When I first started questioning my sexuality I turned to the media for answers. Granted not my best move, but I worked with what I was provided with. As I started to muddle my way through LGBT representations in the media I became more and more frustrated with how these characters were portrayed. They were the villains, the sluts, and more times than not they were the victims of the writers who created them. Each time I sat down to watch a lesbian classic I found myself asking “Is the lesbian dead yet?” Whether it is through justice of the law, a hate crime, or the ever popular suicide the lesbian always seemed to die. I was not only hurt by this presumption of “otherness” but also appalled.
Times are changing and the media is slowly changing with them. I am weary of the depressing story lines that come with my sexuality, that of a gay woman. I am a hopeless romantic with a love for reading and watching movies. Why should I have to watch over and over again as the character that touches me the deepest is continuously being slaughtered for mainstream entertainment?
While looking through online bookstores, which seem to be the only place to find lesbian fiction, I noticed that many of the books for sale did not even have a synopsis. How am I supposed to know what books to buy if I do not even know what the stories are about? So I have decided that as I make my way through old and new books of lesbian fiction I will write a review of the books I read and share it with the world online. If this helps makes the process of choosing a new book just a little bit easier for someone who shares my struggle then I will be happy.
Thank you,
Alyx Rae
