This seemingly odd little cheer was prompted after we realised that our friendship circle(s) had become even more incestuously interconnected, with further hook-ups between mutual friends and friends-of-friends occurring.
Naturally, this then prompted rummaging for a piece of paper and pen, with names and lines been drawn all over the place – dashes for relationships and solid lines for casual flings.
Alicia, Helena and Jenny looking at the chartI cannot help but wonder how many charts The L Word has inspired.
In the end, the density of the interconnectedness was quite, well, astounding.
How did this happen? Is it because the dating pool is so small? Would moving interstate solve the problem? A suggestion made by one friend.
I cannot but think that the internet has also played a part. Afterall, every single woman I know is either on GayDarGirls or Pink Sofa. A new Facebook group even seeks to document Sydney’s lesbian chart. Meanwhile, the creators of The L Word have launched OurChart, a social networking site for lesbians which enables users to create and view profiles and blogs.
Rewind five years and prior to having a so-called knitting circle of queer women friends, I remember watching The L Word and feeling incredulous that every character could somehow be connected on Alice’s chart. ‘Surely not?’ I remember thinking.
And now I find myself thinking, ‘How can they not?’ Of course, not everyone is so interconnected. On Wednesday, we were thrilled to discover that one friend’s latest girlfriend was all but absent from the chart. Maybe there is hope yet! Although as one friend dryly noted, “She’s on the chart now; forever caught in the lesbian web of death!”
Looking at our chart, I certainly think Alice had a point when she said, “We’re all connected – through love, through loneliness, through one tiny, lamentable lapse in judgment”.
- C
So after having returned to Sydney after a stint overseas, I am beginning to realise just how interwoven lesbians really are. It did not take me long to 'enter the chart', and realise that a lips first collision on the dance floor at a girls night, can set in motion a series of after effects. Having been in a relationship for some time and newly single, I am not sure I have the skills to navigate the world of inter-reltionships. How is it that, by kissing a 'star charter', I can offend women I have never met, women who have all had a similar moment on a dancefloor...somewhere on the chart!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how everyone is connected to each other.
ReplyDeleteI'm a 17 years old lesbian from Melbourne and I have a small chart of my own. All the girls that are involved are either from my school or from other girls school.
What I found out recently that "my chart" which consist of 30+ lesbians/bi is connected to my friend's chart that's from the other side of town.