ABSTRACT
Mapping the key features of lesbian representation in the media is a difficult task. This is due to the frequent polarisation of lesbian representations, most notably when it comes to sex. Lesbian identity and sex are simultaneously fetishised and disavowed by the media and society at large, and this creates a problem when it comes to representational analysis. Visibility for lesbians in mainstream and alternative media is both desired and critiqued, with the same representations deemed positive or negative by different consumers. As a result, the complications of identifying the positions and boundaries of what defines lesbian representation are under constant negotiation. Thus, even if evaluating the authenticity of lesbian representation is broadly seen as important, how to achieve authenticity is more difficult to ascertain. The duality of lesbian representation is perhaps most clearly expressed in the complex representations of lesbian sex and sexuality in fiction film and television, marked as they are by a history of (sometimes concurrent) invisibility and fetishisation.
