The conversation continues about Lost Girl series creator Michelle Lovretta's rules for portraying sex and sexuality that she outlined in an interview with The Watercooler. In part one we discussed slut-shaming, and in part two we talk about her rules concerning monogamy, objectification, and sexual orientation. Our guest is writer and filmmaker Melanie Killingsworth. Melanie writes about film and television, including Lost Girl, at her blog mehlsbells, and you can follow her on Twitter @mehlsbells.

Rule 2: Bo is capable of monogamy, when desired

Does Bo’s Apparent Inability to be with Only Lauren Sexually in Season Three Contradict This Rule?

• Could Bo have been more stable if she sucked chi from Lauren as well as having sex with her?
• The writers probably hedged their bets and bent the rule a bit. Bo is monogamous in that she only has one primary partner, so maybe the writers are redefining what monogamy is?
• Dyson mentions struggling to keep up with Bo in season one, so a suggestion exists from the beginning that Bo might not be able to subsist on one sexual partner even if s/he were Fae instead of human.

Open Relationships

• Samir & Olivia (“Faetal Attraction”): The show makes clear that Samir and Olivia don't die in “Faetal Attraction” because of their open relationship. Their trouble comes from Samir lying and breaking the agreed upon rules of their relationship.
• Bo and Lauren in season three

Rule 3: Both genders are to be (adoringly!) objectified — equal opportunity eye candy FTW

Sexual objectification: representing or treating someone like a non-thinking or feeling thing that can be used for one’s sexual pleasure

Maybe a Little Heavy on Female Objectification

• Making out couples at the sex club in “Faes Wide Shut” — more naked women visible than naked men and yet there’s more naughty bits to cover up on women
• Three female main characters are queer, and there have been many displays of female/female sexuality. But none of the male main characters are queer, and much fewer displays of male/male sexuality have happened.

Rule 4: Sexual orientation is not discussed, and never an issue

• No “coming outs” or firm declarations of sexual orientation, except for Kenzi
• Bo being a bisexual lead character is very significant. With the exception of specifically LGBT shows, no other TV shows (that we can think of) had a queer female lead character before Lost Girl.

Does Bo calling Lauren “Lawrence” in “Adventures in Fae-bysitting” contradict this rule?

• Bo swaps Lauren's gender because of the environment she was in. To go undercover successfully, she needed to be accepted by this community. She needed to appear to be just like them and have a male partner.
• Especially in season three, the show often separates the human world, which is less accepting of difference, from the Fae world.

Rule 5: Bo’s male and female partners are equally viable

• The pilot episode (“Vexed”) that was shopped around to networks has sex scenes with both Dyson and Lauren.
• Sex between Bo and her male/Fae partners is portrayed as more animalistic and aggressive. However, sex between Bo and her female partners isn’t just portrayed as soft kisses and snuggles.

Does making Bo’s female love interest human and her male love interest Fae undermine this rule?

• Would it have been a better challenge to homophobia and heterosexism to make Bo's female love interest Fae? Even though Bo and Lauren's genders are not a barrier to their being together, they confront more challenges intrinsic to their relationship that echo obstacles for many same-sex couples.
• Having the supernatural creature/human star-crossed lovers relationship between two women is innovative. Most immortal/mortal love stories have been between a male and female character. (For example, Twilight, Buffy, Lord of the Rings, and Tuck Everlasting.)

Listener Feedback

A couple of listeners sent in feedback in response to our episode about slut-shaming and mentioned a particular scene that we did not discuss.

The second case [of slut-shaming in season one] comes just episodes later with the episode “(Dis)Members Only” in which Dyson basically calls Bo a slut just without saying the actual word. He describes her methods as sleazy and not something he does; case wise it plays on how by the book Dyson is and how Bo will get in with the bad guys to solve her case if it comes to that but sexuality wise it was a CLEAR showing that Dyson was faulting Bo for being who she is and shaming her for it. — Aaron S.

Kate (@ImageFeeder) also sent a voice message about this scene in “(Dis)Members Only,” mentioning that she felt like it was an excellent example of slut-shaming in action because Dyson tries to control Bo's behavior by calling her tactics “sleazy.”

• This scene is very complicated. Dyson begins very upset and domineering, but by the end of the scene he is kneeling before Bo. He appeared the most emotionally vulnerable we've seen him be up until this point in the series. But was his comment intended to manipulate Bo in some way?
• Dyson's “sleazy” comment is similar to Lachlan or Bertram in “The Mourning After” calling Bo a slut. It's an instance of slut-shaming, but it doesn't actually succeed at making Bo feel badly about her sexuality. However, unlike those other two instances, there is not a clear message that the person making those comments is evil and/or wrong.

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