<i>The L Word</i> ’s Afterlives: Queer Media Convergence and the Logics of Diversitainment

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.