The authors address lesbian and bisexual representation in popular television shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, E.R., Queer as Folk, Sex and the City, The L Word and The O.C.. Contains also an introduction to queer women on television and to the scholarship that discusses such representation, and allows a framework for different viewpoints on a variety of topics and series. First published in 2008.
This book explores popular contemporary texts featuring lesbian characters, including The L Word, Queer as Folk, Dykes to Watch Out For, and various pornographic videos. Beirne places these works in the context of political and cultural trends of the post-millennial period and compares them to cultural representations of lesbians from the past. Taking up such issues as mainstreaming, feminine lesbians, the male gaze, female masculinity, and sexual practice, this book puts forward provocative readings of texts that have been little explored and offers new insights into the depiction of lesbians
This essay discusses the first and second seasons of Showtime's cable television series The L Word (2004-). The L Word is remarkable in that it is the first major drama series to focus its narrative on the lives of lesbian and bisexual women. This article critically analyses the first two seasons, together with initial responses to the series, in terms of lesbian femininity, masculinity and desire.