Gayxample is a new web series about a group of men living in the
gay district of Barcelona, Eixample, and these beautiful Barca boys
make the Northern Queer as Folk (QAF) lads look positively
pasty.
The show is brilliantly camp, naturally funny and isn't just a
predictable drug and sex fest (although don't worry, there's still
plenty of shagging and class As). The series tackles the
difficulties of coming out to 'phobey relatives, and the issue of
living with HIV is covered.
But let's get down to the important part, the women in the
series. The main lesbian is Montse - a sensible and mumsy-looking
social worker. Her part is well-developed and engaging but it got
me thinking, why are all the women characters in gay dramas so
dull?
The series has not yet been fully-released online but, so far,
Montse seems present to act as a moral barometer by which to gauge
the boys' outrageous behaviour. Montse lives with mini-bear Toni,
who is into hard drugs and cruising the web. A sort of
mother-figure, we see her chastising Toni for taking coke at a
party and her ongoing storyline is about taking in a pregnant woman
who has been abused by her partner.
This mother-hen image of lesbians is one that has been fostered
by gay dramas over the years, whether it be Romy and Lisa in QAF UK
or Melanie and Lindsay in QAF US. It is a stereotype that lesbians
are obsessed with motherhood and even though Montse isn't a mother,
she theoretically acts out this motherly character trait with the
adult characters. Lesbian characters never develop in relation to
each other and act only as a buffer for the male characters. They
also seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time looking for
sperm and then arguing about sperm. Sprinkle this with frequent
conversations about their lack of sex-life and it makes for quite
2D viewing.
It does work both ways though, Gayxample is full of drug-taking,
promiscuous gay men and this also is a stereotype that much of the
gay-male community would probably like to escape from. I'm also not
sure whether motherhood and nurturing is really a 'lesbian issue'
so much as a women's issue and it would be great to see some more
relevant lesbian issues being tackled. When I look around me I see
amazing, ambitious and colourful women who oftentimes, not that I'm
celebrating this, sleep around and take drugs, just like men do. I
don't look around and see a roomful of bulbous preggers
baby-bellies.
I don't want to be too negative about this great series as I
feel it hits the right level of fun and thoughtfulness, let's just
hope we can get through a couple more episodes before Montse starts
out on a pilgrimage for sperm.
Where to watch: www.gayxample.net.
