich, skanky and innocent lesbians. This world is so corrupted by society views. I don’t pay attention to any ones views but my own, that’s why I am living the life of a lesbian, it it was up to everyone else I would be straight!

Whose reality are these women? I do agree that lesbians, like other people come in every walk of life, fortunatly come in glorious shapes, sizes and hues. I would enjoy a cross section of women, some I could relate to others that I would find deliciously different.

If we lived in the area I would welcome the audition, although I know that grandmothers enjoying their grandkids would not be the stuff good ratings are made of, so I doubt we would be choosen. We are a a bi racial couple, grandkids and a full spectrum of interests that make us feel as if we have much to share with the world.

The reality of reality television is kind of ridiculous. “Reality” is the single mom who “came out” at the age of 37 after two really bad marriages and three wonderful and beautiful daughters. I wouldn’t change that part for anything. I grew up in the midwest, never knew of any G/L/B/T lifestyles AT ALL! So you do what your family and friends all do – you get married and have kids and you can’t possible think that what you feel towards another female could be real or tolerated. Those day-to-day struggles are “reality” for thousands of young women. I love to go to Gay Pride in Columbus, OH every year. It seems the lesbians get younger and younger every year – and for that, I celebrate and support each and every young person who knows it’s okay to just be themselves.

To me, I hate the fact that this Reality show will not be for lesbians, but for straight males. I can bet that this is what they are aiming for, certainly not the 4-5 % of the population we represent. So expect very “straight-alike” lesbians to please the gentlemen crowd.

(Also one note, I’m not sure I appreciate having as a sponsored link a place where I can buy Bibles at a discounted price. I think you should be more careful as what type of publicity appears on your pages!)

i totally would love to audition!!! Can’t that be international?? wish i’m in SF… Ilene! would you like to try to recruit in the Philippines??

I agree with Lez form Up North,
I fear this will be just another way for the male dominated world of show business to get their “rocks” off by objectifying our lesbian sisters in stereotypical roles that play into warn out, over played lesbian fetish fantasies. And I’m pretty sure, like almost every woman on the reality show “Shot at Love” they will barely be “bi” let alone lesbian. And seriously, aren’t we all getting tired of the “trying to act like you’re not acting” reality t.v. bullshit. Played Out!

if its the same from the l word then i will watch it. there is not that many shows about lgbt on tv until now

The L word was a scripted show. Of course they had a very good looking cast. Svelt, always manicured. i thought the idea of the ‘reality’ show was to show the REAL life of Lesbians… not fictional ones.

I am a big fan of the L Word and one of the reasons I love the L Word is because I identify with more than one of the characters of the show.

I live in Miami and have met several Bette’s, some Shane’s, a lot of Max’s, a good number of Jenny’s….. in other words we_ all of the lesbians are The Rea L Word.

I am so against discrimination within communities and that is why I wont be offensive here like other ladies have been but fair is fair:

PLEASE STOP LABELING YOURSELVES

We are all lesbians here and proud or not proud we should be more open-minded to the rest of us who have been out there and have experienced the REAL LESBIAN WORLD, guess what? I have..and guess what??? It’s is as normal and as crazy as the heterosexual world, there are no tabuus or hidden- underground that the glamorous and ultrafemm hide in…we are everywhere if you only take a minute to listen and to hear your friends…. you will find out so much.

Peace
L
Miami’s L Word

The #1 imperative for any TV show is to make money and get ratings. If you think Ilene Chaiken and her team of Reality TV producers have anything else in mind, and maybe they do, then you have a greater belief in the ethics of the media in this country than I do. The new show will inevitably be dishing up more of the same: perfectly straight looking women wearing couture clothing that I suspect a very tiny percentage of real lesbians could ever afford or be inclined to wear. But, hey, that sells commercial time and gets a much wider audience to tune-in. The butch lesbians, fat lesbians, working class lesbians, older lesbians in real life situations will be shoved to the periphery of the minor key story lines. The past is prologue—the only real butch on the L Word, Tasha, was a gorgeous model in real life. Please, this is a plea to Ilene Chaiken and her production company: yes, making money isn’t always a bad thing but can we have a compromise? Characters who reflect a true cross-section of the lesbian world? Like Cynthia Nixon and her partner,
Christine Marinone—that’s not so radical, is it?

I doubt that the original L Word was made for Lesbians and I doubt that the new so called reality show will be either. After all how many of us are there in the world? Are there really enough Lesbians out there to support the cost of producing a TV series exclusively for us?

I did get a chuckle over the L World series. In the beginning there was a lot of sex. That got the straight men hooked; I am sure. Was it close to the life I live? NOT! But it was not a waste of time. And every week I got off on the fantasy of being THE woman that tamed Shane. Oh Well!

Let’s keep an open mind and wait to see what happens with this new show. Remember, we can always turn it off.

I think “The Real L Word…” should feature a cross-section of female types, such as ‘lip-stick’ lesbians, ‘butch’ lesbians, those with weight issues, those who are not ‘glamorous’ in the stereo-typed sense, and so on. A reality show should represent life as it is in REALITY, not just a good-looking, glamorous part of it!
Besides, the definition of “good-looking” and “beautiful” has become too narrow. There are many women out there that are often considered to be unattractive, but who look very attractive, in their own special way, to me. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” as they say. The Hollywood and Fashion Model versions of Beauty are not the only ones that should be promoted in reality shows such as this one. Rather, the full spectrum of beautiful women should be represented, in the sense that ALL women are beautiful in their own special way! EVERY woman is as special and as beautiful, in their own unique way, as every other woman, and THAT is what should be the message contained in this new reality show “The REAL L Word..”

While a few of you have good points I could BE jeepgirl. I now share the lesbian lifestyle through my writing and hopefully this show will also open more people’s eyes to acceptance of others. Whether the show works or not, it will show WE are more like Them then they think. (and by we I do mean the whole LGBT community!) I’ll watch it..at least as long as it doesn’t prove too fake.
Blessed Be – Lexi

I would audition cause I work in the entertainment field and it would be an opportunity.
However, given that I’m butch and on the heavy set side, I would not fit into the Hollywood image. So ….
I will watch the first episode but if there is no butch and/or fat lez in it, I will change channel.

After reading everyones’ comments, it just sound like you are all too scared to be you. I this is great and a wonderfull op to have the experience to be ones’ true self with out all having to feel you do not fit in. Excuse me, but really no one fits in this world, never have never will. We are all creations of God. We all walk a different walk. I am so excited and will be trying out for this new venture.
It is GREAT and BLESSFul to have LIFE-A Lesbian Life that is….

Be yourself,
Your-Ohio, Sheri

Glad to see that the conversation got going. Bottom line is there is no “MAJORITY” to the person who said “THE MAJORITY” of lesbians are crunchy dykes. There is certainly a plurality –but who is to know what that is? Have you taken a survery? Hopefully it isn’t folk too light upstairs to know the difference. Here is a CLUE: If you can SPOT IT and you call it “THE MAJORITY”, it is because it conforms to a stereotype that YOU accept.
The rest of us do not live in any sort of make believe world. We see you. You just don’t see us.

I would like to see the “actual” lesbian type. A lesbian that can be herself. Whether its butch, fem, or someone who doesn’t abide by labels. I don’t want to look at something and question where they got it from. Surprise me, with something crazy real. I see it as,this show would be inspired by one of the best lesbian shows ever. The L Word. So it has to be good. Be creative, be different, but don’t water it down. Also don’t put too much excitement in the show all at once. Keep me guessing.

These are the same complaints I’ve heard about straight TV shows all my life. I got really disappointed in the L Word when the plot started going crazy, but what I realized is that it’s just a show. It’s not perfect. I wanted The L Word to be all things to be: I wanted it to give us exposure and be realistic and well written and feminist. But what you have to remember is that they have to please the public just like everyone else. That’s what people watch, glamour and beauty. If they made it a realistic representation of our everday lives, the producers would shoot it right down. Unfortunately, that’s how the media works, and if they want to fit into the mainstream, they have to deliver. As for REAL reality, that’s what we have each other for, eh?

yes,my partner and i would love to be in it.but i guess we live far from sf.i think the real l word should feature couples with no less than ten years experience,as to get where they are is not easy with all the negativity they have to endure.good luck to all involved.

First, let me say that I loved the L Word and I’m sorry to see it go even though the plot spun into a frenzied spiral of insanity at the end. I also loved the characters on the show and I think it was they that truly made me a devoted fan (lipstick ladies are a weakness for me).
However, there are a couple major components that I think the show was lacking, which I hope the “reality” show has more leeway to address. The first of those components has already been discussed in several posts here and that is the full representation of lesbians from lipsticks to butches. If this show is truly “reality” then it should display the realisms in the lesbian community. The second component is the reprensentation of races in the lesbian community. I am a black lesbian, and I have both black lesbian friends and white lesbian friends. Though there are commonalities between these women their experiences can be very, very different, and it’s quite noticable when they interact. In addition, I live in an area where I don’t encounter lesbians of different cultures often and rarely get a chance to interact with them. I’d like to see lesbian women on this “reality” show whose races and nationalities are not represented in our mainstream programming overall. I’d be much more interested in learning about an Indian woman who bucks the patriarchal hold that’s been in her family for centries just to outwardly be who she is than to see a hot chick that sleeps with other hot women while her partner sits at home.

Crunchy dykes?? please.

If I lived in L. A. I would audition, just because like all lesbians I dream of involvement with like-minded lesbians surrounded by the collegiate atmosphere generated by the L word group and would love to be part of the story online and over the air. However, I live in Toronto, Ontario. Recording here at all?

Though we are not in the area and we’re not going to audition, I think the show would be great IF they really did a cast of all sorts of single and couple lesbians. Tall, short, thin, heavy, with money and so-called “high life” and not so much with money, quiet life, fast life, some that have been together only a short time, some who have been together many years, age difference lesbians (such as my partner of 14 years-going on another 14–me 61, she 36), some looking for Ms Right, etc….I would definitely watch devotedly, but IF your just gonna show the Lipstick, Swathy, and Lesbian beauty that a lot of the times live a facade, trying to beat out the Ms Joneses in the real world, then we probably won’t watch the show. Just bring the wonderful L Word series back. IF your gonna do this reality show, please be true to the real lesbian world, where there is all shapes and sizes, and also all walks of life, happiness, and heartaches, tragedies, and successes…..AS we stated just showing the lesbian money and beauty is not the real lesbian world—The L word can come back if your gonna just show all the money glam and thin beauty.

I am really surprised that so many commenting on the proposed new show were devotees of The L Word…
I watched for about a month and was, in that short time,
completely turned off and tired of watching a bunch of straight women acting like straight men think lesbian women act; much like oversexed straight women only with each other instead of with men. I have never met anyone, or groups of “anyones” who were so out of control sexually as these people were portrayed.
It is no wonder the straight community is still not behind our push for marriage rights – we are seen as sex maniacs or (as in NCIS and The Mentalist) stone murderers – in either case, totally out of control of ourselves. Sure, as a youngster, I fooled around until I found my bestmate, but I certainly never lost it and killed anyone.

Sorry, that last was off topic, but it makes me very upset to see us portrayed in such a dark light not once, but twice in less then a few months.
Apologies.

i reallly miss the L-Word series. If i could i’d love to be a part of it. Shane and the one who lived with Tasha were my
faves.

i’m so excited about this new show. and i’m totally going to be looking out for it. hope that i’m staying there in LA so that i could somehow be a part of it.. the appearance of all types of lesbians in the gay world would be totally hot.!

Oh dear, ReaLes, now people who disagree with you are not only ‘crunchy dykes’ but also ‘light upstairs’get over yourself. It’s not the point to fight among ourselves. There’s plenty of homophobia in wider society without your contribution. The L Word was fundamentally silly, but at least it was there and a brave attempt. It would be good to see a broad section of genuine lesbians instead of however gorgeous straight women portraying us much in the same way as performers onc blacked up.

I don’t think the L Word was total unrealistic. Not all of them were wealthy. If I’m not mistaken, Alice worked for a newspaper/magazine, which never pays big. Then she had a radio show, still no big$. Then she finally landed the tv show and made a few big$ til she was fired. In my opinion she was among the regular working class.

So was Shane who was a hair stylist. They make enough but still no big$.

Jenny was dirt poor At the start but did manage to work to success and ultimately big$.

Same true for Max. She couldn’t afford lunch when she arrived but eventually got a decent gig.

Tasha was military and police, very little money.

Kit, was successful turned poor due to bad decisions the became reasonably comfortable with the planet and Hit.

Carmen was a DJ.

Papi was something average.

The only above average financially were Helena, (which was really mom’s money, when mom cut her off she was at rock bottom) Bette and Tina, when she returned to business, and Jodi.

They all wore designer clothes because it was TV.

Ilene wants to proove that these types of women really exist. And IMO, they do. There exists circles of friends with diversity within. I hope they capture that diversity.

I have to disagree with these comments. The majority of lesbians under 30 are femmes who want to see femmes. Femme lesbians are more marketable, a show about butch lesbians would fail. If anyone has read the comments posted on the l word forums they have seen that the majority of lesbian girls were always more attracted to thin femmes than they were to Max, Tasha, or Ivan end of story.

Dear Ilene,

I hope you get the chance to read this; don’t know how else to get in-touch with you.

Our community has come a long way with the contributions of everyone in the LGBT family, including yourself. Thank you for all your efforts; really enjoyed the original L word which portrayed a variety of lesbian lives.

I agree that beauty and fashion sells and that story lines should lean towards the mainstream (we already have enough of the coming-out stories). However, it would be a wonderful idea to include lesbians of colors to properly represent our beloved community. Since you’re already in a position, it would be great if you could champion against stereo-typing of other races. Asian characters in the original L Word were nowhere far from the old-false notions of spies/two-faced back-stabbers, as portrayed by Malaya Rivera.

Living the lesbian life through its transition from imprisonment to partial liberty from the 60’s to the present is a profound experience of my life (actually, it is the deepest experience I have) and I hope many others in my age group feel identically. The dark ages of our community gave birth to a global family of different races and nationalities. Vast majority of us used to hide in the closet, now we cheer along the way to final destination: LIBERTY. But what’s sad is, I see us being divided even with the increasing acceptance of our society. That is, being divided racially. Many of our caucasian members are climbing up the corporate ladder and experiencing success provided by their counterparts in the straight world, believing that the war against homosexuality is (almost) over. The meantime, their brothers and sisters of color are left behind. (I’m speaking in general terms.) I can see more of this happening in the future and thus the community being divided, and fighting for equal rights will dwindle down. By that time, it would be much easier for the fundamentalist breeders to come after us again as our size have decreased.

Let’s keep our love for each other growing and color-blind. All of us stood together to achieve (some form of) liberty we now enjoy.

Cheers!

I just can’t believe what I just read. Are you kidding me Kathy? I’m a woman of color part white part african american, soft butch,attractive,highly intelligent but struggle when it comes to employment & more importantly getting treated equal not by the straight world but by other lesbians! Here in Seattle.
To wonder as you do if they are going to cast actual real women i.e. fat women,butch,women of color,etc is in my opinion naiive.
I’ve been treated with racism,bigotry from other lesbian women with whom I thought would be my allies because I thought we all share the struggle.
I could not have been more wrong.
Why then would you wonder if that producer who has wealth,white privilege, who is basically immune from any prejudice should be any diffent?
The only way a REAL SHOW ABOUT REAL LESBIANS will get made is that we as women of color put our money together & produce it ourselves.
Lots of reasearch must be done but it can be done.
It certainly won’t be easy, but then again when it comes to having those two strikes against you
1.) Woman of color
2.) Lesbian

Nothing is ever easy. Whatever Ms. White privilege producers name is you can rest assured that she can pretty much do what ever she wants.
And why not? She never has to worry about the following:

Looks of contempt because of the color of your skin.
Constant stereotypes connected to your race from people who talk behind your back or sometimes to your face.
Being called racial epithets sometimes to your face which is extremely demeaning & hurts like hell.
Being fired because your gay.
Having other lesbians of european descend treating you as if you don’t belong in the lesbian community leaving/locking you out.

No, this producer doesn’t have to worry about any of that! She’s white thus enjoying all the privileges of white privilege.
I guess what might be next on her project list is an all white gay & lesbian version of “90210″
Wow, just when I thought that I’ve seen it all with lesbian stereotypes.
And the struggle continues