wam – women ageing & media

One Response to “Irmi Karl – “Triple jeopardy?” – Lesbian in/visibility, reality TV and the spectre of age(ing)”

1.   Jo Garde-Hansen Says:
   October 28th, 2008 at    

   Here are the raporteur notes from the break out session based on Irmi Karl’s presentation.

   As a group we were enthralled by what we termed The Gok Wan phenomenon as a gay icon who has been ascribed a legitimate position for judging, advising women on their body image and body confidence. We drew a contrast with the Self policing of other women by Trinny and Susannah, and questioned where Agency for women is in these shows.

   Part of our discussion was upon the idea of Always already doing over/ making over the lesbian in shows like 10 Years Younger, in which the woman is seen to betray her femininity at the beginning and to regain it by the end. She is described in ways that signal to lesbian identity:

   Letting oneself go
   Masculinity/ageing/meant as an insult
   Undesirable

   This led us to discussions of what else in terms of ageing and gender is undesirable?
   “man-boobs” and we decided that Trinny and Susannah doesn’t work with men in those episodes that have tried it.

   We recognised that these shows are probably culturally specific to the context?

   Compare American and British productions of make-over shows

   How do German lesbians look compared to British lesbians? Proves point that lesbians are influenced in the same way as straight women

   We did come to a conclusion that:

   Invisibility can be a blessing – mobility, relief because you are on the margins
   Gay men are so much more visible. Even in terms of the lesbian mother who is doubly invisible. Queer reproduction and late motherhood for straight women… eg. The L-Word

   We also discussed the issue of identity and the body:
   Which part of me is lesbian? What does a lesbian look like? What do older lesbians look like?

   We tried to find these representations in popular media:

   Hollywood and TV representations of lesbian/gay couples having children (Ross in Friends): normalisation of gay relationships within the narratives (eg 6 feet under);making them visible and invisible

   We finally discussed two recent documentaries on British television:

   ‘Dawn Porter goes lesbian’
   Wearing a lemon – to feel like a man
   Fluidity of sexuality in relation to alcohol consumption – Dawn goes lesbian the more she drinks!
   Withdrew from lesbianism as a lifestyle
   Gender fluidity and femininity

   and

   ‘The Perfect Vagina’
   Brazilian wax makes vagina visible
   Rejuvenating surgery – back to girl’s vagina

   That’s it from this group…….