Summary Of The Kids Are All Right And The Fosters

Lesbian and gay sexual identities were largely non-existent in 1990s television and film (Kielwasser and Wolf 1992; Dyer 1984) and although queer identity narratives are becoming more overtly prevalent (Myer and Wood 2013), The Kids Are All Right and The Fosters are evidence these representations are narrow. These productions are both examples of the increasing lesbian representation in mainstream pop culture and both shape visibility through assimilating any points of difference to blend into the mainstream. In doing so, same-sex parents problematically signify as heterosexual emulations to effectively normalize queerness (Gross 2001; Gamson 2005; Walters 2001). Presenting a discourse of normality, these productions dispute the foundations against lesbian motherhood, yet it is a problematic representation of lesbian parenting.
To effectively neutralize the possibility of queerness, both productions highlight the pertinence of motherhood.
Lesbian characters in The Kids Are All Right and The Fosters do not appear to belong to a LGBTQ community. Similarly, the majority of lesbian characters in film and television that are rarely shown in their own communities (Dow 2001). Failing to depict the community as a site of support contributes to the stereotype that lesbians live in social isolation and lack social support (Peplau 1993). In fact, research demonstrates that queer parents receive significant support from multiple sources such as families of origin, families of creation, or close networks of queer friends (Ainslie and Felty 1991; Kurakk 1988; Levy 1989, 1992; Lavin 1993). Additionally, there is no dialogue between the couples or children about issues within the LGBTQ community in either production. Isolating the characters from the LGTBQ community diminishes their queerness because group membership is a central component to constitute