Exclusive obsession with gay love (men attracted to men) romance genres in media has recently overshadowed that of sapphic love (women attracted to women). Why is it that relationships between two men are romanticized more than those between two women?
With new releases like the gay romance show “Heated Rivalry,” fandoms of these Queer media are frequently known for creepy, obsessive behavior towards the characters. This has made it difficult for someone who resonates with the Queer community and wants to get into the fandom to positively engage with the fan community. However, this discussion does not just include Queer-dedicated shows. In “Stranger Things,” the ship, or fan-made relationship, between Mike Wheeler and Will Byers had similar reactions from those who did not support this connection. There were constant messages about how it was strange to be so passionate about a fictional relationship. Yet, there was little to no outrage over the neglect of the canon, or official, relationship between Robin Buckley and Vickie Dunn. This sapphic relationship was tossed aside and only described as being overbearing, but it had no relationship development, being confronted in the last 30 minutes of the finale.
Despite all the implied chemistry between Byler and the canon relationship of Rovickie, the hope for representation was abandoned, and the dissapointment of thousands of viewers was deemed as obsession. These shows should be a gateway for those who are queer to see representation of queer communities on mainstream television.
But aside from that, the promotion of sapphic media is just as neglected. With ideas like the “male gaze” being implemented and LGBTQ+ representation typically advertising MLM (Men-Love-Men) relationships, Sapphic media receives less attention and is often pushed aside as the “side gay” phenomenon. Outside of the media, this problem persists. For example, there are only 128 government-funded LGBTQ+ projects; only 1.6% were awarded to projects solely focused on lesbians between 2010 and 2022, according to The Lesbian Project.
Sophomore Diana Hernandez-Lima shared her opinion on the lack of appreciation for sapphic media and weird attraction towards MLM media.
“If LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, genderfluid and so on, I don’t understand the ‘hype’ of MLM if it’s only a part of the entire community and there’s so much more to be represented.” She explained. “But also because of the rise of media like Call Me By Your Name, Brokeback Mountain, Heart-stopper, which were male centered, I think that’s the ‘influence’ of what people think LGBTQ+ looks like for everyone.”
The attention for MLM media is not support, it is hypersexualization and fetishization. When “Heated Rivalry” came out, there was backlash on the reactions to sexual scenes in each episode, with straight white women typically being the culprits. Trying to enjoy shows and movies that represent marginalized communities, then finding out that the aspect that grabbed people’s attention was not what was intended, is painful to see.
The art is not at fault for the hyperobsession with MLM media— the problem lies in the general audience. At the end of the day, queer media in any form should be appreciated without extraneous motives.
