Apologies if this question seems out of left field! I was wondering if you had any insight into a specific phenomenon I've noticed while working on writing a WLW visual novel for a school project.
I was analyzing how WLW is portrayed in media to get a better grasp on my writing when I noticed that sapphic couples are largely depicted as WOC x white women. If race isn't explicitly mentioned, then the designs imply a relationship between an ambiguously brown woman and an ambiguously pale woman.
Here are some of my findings:
Princess Bubblegum x Marceline (Adventure Time)
Santana x Brittany (Glee)
Korra x Asami (The Legend of Korra)
Cheryl x Toni (Riverdale)
Rue x Jules (Euphoria)
Catra x Adora (She-Ra And The Princesses of Power)
Deena x Sam (Fear Street)
Luz x Amity (The Owl House)
Ymir x Christa (Attack on Titan)
Villanelle x Eve (Killing Eve)
Caitlyn x Vi (Arcane)
Charlie x Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel)
Maybe I'm just finding a pattern that doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I can't help but feel like I'm missing something. Am I crazy for pointing this out?
You’re not crazy. The pattern that you’re pointing out is racism and also colorism.
Do you notice how almost every brown/POC/darker woman in these pairings is the more aggressive one? The one that does more of the fighting and the physical work? Or perhaps they’re the one that is inhuman or an abnormal species as opposed to their counterpart?
How do these women then interact with their lighter and often times WHITER partners? Do you see a lot of coddling? A lot of doting that isn’t reciprocated? Do these brown women have identities outside of their lighter partners, or even a generally lighter collective?
Which of the two in these pairings do you see having a greater impact on the story? Is that impact positive or negative, are they a villain or are they on the hero’s side? If they were previously a villain, do you feel like their impact and character diminishes AFTER they switch sides?
How do artists/fan artists often depict these character pairings? Which characters do you notice to be generally depicted as more dominant or more submissive? What language and terms do people often use to describe these characters when comparing them to each other in relationships?
Is there variety?
These are the questions I ask myself when I examine these pairings, and probably ones you should ask yourself too. I imagine they’ll help with your project quite a lot.






















