Over and over again, we see it. TV shows and movies focused on gay men explode in popularity, while lesbian series such as Everything Sucks! and First Kill are often cancelled after one season.
Being queer, and celebrating that, is increasingly seen as a positive thing. Gay men are more free to express themselves in public now, after years of chemical castration and imprisonment faced by so many throughout history. We see this shift reflected in the media too through the popularity of shows such as Young Royals and more recently, Heated Rivalry, not only with people who identify as LGBTQ+, but largely with straight women too.
Sapphic shows, unfortunately, don’t tend to generate that same buzz.
So why is that?
Intersectionality has a large part to play in this. Being queer and being a woman is still seen as taboo by many.
The word “lesbian” has been sexualised by the porn industry, which has had a hugely damaging impact on the way sapphic women are portrayed and perceived in media. Even in research for this article, it was difficult to find real reports and articles discussing this fetishisation as Google is filled with so much lesbian X-rated content. In 2016, PornHub released data which showed that “lesbian” was the number one most searched word on the website. Lesbianism has, in many spaces, become something framed for men’s satisfaction and fetishisation, rather than real love between women. That framing shows up directly in the lack of investment behind WLW movies and TV shows.
The evidence says otherwise
It’s not that there has never been a successful show about lesbian relationships.
Yellowjackets, a sapphic show that debuted in 2021, has been renewed for a fourth season. Furthermore, despite not being renewed for a second season, First Kill on Netflix logged just significantly more hours of watch time in its first week in comparison to the first season of Heartstopper, a show that focuses on a MLM relationship and that has since had three seasons and a movie greenlit.
It could be argued that that the issues lie in budgeting – however Netflix’s Everything Sucks! was made on a tiny budget in comparison to other shows on Netflix (as stated by the creators), therefore the lack of renewal for a second season can’t be down to budget if it was one of the cheapest shows for multi-billion dollar corporation Netflix to produce.
Timing is potentially another issue – but really, how likely is it that it is seemingly predominately sapphic shows over heteronormative or gay shows that are continuously cancelled for this reason?
The interest is there. The investment isn’t.
The gap in the market
While there’s a clear popularity and appetite for lesbian shows, companies continue to underinvest in these love stories, creating a gap in the market for sapphic stories that actually get a satisfying ending.
I guess we’re still waiting to finally get our lesbian Heated Rivalry.