The L Word ’s Afterlives: Queer Media Convergence and the Logics of Diversitainment

Abstract

This essay examines the afterlives of The L Word and their implications for “diverse” TV. We begin with The L Word’s project of diversifying the representation of sexual orientation, which, we argue, is driven by a policy-tainment ethos consistent with deep, networked characterization. Then, turning to The L Word’s most successful digital chronicler and interlocutor Autostraddle, we argue that the site inaugurated a shift to diversity-, rather than policy-, oriented representation, utilizing the listicle to animate an intersectional checklist diversity which is on display in the shallow but diverse representation of queerness in the recently canceled The L Word: Generation Q. The differing logics of and dialogue between policy-tainment and diversitainment help to explain the delta between The L Word and Generation Q’s success and the current impasse between the demands for diverse representation on social media and the commercial disasters that the shallow implementation of those demands often meet.