A lesbian is a woman who loves and has sex with women. A male lesbian, therefore, should not exist. In fact, his identity seems nigh on absurd—just the butt of a joke on The L Word. But here’s the truth; over the weekend, I had at least three male lesbians in my home among a mid-sized gathering of friends. It was my birthday. All three of them brought me gifts.
The L Word’s male lesbian was named Lisa, and is responsible for introducing a whole generation to the concept. We first meet Lisa at The Planet, in tow of Shane. He describes himself to the gang as “a lesbian—a lesbian-identified man” (cue Dana’s disgusted face). Next episode, Alice bumps into Lisa at a lesbian yacht party, where he performs Reiki on her before accompanying her below deck. In bed, he produces a dildo, stating that this is how he prefers to have sex. Though initially hot for him, Alice is disturbed by the silicon and straddles his flesh-and-blood crotch with fiendish determination. Lisa, it’s clear, is both a caricature of a tender-loving lesbian and an insufficiently-macho man. The show dispenses with him after two episodes.
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