And, as we learn, she has reason to be skeptical: Zakarian only wants “marginalized artists” because he thinks they're trendy.Īnd sure, Bette-who says in episode one that she wants a girlfriend with a “career”-isn't always the model career woman. Plus, she's well aware that Zakarian has a history of failing to give opportunities to people who don’t look like him. She comes into the situation with very specific asks for the artists she wants to represent but seems primed for a refusal. Even Bette, at top of her field, is prepared to hear “no” when she asks for what she wants. But it also speaks to something deeper: More than two million women have left the American workforce during the coronavirus pandemic, per Pew Research Center’s April 2021 report, and those who remain are faced with how to negotiate their value, their needs, and their safety in the pandemic's wake. This episode one negotiation scene between Bette and her new boss, Isaac Zakarian (Griffin Dunn) provides us with one classic Bette vs. Bette, who had previously left the art world to run for Los Angeles mayor in season 1 of Gen Q, is now back where she started: trying to make an exclusive, white industry less exclusive and less white. Episode one shows Bette negotiating her contract with the racist, sexist owner of a high-powered art gallery. The L Word: Gen Q’s second season, which premiered on August 8, delivers on more of the first's classics.

On any given day when the patriarchy is churning out more vitriol than usual, Google “Bette Porter scream” or “Bette Porter curse,” and you'll find a suitably appropriate response. It helps that The L Word writers provide the audience with men deserving of every sharp comeback Bette can launch their way. But one of Bette's most enduring (and endearing) consistencies? She can put a man in his place faster than practically any other character onscreen. She has ushered Bette through her life’s biggest changes: losing a parent, becoming a parent, marrying and divorcing the love of her life, losing her sister, a mayoral run, and raising a teenager. During the past 17-plus years, Beals has seen Bette through several heartbreaks, breakups, and make-ups. Jennifer Beals has been embodying the iconic power-lesbian character since the show first premiered in early 2004, and today she serves as an executive producer on the Showtime follow-up The L Word: Generation Q. There are three types of L Word fans: people who identify with Bette Porter, people who want to be with Bette Porter, or people who are a bit of.both.

L word generation q