When Showtime released The L Word in 2004, it was a major hit, despite no shortage of bad writing. A large part of the show's success had to do with the fact that it appealed largely to straight viewers. Men for the first time could watch women have sex in a perfectly acceptable way, with their wives or girlfriends beside them. What television viewers have been witnessing the last two decades is a sexual revolution, not a [BEEP] one. It's no secret the entertainment
industry borrows from minority experiences and repackages them at its leisure. It embraces lesbian sexuality and discards the rest. With the exception of Shane (Kate Moennig), who was really an androgynous character, and Max (Daniela Sea), there weren't many butch characters on The L Word (and this only lasted until Max transitioned to a man). The show's producers were obviously struggling to make a show about [BEEP] women that was still appealing to straight viewers. [..]
Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, a show about women in prison, features one butch character -- Big Boo, played by Lea DeLaria. Crass, obnoxious, and sex-obsessed, DeLaria's character is the personification of the butch lesbian stereotype. But she is also authentically human in many ways. I go back and forth between liking her and hating her, which is understandable. When I finally meet a character who is sort of like me, she's in a jail cell. That's not surprising. Prison is exactly the place many would expect to find someone like Boo. After all, women perceived as too masculine are often seen as bad and deserving of punishment.
The show features a few other masculine-leaning characters, like Stella Carlin (Ruby Rose), who, like Shane, is more androgynous than butch. As a [BEEP] character there's nothing wrong with her. Many lesbians are androgynous, and many see it as beautiful. In some ways, Orange Is the New Black can be applauded for embracing characters who exist outside gender norms. But still, when it comes to the absence of butch characters, there are unfilled gaps.