Our current social climate suggests that there is greater tolerance and acceptance of lesbians than ever before. There is evidence to suggest that gays and lesbians are becoming fully integrated into mainstream culture. Gay and lesbian characters are now regular media features with entire television shows such as The L-Word constructed around “lesbian” characters. Social acceptance of same sex sexual behavior has become such that celebrities such as Madonna and Britney Spears can kiss each other on national television to the titillation and amused delight of straight viewers. Perhaps the biggest indicator of increased acceptability of gays and lesbians is Canada’s 2005 change in marriage laws, now granting marriage licenses to same sex couples. Despite these seeming advances to gay and lesbian equality, I contend that rather than cause for celebration, these developments are simply a modern spin on an old tactic – a reformulated method of assimilating and “normalizing” lesbians. The greater acceptance afforded to lesbians today is at least in part, a result of media images that commodify lesbians as reproductions of Hollywood straight women. Within this context it seems that few lesbians today, and even fewer young lesbians self identify as butch. My hypothesis is that if lesbian feminism was the old threat to butch identity, the shunning of identity and the appeal of inclusivity within the neo-liberal, capitalist paradigm is perhaps the new. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis and a feminist methodology, this thesis analyses historical and contemporary discourses related to lesbian subjectivity to explicate how butch identity is being made to disappear within North American lesbian communities. / Graduate

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-06-29T13:47:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 lilianwerneckrodrigues.pdf: 10142462 bytes, checksum: d440c292d0d560e1e8841dc5122abaa3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-13T15:50:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 lilianwerneckrodrigues.pdf: 10142462 bytes, checksum: d440c292d0d560e1e8841dc5122abaa3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-13T15:50:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 lilianwerneckrodrigues.pdf: 10142462 bytes, checksum: d440c292d0d560e1e8841dc5122abaa3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-13T15:50:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 lilianwerneckrodrigues.pdf: 10142462 bytes, checksum: d440c292d0d560e1e8841dc5122abaa3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-13 / A partir do mapeamento das conexões entre novas mídias, séries de TV, interações colaborativas na Internet e lesbianidades, este trabalho de dissertação interroga as interseções que podem ocorrer entre mídias através de um estudo de caso das audiências em torno da série The L Word. Considerada a primeira série dramática da televisão norteamericana a apresentar um grupo de mulheres lésbicas como protagonistas de sua narrativa, The L Word pode ser vista como um exemplo de produto cultural transmidiático, produzido para a TV, mas que estabeleceu uma relação peculiar com suas espectadoras dentro do que Henry Jenkins chama de Cultura da Convergência. Através deste estudo, pretende-se questionar tanto as especificidades desta relação ambientada na convergência dos meios de comunicação, quanto as características particulares do comportamento das fãs brasileiras dentro da cultura participativa, movimento alimentado pela inteligência coletiva criada a partir do seriado. A busca pelas respostas a essas questões serve, ao longo do texto, à verificação da hipótese de que The L Word, enquanto transmídia, estabelece uma interlocução com suas fãs no ambiente da convergência dos meios, ou seja, ao mesmo tempo em que as personagens da série tentam pautar certos traços das lesbianidades em trânsito, a narrativa se adapta às pautas demandadas pelas espectadoras que buscam a visibilidade, em um fluxo que levou as fãs brasileiras a se envolverem tanto no compartilhamento de conteúdos da série, quanto nas redes sociais lésbicas criadas a partir dela, movimento que ocasiona implicações sociais, culturais e políticas. / From the mapping of connections between new media, TV series, and on the Internet collaborative interactions lesbianidades, this dissertation interrogates the intersections between media that can occur through a case study of audiences around the series The L Word. Considered the first dramatic series of American television to present a group of lesbian women as protagonists of his narrative, The L Word can be seen as an example of cultural product transmidiático produced for TV, but it established a special relationship with their spectators in what Henry Jenkins calls Convergence Culture. From this study, we intend to question both the specifics of this relationship set in the convergence of media, as the particular characteristics of the behavior of the fans inside the Brazilian participatory culture, collective intelligence powered by the movement created from the show. The search for answers to these questions serves, throughout the text, to verify the hypothesis that The L Word, as transmedia, establishes a dialogue with their fans in the environment of media convergence, while the characters series of guided attempt traits of lesbianidades in transit, the narrative fits guidelines demanded by viewers who seek visibility in a stream that led the Brazilian fans to be involved in both the sharing of content of the series, as the social networks created lesbians from it, move that causes social, cultural and political.

The past decade has witnessed an increase in queer-themed television. Cable networks, including Bravo, HBO, Showtime, and most recently LOGO, have also begun writing and airing programming with queer characters in the primary roles as well as focusing on themes relating to the gay community. Shows, such as Queer as Folk and The L-Word, while primarily written for a queer viewing audience, have been mass marketed and have had strong viewership outside of the queer community. The L-Word is unique in that it is the first show to focus on the lives and relationships of non-heterosexual women, thus making it the first show to subvert gendered and sexual norms relating to the female sex/gender. Using ethnography, this study builds upon previous textual analyses by examining how audiences of Showtime's The L-Word construct and interpret queer female identities. The problem is not of accurate representations in media, but rather, the necessity of understanding constructions of gender and sexual expression and representation. In addition, it is necessary to examine how audiences negotiate media texts about oppressed identities and if these negotiations help to perpetuate dominant ideals regarding gender, gender roles, and heterosexuality. This study analyzes how viewers' individual experiences and ideologies help to construct their own identities and their negotiation of television images and texts, and how new modes of understanding influence social relations concerning gender and sexuality difference. Inspired by the works of discourse, feminist, and queer theory, this study examines audience interpretations constructed about the queer female community after viewing The L-Word. / Mass Media and Communication

This thesis examines the ways in which popular media forms explore ideas of national identity, citizenship, and the politics of representation with regards to queer Xicana women, especially those residing in Los Angeles. Specifically, through an analysis of the television show The L Word, Cherrie Moraga’s play The Hungry Woman and Aurora Guerrero’s film Mosquita y Mari, this thesis argues that the queer Xicana experience is best represented in popular culture by queer Xicanas themselves.

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This project utilizes a case study approach to explore the various ways in which the portrayals of gay people have changed on American television. Three contemporary programs - Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and The L Word - are examined as examples of how far American television has progressed in terms of treating gay people with respect. Whether those shows move beyond merely presenting gay characters and into a level of actively challenging mainstream views on gay people is also examined. Findings suggest different factors affect the ability of the individual programs to test said views - including the genres to which each belongs, and their presence on network television (Will & Grace), basic cable (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) or premium cable (The L Word). While all three programs show some tendencies toward queerness, they also take steps toward negotiating with mainstream culture, indicating that complete queerness may be an unattainable goal on American television.