My initial impression of Lauren Bedford Russell and Amanda Leigh Dunn was “Hair? HAIR!” There’s something about a girl who knows how to make a frosty ‘do look fabulous, and if you aren’t thinking about dyeing your hair bubblegum pink by the end of this interview, you are not paying attention.
Getting everyone to covet your coif isn’t an easy task, nor is joining the cast of The Real L Word in its third season and managing to win the affections of a very particular fanbase. Lamanda has done both. Entering your television screens/hearts by way of a New York to L.A. crossing, the pair are accomplished ladies with accomplished resumes. Lauren’s jewelry line Lyon features totally beautiful pieces, as well as charity collaborations that put communities first. Amanda is the owner of Cross Street Productions, a marketing and PR firm that has worked with such clients as MTV, Valentino and W Magazine. Amanda has also had a hand in a number of charity organizations, including Cinema For Peace and Music Unites.
Brains and beauty, ladies. And they understand the value of undressing.
Lauren: So this Skype video isn’t actually going to be online?
Kate: No, I’m typing up the interview.
Lauren: So we can take off our clothes.
Kate: Honestly, I’m not even wearing pants right now. But obviously we should keep our clothes on for professionalism. I’m supposed to be a professional.
Photo credit: Andrea Kennedy
How did you guys initially get involved in the show?
Lauren: This is always the first question.
Amanda: Lauren’s friend wanted to interview for the show, and she hooked Lauren into it. Lauren was hesitant about it, but then she decided to do it.
Lauren: My friend’s really badass. She’s a really cool chick, a musician, and I said, if you’re gonna do it, then sure, I’ll try out with you. Some factors ended up preventing her from doing it, but she told me to go for it.
Amanda: Two weeks before I moved out, Lauren found out that she was on the show.
Lauren: I literally found out right before we started filming. It was like, guess what?
Amanda: When I decided to do it with her, it was really funny because they told us they would start filming from the second I land. And I thought, oh, huh.
So you were thrust into it headfirst?
Amanda: Yeah, we just got thrown right in. It was touch down, and go.
Lauren: No time to breathe.
And you had seen the show before, or were aware of it?
Amanda: Didn’t see it, actually.
Lauren: She had never watched it. But don’t tell anyone.
Amanda: Don’t say that!
Lauren: I’m just saying. When she came out to L.A., and that information first came out, I was like, really? Really?
Amanda: No! She asked me if I wanted to do it. I thought if Lauren wants to do it, then it can’t be that bad. But I had to admit that I had never actually watched the show. Our line producer said okay, here you go, better watch these DVDs.
Lauren: I’d watched the first and second season and half of the third. Wait! I watched the first season and half of the second. I totally watched the third season before I filmed it.
What did you think of the first two seasons? Love, hate, indifference?
Lauren: For me, that’s where I saw the opportunity. Without putting anyone down, I thought that they could show a lot more, and a lot more excitement, and a lot more fun. And something real. I don’t see myself as super feminine on the inside. I think I’m feminine on the outside, and that could maybe help the feminine girls to come out. I want to help the girls that I was when I was trying to come out that didn’t see gay girls out there who looked the way I did.
Photo credit: Andrea Kennedy
What is it like having reality television cameras in your life all of a sudden?
Amanda: It’s really weird. It’s really funny actually because Lauren and I had made this decision before we started filming. We said we’re not going to drink on camera, we’re not going to be obnoxious, we’re not going to be dramatic, we’re not going to hook up with anybody. We’re just going to showcase our businesses and that’s it. But seriously, after a week of that you realize you would literally blow your brains out if you had to spend four or five months of your life being a robot all the time, not doing anything.
Lauren: What ends up happening, and I think this happened to the other cast members too, you’re so aware of yourself at the beginning that you end up overthinking it.
Amanda: And also the weirdest thing is that sometimes you don’t realize you’re on microphone.
Lauren: At the beginning, I’d be constantly checking for it. If I burped, I’d be like, sorry! And then I’d realize it wasn’t there.
Amanda: Eating and going to the bathroom are the two things that are the most awkward. I would eat a lot. And going to the bathroom – we couldn’t unplug it.
Lauren: At the beginning I was so weirded out that they could hear me peeing, and I kept trying to take the mic off. [The film crew members] were like, stop, you’re going to break your mic. We really don’t care about your pee.
Obviously that didn’t make it on the show. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone pee yet. I’ve seen people in the shower.
Lauren: Oh god, the shower.
Amanda: Let’s not talk about the shower.
How do you feel about the way the show is portraying you so far? You said you came in with a certain idea of how you would act and be seen, and I assume that’s changed. Right now we had a few clips of your business but we’ve seen a lot more about the sexual tension and relationship.
Lauren: It’s probably confusing for everyone. We talk about this a lot, and people are going to watch the show and take away what they want to take away.
Amanda: Here’s what you have to realize: Lauren and I have been friends for years, basically forever. We’ve been through relationships with other people, and we’ve looked out for each other through so many things. There’s never been tension or a power struggle – it’s just us being us. People will either understand that or they won’t. I think people have trouble understanding how a relationship like that could work.
Lauren: This is a moment in time for us, and I don’t know how that will translate on the transcript. It’s interesting to be able to watch it, because we don’t know what’s going on. There’s a lot of clips they’ve only shown as teasers, so I imagine people are like “When are they going to do this? Why haven’t we seen that?” We don’t know where they’re going to put what, so we don’t know how people are taking the versions of us they see on the show.
Photo credit: Andrea Kennedy
So what should we know about you guys that The Real L Word leaves out?
Amanda: We have a brain, we are intelligent people.
Lauren: I think they showed a part of my business and what we do in our careers, but there’s only so much they can show. A lot of it won’t make it in. There’s an awesome scene coming up that I hope they can put in, and it’s hard because I don’t know if it’s going to make it on the show or not. We see it when you see it, just a day before, so we are in the same position as you.
Amanda: It’s a surprise.
Lauren: Yeah.
Amanda: I definitely think what they don’t show is that we are really career driven people and that we are very educated. We’re much more involved in the community than they’ve put on the show. I wish they could showcase what I do in the community, what we care about.
Lauren: I hate when people say they’re driven, but that’s actually the best way I can describe myself.
Does your family watch the show?
Lauren: My family is super awesome. My mom is always like, what’s happening next week? And I’m like, er…
Amanda: My family is very conservative and very private. They like that about themselves, so that’s how it is. But my siblings are supportive of it – I’m really close to my brother, he’s fantastic about stuff. I think it’s wild for them, the way the show is showing this side of me. My parents don’t have a problem with me being gay, but it’s the booze and the cattiness and the way you speak around your friends. If anyone films you around your close friends, you’re going to sound different than giving an interview. They’re slowly getting more comfortable with it.
Is there anything you’d consider a highlight this season?
Amanda: Dinah is really funny.
Lauren: Dinah is hilarious.
Amanda: This was my first Dinah!
Lauren: It’s funny, and there’s good moments. It’s probably going to be my favorite part of the season.
Amanda: We’re all there together, the whole East Coast versus West Coast in one place, so you can finally see that dynamic. And you can see all the stupid shit we do.
Have you seen The L Word?
Lauren: Yeah!
Amanda: All of it.
Do you interact with Ilene Chaiken at all?
Amanda: Yeah, she’s really cool.
Lauren: She’s really sweet. Anytime we do something with Showtime, she’s always there with us and so supportive.
Amanda: She gets a really bad rap. Like, they always blame her for everything.
Lauren: No way. Really? I don’t believe it.
Amanda: No, totally.
I have to be honest, people are hard on her.
Lauren: Well, I don’t read that crap. I just look at the person for the person.
Amanda: She’s super concerned with making sure everyone is comfortable and that we’re not being mistreated or misrepresented. She’s actually really nice, and actually gives a shit. She has a really rad idea for the show, and when she thinks about it in her mind, it’s supposed to be a really good thing for the community. She means well. She wants to make a good show that’s representative of the community.
Lauren: And the topics this year are stirring it up.
Amanda: Like men. With women.
Oh yeah, there’s that.
Lauren: Yeah, there’s men on a lesbian show.
Never thought I’d see straight sex on The Real L Word.
Lauren: There you go. It’s stirring things up.
Amanda: All stirred up.
Next: Discussion of scissoring.
Pages: 1 2See entire article on one page
Thanks for the interview.
Kate: Who did you say? Tina?
Lauren: No! Dana!
Amanda: No one likes Tina.
Classic!
I fancy the pants off of Amanda. And those are British knicker-pants, not those American trousers-when-you-say-pants-pants.
ATLAS SHRUGGED.
?????????????????????
Exactly. To those that don’t know – Atlas Shrugged is a novel of the creator of far right ideology of Objectivism, Ayn Rand, in which she basically argues that rich people are elite of humanity (they are rich because they have merits that elevate them above common folks and that’s natural order that is spoiled by evil government), they shouldn’t be taxed and any form of social welfare or affirmative actions are “socialism” and people that depend on that are “parasites” (ironic is a fact that Ayn Rand herself depended on government aid when she got lung cancer from heavy smoking).
And Amanda comes from very rich family…
I’m not from a rich family, and I’m super liberal, and I liked Atlas Shrugged. I read it like the teacher in Perks of Being A Wallflower said when he recommended The Fountainhead: “Try to be a filter, not a sponge.” They are novels, and there ARE some good ideas in them.
It’s pretty judgmental to dislike someone because the like Atlas Shrugged – you don’t even know why she likes it!
I agree.
I took a college course where we went over Ayn Rand’s philosophy as they were depicted in “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged.” I don’t agree with her philosophy. The inequality of opportunity (which often stems from socioeconomic disparity) doesn’t put people on a level playing ground where they can live up to their full potential. The hereditary nature of wealth makes it easier for rich people to succeed in life – or just live off the success of their ancestors and pretend they earned it themselves. This in conjunction with the tax warfare on the poor/middle class for the benefit of the rich makes it hard to agree with Rand’s philosophy.
BUT, it is through disagreeing so vehemently with Rand and others like her that I and others are able to appreciate the work as a learning tool and as a primary source to base dissenting opinions.
i really like this comment.
Obviously they couldn’t like it for a good story or writing style, so it leaves only those “good ideas”.
And from my experience people who think that ideas presented there are “good” are not the nicest bunch.
I liked the story and the writing style, but it’s the ideas in the book that people have a problem with.
When I said “some good ideas,” I wasn’t referring to any “f*ck everyone, pull yourself up by your bootstraps” sentiments – that’s why I said “some.” I was talking about “individualism vs. collectivism” and “exceptionalism vs mediocrity,” as blue explained better below.
As cray-cray as Ayn Rand seems, I don’t think her philosophy can be simplified to “hate people, be a Republican asshole.” Like most things, it’s not all good or all bad.
yeah, but, the heroes of both books, howard roark and john galt were not rich men or privileged – other than being white males. she made a big deal out of roark living in abject poverty, literally starving for the sake of his personal integrity and not selling out and taking the easy success.
i think her philosophy is actually about individualism vs. collectivism, exceptionalism vs mediocrity, more than wealth and privilege vs poverty. she actually portrayed some wealthy people as absolute asshats. it’s not about that.
It’s not just about that, but that’s the logical consequence of her ideology. Big evil government and parasites don’t let atlases to rise above the masses. Elitism always comes in pair with “wealthism”.
And a fact Rand betrayed her own philosophy (but as a hypocrite she tried to hide that fact) when she was in need shows how childish and detached from life this way of thinking is.
I was all, oh, they totally seem like they’re nice people in real life! Until that part.
Yeah I also feel like for some people it’s maybe one of only a few books they’ve read, though? Or at least of a few Big Important Books they’ve read, like, some people just don’t read much after high school and so it kind of stops there. So . . . maybe still kind of damning, but in a different and more benign way? seems like the other, more charitable interpretation.
In my viewpoint that would actually be worse…
I don’t know, is this just me?
Why would you want to be charitable? If in the show, a camera had filmed a scene where this book is on her table, ok, there would be a lot of options here but Kate asked her and out of all the books in the world, not just on her table, she picked that one! She wanted to make a point.
LOL. my roommate, people. getting to the heart of what matters, always & forever <3
the favorite book of Paul Ryan a.k.a. running mate of Mitt Romney.
it pays to watch rachel maddow!
In another post I stated I didn’t like Amanda but I couldn’t put my finger on why.
Now I know why.
Ditto. I thought, like, everybody read that at 17, was like ‘OH HEY THIS MAKES SENSE’ and then realized that they, you know, like people.
Re: objectivism, where’s the “this is crazy” picture when you need it?
The scene in Dirty Dancing when Robbie gives Baby a copy of The Fountainhead and tells her “some people count and some people don’t” – that’s the moment you know that preaching the gospel of Ayn Rand is just … well… yikes.
haha I was about to post that, but you beat me to it. I’ve always loved how that movie uses an Ayn Rand book to tell you everything you need to know about that guy.
So, yeah, “Atlas Shrugged” as best book ever is something of a red flag.
Takes all sorts, I suppose.
I am honestly not surprised at all.
these two girls are way too funny! love their dynamic! great interview! :)
I gotta say I like them way better now, I think TRLW just shows them in a really catty and unflattering light most of the time.
They’re always laughing at nothing. Reminds me a little bit of myself when I as 17. Actually all the cast reminds me teenagers LOL
the sentence “we have a brain” made me giggle. is it a collective super-brain? because that would be awesome/ maybe explain the intense hair.
I enjoyed that part as well…as in we have a (1) brain to split between the two of us?
So tired of the self-righteous “I’m doing it for the good of the community” bullshit so many cast members across multiple seasons declare. This must be some PR crap Showtime has trained them to say. Who the hell are they kidding? You’re doing it to serve your oversized ego and your bank account. Get real! Same as IFC. It’s fucking insulting, quite frankly.
I totally agree.
They generally sound smarter than TRLW allows, though I’d imagine if IFC truly were such a caring, supportive person, she’d refrain from rabidly ensuring that the women on her show seem as vapid and far from educated as possible. And also from omitting their valuable contributions to the community and society, both of which seem easily classified as “misrepresentation” by omission, anyway. Cute!
i’m having a really hard time right now because i don’t watch the show and for a long time i thought lauren was amanda and vice versa, so i thought i had a crush on amanda, but i don’t, i have a crush on lauren (specifically, her hair.)
my only other thought is: holy shit that gold bathing suit photo.
Truth. I still can’t figure out who is who. Is Lauren the one with pink hair?
Wait. Waaaaaaait. Amanda has pink hair. Goddamnit, I keep getting it oppsies.
WAIT i thought lauren had pink hair. SOMEBODY HELP US.
LAUREN = LONG PINK HAIR
AMANDA = SHORT NOT PINK HAIR
I’m going to have this comment open in a tab every time I read one of Riese’s TRLW recap.
I have a hard time telling white girls apart too.
OMIGOD I WAS RIGHT!
How about ‘L’ = Lauren = Long hair.
‘A’ = Amanda = Andro
Oppsies. Gold.
It’s irritating how attractive they are.
How are there people in the world who can pull off candy floss hair?! HOW?!
(I say people, because I’m not sure which is Amanda and which is Lauren, but seeing as one of them said “we have a brain” I can only assume that they are one collective being, and it’s accurate to just say ‘Lamada has fanTASTIC hair!!)
I tried so hard to avoid drunk spelling errors, but I did, of course, mean ‘Lamanda’ not ‘Lamada’….lamada sounds like an awesome hotel.
Loving Lauren’s hair more than Amanda’s… is that allowed, or am I going to be pitch-forked to death by angry lesbians now?
That jewelry she sells is FUCKING EXPENSIVE. OMG.
Maybe I’m just ghetto. Idk.
It’s not just you, I AGREE. $5,700 for a cocktail ring? If I had that kind of money, I’d throw it at Autostraddle, not on a ring.
Hmm…I wonder if she was the one who had the sangria-induced donation…
Or the real-life $5000 donation??
omg we need to know.
Lauren’s face is basically what the woman of my dreams looks like. I wish she lived in Boston. I’d show her what a real relationship looks like. Can’t believe anyone would ever leave her by herself on a trip.
“I think I’m feminine on the outside, and that could maybe help the feminine girls to come out. I want to help the girls that I was when I was trying to come out that didn’t see gay girls out there who looked the way I did.”
A good follow up question: what did you look like, Lauren?
Believe it or not, this was actually her putting it nicely. In another similar interview she actually had the gall to basically say she did the show to show the world that there are hot feminine lesbians! As if she’s the first or an endangered species or something. The egos on this show are unbelievable especially considering nobody knows who they are or gives a crap!
Sooo…yeah, what were all those ladies on The L Word? Or the first two seasons of TRLW?
Plus the ~200 hot femme lesbians who commented on the hot femme lesbian article and probs the same again who had nothing to add but kept yelling ‘Yeah! YEAH!’ at the computer screen (fyi, don’t do that in an open plan office. People will think you’re losing you faculties)
this is not hard to believe at all. Lauren seems really conceited and it shows in the interview.
But she is beautiful, more than many people. I find it interesting that we don’t like beautiful people stating that they’re beautiful.
And the fact that she’s on the Real L Word to represent pretty, feminine-looking lesbians is plausible. It’s a valid point that some girls who aren’t sure of their sexuality might put off considering themselves as gay because they don’t fit into the more masculine stereotypes, or find it attractive.
Well, having a pretty feminine lesbian should be a marketing strategy from IFC or a directing choice from the Production. Hearing the girl herself saying that she went on this show to feature that seems everything but plausible. Or maybe she REALLY thinks she brought it herself when obviously it was a casting decision from them. I don’t know, it seems odd to me that she would say that..
You missed the point entirely. The problem isn’t a beautiful person saying they’re beautiful, although I think a little modesty is always appreciated whether it’s about physical traits, intelligence, money or anything else. The problem lies in her suggesting that there are so few hot feminine lesbians that she just had to be a pioneer and show the world they exist. It’s a pretty conceited and out of touch position to take. It’s insulting especially for someone her age. This is 2012 and while we can still use all the visibility we can get, the beautiful people haven’t exactly been scarce. Most people have internet and some form of media. The idea that the only exposure one has had to lesbians has been in the form of grossly overweight diesel dykes with mustaches & tool belts is preposterous and actually plays to the stereotype. She’s actually reinforcing it by saying “look, I know there aren’t a lot of us but there are lesbians who look like me.” It’s patronizing as hell and patently false! There’s no new ground broken here and her trying to claim some sort of altruistic “community service” is absolutely ridiculous and totally insulting. I would have a lot more respect if even one person would be honest and say – I have a business to promote, I would like to get into entertainment or acting or I just like the attention. A little honesty would go a long way. Even saying you wanted to promote lesbian visibility in general is WAY better than saying you wanted to specifically promote visibility of hot lesbians because, you know, almost no one knows there are any hot lesbians which is her position in at least 2 interviews that I have read.
I agree that Lauren’s reasoning can come off as a bit conceited; however, I think her actual intention is not preposterous or deplorable in the least. Speaking from my own personal experience, I struggled for a long time with my identity because I was raised in a culture which perpetuates that femininity (especially in physical appearance) and queerness cannot mesh together. Growing up reading magazines like Cosmo Girl and Seventeen only further perpetuated this divide by emphasizing that being fashion-forward and feminine went hand-in-hand with being boy-crazy and heteronormative, essentially. Obviously now, being a very proud femme lesbian, I know this is completely untrue. But as a confused high schooler who didn’t personally know any feminine-presenting queer women and never saw any feminine-presenting queer women in the mainstream media, I thought my feminine identity and presentation compromised my sexuality; I thought I had to be straight. Now I know there are TONS of femmes out there, I do; however, the only reason I know this now is because I involved myself in the queer women’s community, both locally as well as through queer media outlets/internet, etc. The problem I see Lauren addressing is that there is a lack of feminine queer women in the MAINSTREAM media, and therefore few positive role models for girls like me. Do I think Lauren is the best role model? No. Am I pulling a Whitney and posing questions for myself? Yes. But really, while I don’t think Lauren is necessarily the best person or the paragon of “hot feminine lesbianism” I do agree with her stated intention and think it very likely stems from her own personal experience coming into her identity. Negating a problem is not the way to resolve anything; even if it’s not something you’ve ever faced, understanding and empathizing with those who do experience it are key to building a strong, supportive community. Yes, Lauren can come across as vain and immature, but the fact that she has a presence on this show is not completely without worth or positive outcomes.
There used to be a lack of femme representation, I experienced that growing up, but I think the pendulum has swung the other way. Most of the time, lesbians on TV (and film) are conventionally attractive femmes whose style isn’t even particularly queer: Gray’s Anatomy, the L word, Lip Service, pretty little liars, skins…there are sometimes sporty dykes or andro Shane types, too, but very very rarely butches. Rachel Maddow and Ellen are the obvious exceptions, and they’ve had to bring amazing skill and talent to the table to be able to have the visibility they have; and of course they are both slim and conventionally attractive. So I find it hard to believe that a young feminine lesbian would have a lack of role models of that kind at this point, although she might feel anxious if she doesn’t look like a model.
Oh the first bit, about beautiful people admitting they’re beautiful, was a generalised comment on people’s reactions, here and in general.
The Femme article comments seemed to be full of sad feminine lesbians who felt like outcasts in their gay communities, that no one believed they were gay – that would suggest it can be a problem. I think the look of lesbians varies massively by community and age group though – I’m a pretty girly dresser (I don’t think twice about heels & dress in a club, haven’t worn trousers this summer) and don’t feel it’s a problem, but definitely when I first started to go to gay stuff it seemed that no one made an effort, had bad style, was less attractive than straight girls (this was just my first, now changed, impressions). I think it’s vaguely valid (you guys will hate this) that Lauren could be a role model in a “I wanna fuck her, not be her” sort of way as well.
Also, Janie’s explained herself well, better than me.
well, to each their own. I for one do not find her beautiful at all. she pales next to people like Somer, Tracy, and even her own friend, Amanda.
o-o not commenting on their personality, but Lauren has the absolutely most perfect face and body! That golden swimsuit photo. Oh my god I almost fell over. she is absolutely gorgeous
The title is wrong, it’s not ‘Lauren and Amanda Have Brains’ but ‘Lauren and Amanda Have Brain’, according to Amanda they have one brain only for both of them, which kinda explain a lot..
Anyway, I don’t know what I am saying, you lost me at the Golden Swimsuit picture.. Lauren is just too hot, that’s not fair for Amanda (that I don’t wanna EVER see without make-up).
What? That’s harsh. In the footage where Amanda is putting make-up on, I thought she was really pretty pre-makeup. Prettier, actually…
Which footage? Whenever she is finishing her eyes (in every episode facing the mirror), her make up is already 80% done each time.. And yes, that was harsh I think her best feature are those smokey eyes.
Does anyone know how old the cast of season 3 is? Just curious. I wonder every time I see the show.
Yeah I am wondering too.. They act like high school brats for most of them and party so much that they could look older than they are. Also, Lauren and Amanda are CEOs because of healthy families so it is really hard to get their age.
*wealthy
Please add an edit button in the new website! :)
Lauren (pink hair) is ~31 and Amanda (white hair) is 25.
Yeesh.
P.s. I love when extremely wealthy people point out how much good they do for the community. Classic.
I know, right?
hate to say it but it does seem like their businesses were both started because they come from money and people who were willing to fund them.
oh well, at least they are doing some charity…
I agree. And that was probably a little harsh of me considering I actually know very little about either of them. I just can’t help but cringe a bit when people say things like that.
I don’t get what anyone sees in Lauren to be honest, she is not the least bit attractive to me. Amanda, on the other hand, is gorgeous. Not to mention fucking hilarious. I loved all her comments about Kiyomi and her sideeyeing Lauren during their whole hookup phase.
i was waiting for the question regarding if they are both still single at the same time.
i heard this rarely happens.
‘THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE’VE DONE AN INTERVIEW…WHILE SINGLE’
Excited to see y’all interviewed them! I was hoping you’d be able to without IFC or Showtime blocking you all. These girls seem great!
Lolol Atlas Shrugged.
But yeah, pretty cool. I don’t think we will ever get to see who the people on this show really are, unfortunately.
I don’t buy it with these two. I bought it in the interview with Somer – the idea that we weren’t getting the full picture of her – but with these two I still get the same entitled, not super smart feelings that I get from them on trlw.
same. they’re trying really hard but even with the interview they still come off as privileged, entitled, (and in Amanda’s case, pretty) kids.
I’m not gonna lie, Whitney style, but I really like looking at their faces. and hair. and etc.
I seem to being going against the grain here, but they seem likeable to me, and their relationship is pretty lovely.
I don’t know I feel like they still are a little bit disconnected with the reality. Like I can definetely see that Somer, Cory and Kacy are normal and everyday people put on a reality and they act as if they’re living their normal life. I get the feeling that instead Lauren and Amanda in front of the camera act a little bit more dramatic than they normally would. And they look a little bit spoiled to me.
Anyway they are not SO MUCH more attractive than common people as everyone is picturing them. They are both beatiful, but I definetely think that Vero for example is more attractive than them. Maybe it’s just my crush on Vero! ahahah
I couldn’t agree more with everything you said.
All the ‘party people’ like Amanda, Lauren, Romi.. look so fake to me when Kaci, Cori, Somer, her wife and Vero look totally real, like they are exactly the same camera off or on.
Maybe that’s what Lauren was talking about with “visibility”. “Omigod, there aren’t enough Barbie-doll-lesbians on TV. Everyone’s too AUTHENTIC!”
Speaking of which I think another correlated and intricate topic should be further investigated… we already know that Sara’s boobs are not real. The question is:do you people think lauren’s boobs are real?
(It’s a question which has been haunting me for a while)
That’s a very good question, I have thought about it a lot.. I mean what else can we truly care about? hunter Valentine’s music? The nurses of the ER in Palm Springs? Actually, I’d like to put some camera there and see all lesbians being reanimated and sent back to Dinah..
Anyway, back to Lauren’s boobs, they are gorgeous and I quite think they are real even tho she is doing botox at her young age.. which sort of indicates she could go for a boob job.
*checking the Golden swimsuit picture again* Nah, they are fake! They are very well made and high which would indicates that she is working them out (she is 31) but the rest of her body doesn’t look like she is working out..
While I understand that some of you don’t like the show (I personally have never seen it bc I don’t live in the US), I am really bothered by this comment thread. I feel like if some of the comments made were on any other post (like the ones about Lauren’s boobs being fake, and then saying that “the rest of her body doesn’t look like she is working out”, or that “I never want to see Amanda without makeup”) they would be removed or other commentors would be more responsive about calling you out on criticizing a woman’s body/appearance which is against autostraddle rules. It just really bothers me that just because some of you don’t like the Real L Word brand, you think it gives you the right to essentially bully the appearance of two people who, whether you think its for better or worse, are putting themselves out there as gay women. I just hope neither of them read autostraddle, because it makes me cringe to think that they could see some of the comments. I know it comes with the territory of being on reality tv, but I didn’t think I would see it on an inclusive lesbian website like autostraddle.
You are absolutely right, if it was a recap or a topic about ANYTHING else, I would have never written the kind of post I did, like ever but I guess I just had an over dose of superficial behaviors and after watching 6 episodes mainly focused on self-absorbed brats having a hard time getting over themselves have taken the worse out of me..
That being said I am pretty sure they are reading everything possible about themselves so they might read those comments. Lauren is gorgeous but that’s all I can tell about her, the editing of this show is manipulating everything else so yes, I can go as low as talking about fake boobs and make up.. I would love to talk about their career choices, their passion in life, their background, the engagement in the community tho. Trust me. But if they are using their unique chance to convince us they are more than what SHO wants to show us, they are talking about how rich people are superior beings and how unique they are as feminine lesbians, than it gets the worse out of me and again, I am not proud of it, I am just following the bitchiness angle.
P.S: I am sorry about my grammar.
No wait wait I never said “ugh lauren is ugly she should be ashamed of herself” or something like that. As a matter of fact I stated in the first comment that I think she is beautiful, but I like Vero better (also Laura if youa ask) and I don’t think she’s so much more attractive than common people. Which is not offensive is it?
The boobs thing was a joke I didn’t mean to offend anyone, honestly I don’t have nothing against plastic surgery or fake breast for that matters since I considered having one myself (but I don’t have the money and I came to accept the fact that my chest is “tabula rasa” ;) ).
Plus honestly if on television you only talk about how you did get a shot of botox and who you hook up with you don’t leave with much more to talk about.
That was my point one time when I was saying that basically, Ali is not beautiful enough to afford that type of behavior, and I remember it was a bit offensive (out of the context of the show I would never say that tho) but now look at it.. She got totally ditched by Kyiomi for a better looking girl so why can’t we talk about their looks? It seems to me that it has became the only plot in the show.
Anyway, I will try to be nicer in the way I say those things as I know it can be sensitive. :)
Yes, everything you said.
if they weren’t pretty then they wouldn’t be so scrutinized about how their jewelry line got in production/how much they party blahblah.. jeezeeee
Right, cause only pretty people get criticized. Nothing to do with them being spoiled or entitled. Please.
I think you mean “if they weren’t rich”, but I get what you’re trying to say. Oh and it still doesn’t change the fact that they’re entitled and without substance.
I tried…but I still think Riese’s recaps have painted a more believable picture of these two. Their interview still made them seem pretty vapid and that was probably their only chance to show their redeeming qualities. That being said, I must give them credit for Lauren’s amazing hair!
I really like Lauren. She seems like a super cool girl. And that’s all I’m saying.
thanks for the interview. I like them a lot more now. i have a new respect for lauren and what she is trying to bring to the show. I can completely relate to her and how she feels about looking feminine. I think that a lot of girls like us are really under represented.
not impressed. will there ever be people of substance on these shows?
or… people of color? or… non self-indulgent bratty twats? blah.
Cori, Kacy, Somer, and Vero all seem so out of place on this show. It’s like I switched the channel to a different show or something.
I am a lesbian.
I love Ayn Rand.
I love Rachel Maddow.
I love Lauren’s pink hair.
I love vaginas.
There is exponentially more about me you will never know unless you were to meet me and be my friend. Which will probably not happen.
You want to up the level of discourse in a reality TV show? Make reality better than the lowest common denominator. Strive to educate yourself and do things well because you are able to. Influence others to be the best they can be, then maybe society will get bored by the Kardashian’s and The Real L Word.
(oh and maybe read Atlas Shrugged)
I also say I like innies not outies. It’s silly, but people get it.
Sigh — this article reminded me of my bigger troubles with the L Word brand, while not specifically with Lamanda. Maybe I’m a killjoy: wouldn’t it also be compelling to watch a show about the difficult, ongoing, and still-dramatically interesting work of ethical communication so many folks in queer communities are striving for? Treating each other with respect and owning mistakes and having tough convos and tears and fights, without the mean girls bullshit. What a wild notion. I often find these folks’ behavior, and the old L Word characters too, so appalling and unrelatable. While I complain about the total lack of representations I had to draw upon growing up, but this is CERTAINLY not what I would’ve hoped for as a teen. And yet, JUST like with that nearby trainwreck, I rubberneck indeed
amanda and lauren: not impressed. they spent half a second talking about their businesses and contributions to the community, and more time just being vapid assholes. maybe it’s because the both of them only have one brain to work with? and i ALWAYS thought lauren’s dishwater pink hair (complete with roots) was atrocious but now i’m completely turned off by her. stating that atlas shrugged was the best book she ever read and that she was helping the visibility of beautiful feminine lesbians just by being her special snowflake self on tv? whatever happened to humility? again: not impressed.
HEY! My friend took those awesome, amazing photos!! They look so good, Andrea!
lolz. i thought you were kidding about making a comment. thanks! and for public record, they are both very nice, sweet girls.
have to admit i gave the ‘REAL L WORD’ a try, several in fact. i found it to be embarrassing and very amateur. the women seemed rather desperate and quite addicted to alcohol. Not all, but most.
So…is there any point to this program being on the air ? Seriously.