Disclaimer: mention of porn. Reader discretion advised.
On March 24, Netflix announced which couple the beloved show Bridgerton would be following in Season 5. The announcement had a mixed reaction from fans about being a sapphic love story between the protagonists, Francesca Bridgerton and Michaela Sterling. Under the posts, there were comments such as, “I’ll skip this season,” complaining about the changing of the series from the books, and saying Bridgerton has become woke. But are these complaints fair about the changing of a beloved series, or is this a blatant cover-up of lesbophobia and misogyny?
Bridgerton was at first a book series, but then it became a Netflix series, which gained insane popularity, especially among straight women. While the show has gotten more popular, it has slowly turned away from the books. In Season 3, the character Benedict Bridgerton explored a queer relationship with the character Paul Suarez. Yet, instead of the hate that the romance between Francesca Bridgerton and Michaela Sterling got, it was met with praise by the fandom. Plus, as queer women, we see this often with WLW (women loving women) media getting hate, but MLM (men loving men) getting praised.
Another primary example of this is the show Heated Rivalry, which was also originally a book that was then adapted into a TV show. The show follows two hockey players who are having a secret relationship because of homophobia in the National Hockey League (NHL). The show is widely considered to be a cultural phenomenon, with it garnering over 10.6 million viewers as of February 2026. Additionally, the show received a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. So to say the show is loved is an understatement. Heated Rivalry was especially loved by straight women, with 53% of the audience being straight women, according to the HBO spokesperson in an article from the New York Times.
But why is the show loved by straight women so much? Delilah Rider (10), a lesbian student here at Mills said, “There’s no woman to give a stereotype to in the story; it might give women a break from that stereotype in the story.”
Before there were shows that highlighted queer representation, many LGBTQIA+ people would look towards fan fiction to receive any amount of representation, as they continuously faced stereotypes and judgment from others. Fan fiction is creative writing done by the individual of preexisting characters in media. However, with these headcannons and canon ships, there is more MLM media, such as Heartstopper. For research purposes, we explored The Archive of Our Own (AO3) fan fiction site, and on the home page, we found a slew of MLM fan fiction; However, it took about 12 pages to find one that represented a WLW relationship. Despite the lack of WLW fan fiction representation, lesbians will still rely on fan fiction. Why is that? Because of the lack of WLW media.
A common thread between WLW shows is that they all seem to mysteriously get canceled after one season. Why do MLM shows get renewed and more love than WLW shows? Fetishization. While in most cases, straight women tend to fetishize gay men in a more platonic way, men tend to perceive queer women in a more sexual light. An anonymous bisexual student pointed out, “I think straight women loving MLM media has a lot to do with divergence from traditional gender roles. In a lot of cases, men are expected to find a wife and start a family as soon as there’s some stability in their lives — ‘be the man of the house.’” This quote grants the ability to put this situation ultimately in perspective, as women can fetishize in public, while men tend to fetishize from behind closed doors.
To further prove this point, an anonymous sapphic student stated, “Straight relationships in media obviously cater to the male gaze, and WLW relationships are so fetishized by straight men.” She also added, “This message is internalized by women and causes them to stigmatize their own sexual desire. But that female objectification isn’t present in MLM relationships, which can make MLM stories seem like a respite from misogyny.” Many news sources including Mashable.com have discussed the data that Pornhub has revealed for their 2025 categories, stating that categories involving Lesbians are the most watched categories. This desire seems to be the blame for this constant cancellation of WLW media, as men don’t care about the romance and relationships of sapphic relationships.
It’s important to combat this to provide proper support for WLW media and the community. If we grant the ability to make more sapphic voices heard, there is a chance we can provide a new outlook that isn’t purely sexual when it comes to sapphics and their relationships. The anonymous sapphic student states, “I think creating stories and introducing fresh perspectives can definitely help to normalize queer relationships. We can combat lesbophobia by first bringing attention to misogyny and recognizing behaviors and microaggressions that either intentionally or unintentionally put women down.”
*Sources were granted anonymity for not wanting to share their sexuality
