#henreitta Wilson | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alexfatty101-blog · 5 years

Text

Queer Women Power Up

Queer Women have fought through barriers and adversity whereby their plight has become a significant topic of discussion in our society. Unfortunately, queer women history is not taught and is barely recognized. In our Queer Screen class at California State University, Northridge, we watched a film titled “The Watermelon Woman”. This film was a well produced scam of queer black women history. With a “fuck the audience” type of ending, this 1996 cinema revolves and pokes at the under misrepresentation of queer POC women history. As Linda Garber stayed, “Lesbian history has always been a self-aware field of historiographical creation as much as historical discovery” (p. 129). This film possibly encouraged other cinema producers to incorporate more women of color as we see more dominant women roles in current pop culture television series today.

The Fox series, 9-1-1 has done an outstanding job of incorporating Henreitta Wilson (played by Aisha Hinds). She’s one of the few important characters in the show. Hen is a firefighter and paramedic for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Within her unit, she is the only person of color who also identifies as a lesbian. Her kind and caring personality has brought the audience of this series on a journey. We get to meet her partner and journey through some of the struggles they face to get custody of Hen’s son. One thing I admire about the show’s script is how the character’s identity is not the main focus about her. We are following the characters personality and one episode tells the entire audience her life story and struggles faced to get where she currently is.

Another great representation of queer women in media was the series produced by Freeform, The Fosters (2013-2018). The show conveys two mothers and their adoptive children. This show also does not focus on the women’s relationship, however their communal stuggles in their work field and community are seen every now and then as people sometimes are shocked by their relationship because of the immediate conception we have on people who are professionals especially in law enforcement and education. The audience of this series also has a fresh view of parenting. Many current millennial TV series shows a man and woman in parenting roles. Unlike “brassy Tamara” (from “The Watermelon Woman”) who is obsessed with African-American life, Stefanie Foster ideally has open communication with her wife and tends to work as a team. Although there are some situations that involve Stef working alone or taking control, Lena has a strong demeanor to herself in order to assure her opinion is not overlooked. Watching Stef and Lena Foster ambition to work together as partners and parents is refreshing to watch, especially in 2019. This series queers the audience in a romantic and compassionate way as we see the material couple on a rollercoaster with the children, their parents, and their careers. The producers also add scenes to depict their love and starts a new conversation into reality.

The article, “Historical Fictions, Modern Desires” notes that films such as “The Watermelon Woman”, “reconcile ideological work with entertainment”. The quote explains the coexistence betiween media and lesbian history. Shows like the ones I’ve discussed attract a new type of audience that was typically unseen and unrecognized because the consist of characters symbolizing them. Times in society are changing, and our media perspectives are changing to discuss intersectionality and bring acceptance into our new generations. Characters like Stef and Lena, and Hen from 9-1-1, were taboo because they were considered non traditional. Today, media has collectively began to represent queen women and queer POC women into mainstream multimedia representing diversity and intersexuality.

2 notes · View notes