DC Comics recently announced that their new Superman comic would feature a different “man of steel,” the story of Jon Kent, son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, as he finds his identity as a bisexual man. The announcement was met with mixed reactions ranging from uncertainty about the performative aspect of this choice to satisfaction with having another source of queer representation in media. This discourse also serves as a reminder for another bisexual character within the franchise, Harley Quinn.
Too often, queer women, especially women of color, are an afterthought when it comes to portrayals in the media. Although great strides have been made to better the opportunities and acceptance of members in the LGBTQ+ community — not to mention, the steady increase of queer representation on-screen — the problems facing members of the LGBTQ+ community have not been eliminated, and more importantly, the portrayal of these characters in media is nothing short of biased. In fact, when it comes to representation, the entertainment industry tends to favor one specific group above the rest: white gay men.
For years, Quinn’s close relationship with Poison Ivy, both in the comic books and animated series, prompted fans to speculate that the antiheroine could be bisexual. Yet, it wasn’t until 2018 that Quinn’s sexuality and relationship were confirmed when the two got married in a prequel comic book to the “Injustice 2” series.
The difference in DC Comic’s establishment of Jon Kent’s sexuality versus how long they took to confirm Quinn’s is a textbook example of the way gay men take precedent over queer women in the entertainment industry. When it comes to LGBTQ+ representation in the media as a whole, one is much more likely to find a love story between two men than two women. Additionally, most of these stories neglect to include people of color, transgender and nonbinary people.
Gay men are presented with options such as “Brokeback Mountain,” “Love, Simon,” “Young Royals” and more. “Love, Simon” even got a TV spin-off called “Love, Victor,” which centers around another gay man rather than a film adaptation of the actual book sequel, “Leah on the Offbeat,” which features a lead bisexual woman. Meanwhile, the stories of queer women often revolve around torrid affairs or tragic endings, such as the film “Ammonite” and Apple TV’s “Dickinson.” That’s not to say that depictions of gay men are flawless or never end in heartache, but the fact remains that the likelihood of finding representation at all comes harder to queer women.
The lack of representation given to queer women isn’t the only issue regarding this topic; the manner in which this representation is portrayed on screen is just as problematic. More often than not, relationships between two women on screen result in the sexualization and fetishizing of queer women. Continuing with the example of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, their relationship is often hypersexualized by male fans of the comics. The art portraying the two women within the comics is usually done in a romantic light as a way to emphasize the love they have for each other. Yet, the fan art paints a completely opposite picture, portraying the women as half-naked or engaging in some kind of sexual activity. So, not only are queer women left with scraps of representation, but those scraps often result in inaccurate or harmful conceptions.
In depicting LGBTQ+ characters, we have to remember that queer people are not a monolith and that intersectionality exists. A story about a middle-class white boy coming out as gay is not going to resonate with a lesbian woman of color living in a religious household. There may be similarities between the experiences; however, they are two entirely different situations with varying feelings, stakes and thoughts. In order to better the execution of representation for both queer women and the entire LGBTQ+ community, we must promote the importance of keeping intersectionality in mind and creating stories that resonate with people from all crossroads.
Lourdes Enriquez is an Opinion Contributing Writer. She can be reached at lienriqu@uci.edu.