Lesbian Portrayals in Adult Media

Katie Cattermole deconstructs harmful stereotypes in her lesbian portrayal speech by considering the hyper-sexualization of lesbians in pornography in relation to what she calls the "hierarchy of patriarchy." The hierarchy is a measure of how your characteristics define how you're treated in society. Cattermole's hierarchy is as follows: heterosexual men, heterosexual women, gay men and herself. As a woman and a lesbian, Cattermole occupies a rank of double oppression that the preceding groups do not.

In terms of the porn industry, Cattermole notes that most explicit lesbian films include a male observer (usually in the form of the postman or pizza delivery guy). She argues that orienting lesbian sex towards a male gaze can harmfully impact lesbians in day to day life. Namely, lesbians become objects for sexual gratification instead of human beings. Oftentimes, men see her sexuality as a "challenge" as opposed to a fixed aspect of herself.

To finish, Cattermole notes that overt sexualization coupled with oppression contributes to her cautious mind in that she is forced to evaluate the "nature of risk" in every situation. To combat this problem effectively, Cattermole doesn't suggest that we eradicate the porn industry, but that we implement better sex education earlier.