Lesbianism is unfortunately most commonly associated with pornography. As we all know, porn is not exactly known for its realistic depictions of sex and the human body. Virtually all pornographic films are directed by men for men, including lesbian films. In fact, many of the actresses in lesbian porn are very rarely actual lesbians, but heterosexual or bisexual women. Porn being the main correlation with lesbians often leads to misconstrued ideas about lesbian sexuality. Many popular tropes found in lesbian porn include a curiously innocent straight girl being seduced and manipulated by a lesbian, or teen girls making out for a male friend’s enjoyment. This feeds into the idea that lesbianism is a performance- a tool to titillate heterosexual men, and something for straight women to ‘experiment’ with before they inevitably return to a real relationship with a male. Lesbianism is exclusively viewed through two lenses in popular media- extreme sexualized fashion where it’s basically a fetish, or extreme desexualization, something unwanted and ‘ugly’ women turn to when they have no male options.
Marie Hartofelis 