I want to start out by saying that these are just my personal opinions on the state of things, and if I offend anyone, please, feel free to reach out to me so we can discuss whatever needs to be said. Everybody in the LGBTQ+ community has a different opinion on things, and everybody’s opinions are valid in their own right.
In my experience, finding a book that is not simply cannon fodder for horny people (usually marketed towards men) or full of toxic, usually abusive, same sex relationships, whether it be published through a company or on a website, is a pretty difficult task. In today’s society, a very common trope for books or movies to exploit (aside from the aforementioned two) is “lesbian meets the ‘right man’ and changes her mind.” To illustrate this idea, allow me to point the readers to Chasing Amy and the currently controversial Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy.
While I have seen Chasing Amy, and can say with the utmost confidence that this movie represents a very stereotypical and narrow-minded lens into the lesbian community, I have not read Ramona Blue, though Murphy does akin the book to Chasing Amy in an interview. I have read about the controversy surrounding this book for a few months by perusing through its GoodReads reviews, and needless to say, people have vastly different opinions of the queer portrayal in this YA novel. Allow me to summarize what I think I know. (Reminder, I have not read the book, just the reviews and news surrounding the controversy).
Drawing from the author’s blurb on GoodReads, “Standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona...likes girls,” only girls. That would classify her as a lesbian, by all binary accounts, but I will fight the gender binary in a different blog post. Continuing, Ramona has her world upended when an old friend, Freddie, comes back to town. Ramona ends up developing feelings for Freddie, and they pursue a romantic relationship. Whether they stay together or not, I have no idea, but after this pivotal self-discovery, it seems like our protagonist falls under the bisexual umbrella to some degree. This seems to be the ending, from what I can gather. I already hear the “biphobic” slurs coming my way, but that is absolutely not the case. I identify as a lesbian (in regards to my sexual orientation), so I can completely understand where some people see a problem with the storytelling. Ramona starts out as a character for lesbian representation because the readers know she is attracted to only girls, but she quickly becomes a harbinger for bisexual representation instead. Yes, it is important to have strictly lesbian representation in the media (I’ll let TVTropes and IndieWire tell the readers more about the epidemic that is gay representation on television), but it is also important for people to see that sexuality does not always stay stagnant. My girlfriend only dated men before we entered into our relationship, and she identifies as bisexual, which I am always sure to remind people of, and I dated both men and women before I officially identified as a lesbian. Speaking generally, some extremists in the lesbian community might see it as lesbian erasure or a step towards heteronormativity because of the relationship with Freddie’s character. Ramona’s character is no longer attracted to only women, and therefore, cannot give young lesbians a role model to help them feel “normal” because Ramona eventually found the “right boy” to change her mind. They feel betrayed by the author.
The bisexual community sees it as representation for them, but also not since Ramona never outwardly says that she identifies as bisexual. The author confirms it, yes (Fun fact: Julie Murphy herself identifies as bisexual according to her Twitter bio.), but it is not technically canon from the protagonist’s mouth. Plus, with the “lesbian community” (again, generally speaking) presenting such hateful reviews against the “bisexual” protagonist, it’s no wonder this book is so controversial for all communities involved.
This situation is a double-edged sword, and this book is a catch 22. There is no pleasing everybody, but at least Ramona Blue doesn’t have a douchey Ben Affleck offering up a Hail Mary threesome to his lesbian girlfriend and male friend with an alleged romantic crush on him, right? Seriously, just read the entire plot synopsis on Wikipedia; just ignore the fact that they categorize Alyssa as “bisexual” from the get-go even though she never explicitly states that she identifies as anything but strictly lesbian, from what I remember.
Believe me, finding good representation in queer literature is hard, but writing it is harder because of the backlash (reread the previous paragraphs and reviews for Ramona Blue if the possible backlash is still unclear) I still plan on giving Murphy’s novel a try because I’d like to experience it for myself and form a factual opinion. Since a good portion of the dissenters are doing so through a “lesbian lens,” so to speak, I’d like to throw my gay hat in the ring as well.
This was a lot of information, and I did not intend for this blog post to end up as long as it did, but here we are, folks. The long and short of it is that there’s good and bad with queer representation in literature. Finding something that is not just erotica (smut), is not focused on an unhealthy relationship, or is not riddled with backlash from the LGBTQ+ community in some way is a damn near impossible adventure.
This brings us back to the main question: how does the literary world think of lesbians? In all honesty, it doesn’t. I am hardpressed to think of many books that focus solely on two lesbians in a relationship (as compared to a lesbian and a bisexual or something of the like), which is not to say that bisexual representation is a bad thing by any means. Rather, authors of queer literature want to be as inclusive as possible with their work, but sometimes, that means taking away representation from other communities. Do I think Julie Murphy is wrong for showing that sexuality can be fluid? No. Some people aren’t 100% confident in their sexualities, and that is okay. But, do I think some lesbian representation was taken away because of this choice in narrative? Yes. That was an unavoidable circumstance given the choice made, and I do honestly wish there were more examples of good strictly lesbian representation because I know I could have used some growing up. Ramona Blue might not have been that book for me personally, but that doesn’t mean it won’t help someone else feel accepted. While my counterparts in the community might not agree with my assessments, I will provide a list of novels I enjoyed (mostly centering around lesbian relationships, which does not necessarily mean that the characters identify as strictly lesbians) that can be considered queer literature at the bottom of the page. Also, please feel free to comment any additional pieces that might be a good fit for this list because I am always looking for more suggestions. Thanks for reading. The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer -- Here’s a link to the free PDF the author provided for “everyone who needs to read it.” Huntress by Malinda Lo -- Literally, everything by Malinda Lo is recommended by me, but Huntress was my first. Sing Me Home by Shannon O’Brien -- Published by the phenomenal Bella Books, a press dedicated to stories about ladies loving ladies, so I would also recommend browsing their selection and checking out their Twitter page. And Playing the Role of Herself by K.E. Lane -- This began as a fanfiction online. Besotted by shadowed one -- This still is fanfiction, but it is novel length and a worthy read. I’m not overly familiar with many books about male same sex couples, but my classmate did recently write a book review over Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, which focuses on a budding relationship between two male characters. Check that out here. |