I admit it: I am an L Word junkie.  I know many people despise the show with a passion, and I completely understand their feelings.  I find it horribly offensive in many ways myself (one of which I am exploring in this article).  I only watch it for the same reasons I watched As The World Turns in middle school: It is so far removed from the real world that it lets you forget about the real world during those times you so desperately need an escape.  And I do not mean that it represents an ideal world I wish to live in, because I would not trade places with those people unless my life depended on it.  But by being an observer of this fake reality, I can laugh at their drama-filled lives without feeling bad about it.  Plus, after coming of age in the 90’s when I had to desperately search for any representation of queer life on television, I still find it kind of amazing that we have reached the point of having a trash TV show all about queer girls.

Well, maybe not all kinds of queer girls…

What the hell happened to Alice?  And for that matter, what the hell happened to Tina? And Jenny?  The L Word has bypassed every opportunity it had to show bisexuality in a positive light or host a strong bisexual/queer character without the character eventually choosing to cave in to their community’s pressure to identify as a lesbian.  One could argue that this decision was not a choice due to pressure; that these characters were “lesbians” to begin with and the show is merely reflecting the many ways young women come to terms with their sexual identity.  But seriously, did every single potentially bisexual character have to go through a phase of bisexuality to arrive at lesbianism?

I have been a fan of Leisha Hailey (“Alice Pieszecki”) since listening to her old band, The Murmers, and especially since seeing her in the film All Over Me.  Knowing she was originally the only out lesbian on the show, I was excited to learn that she would be playing the only out bisexual in season one.  Before the series premiered, she was quoted as saying that she had done a great deal of research on bisexuality in order to fairly represent bisexual women, and that she had gained respect for it as a valid sexual orientation, not just a phase, in the process.  Throughout season one, Alice was indeed a strong bisexual character, though she may have made some cringe-worthy statements (such as telling Lisa the “lesbian man” that they didn’t need sex toys because he had “the real thing”).  As the first few seasons progressed, there was less and less talk about Alice’s sexuality and they almost exclusively showed her dating women, which I actually found refreshing because it showed that one does not need to continually date multiple genders in order to maintain a bisexual identity.

That is, it was refreshing until Tina started dating a man, and Alice became the most vocally biphobic character in the group.

Tina’s character is a whole other issue; her sexual fluidity is portrayed by her “going back to men” and then “going back to women,” leaving no room for any genuine attraction to men once she comes back to the lesbian fold (and vice versa).  Only once throughout the whole storyline is the B-word mentioned, and Tina dismisses it.  When Tina begins dating Henry, her friends see it as a slap in the face, a betrayal, and for some reason a strain on their friendship.  These are the same friends who were once rather understanding or at least accepting of Alice’s bisexuality in earlier seasons… but wait, Alice apparently isn’t bisexual anymore.  Alice is downright vicious in her attacks on Tina while she is with Henry.  The one time another character calls her out on it by bringing up her history of dating men, Alice explains that she “saw the light,” and that is the difference between herself and Tina.

To make matters more confusing, Alice has periodically made brief references to herself as bisexual again in recent seasons after Tina’s storyline came to a close.  I know we bisexuals are supposed to be confused, but can’t the L Word writers at least decide if Alice is bisexual or hates bisexuals?

I could not possibly discuss disappointing portrayals of bisexuality on The L Word without at least mentioning Jenny.  Jenny leaves her four-year relationship with a man after discovering her attraction to women, but at the end of season one continues to date men as well.  Before she went certifiably crazy and nearly impossible to watch (I actually found her character enjoyable and inspiring in season two), Jenny struck me as having the most radical potential out of every character on the show (as far as sexuality is concerned).  I was hoping her character would remain unlabelled, fluid, not bisexual, but not lesbian either.  She began dating Moira when Moira identified as a lesbian, and continued dating Max after he transitioned and identified as a man.  Then… she dropped the L-bomb (big surprise), dumping Max because she decided that she identified as a lesbian after all.

Please don’t get me wrong.  I love lesbians (really, really love them… you get the point).  I understand that all of these storylines are valid representations of the ways many women come to identify as lesbians.  I understand that – as much as they can be for a show that is essentially a soap opera – these are “true” stories in the lives of many members of our community.  Lots of people do go through phases and try on various identities before finding the one that most comfortably fits them.  But despite The L Word being a trashy soap opera, it was still the first trashy soap opera for queer women and as such should recognize a certain degree of responsibility that goes along with that.  For some young girl struggling with her sexuality because she is attracted to multiple genders, and for whom The L Word may be her first exposure to queer culture, she may be led to believe that she will never find a community of true friends until she buckles down and identifies as a lesbian, discounting all other valid attractions and feelings. 

I wish I had the same national platform the writers of The L Word have to tell all these girls that this could not be further from the truth.  Instead, I will hope that in its final season, The L Word becomes at least slightly more socially responsible.