The New <em>L Word</em> Is Expanding the Queer Aesthetic Canon

On The L Word, the first-ever scripted series following the lives of lesbian characters, hair has never been just hair. The core cast, mostly feminine-presenting West Hollywood residents, seemed to possess effortlessly luxuriant tresses, their varying colors and styles as much a testament to the women’s affluence as to their characters’ sensibilities. As if by magic, their hair maintained its sheen.

But two exceptions stood out, characters whose affinity for more masculine-leaning aesthetics was constantly highlighted: There was the (played by Kate Moennig), a working-class hairstylist whose shaggy, , mane of mid-aughts queer women’s style. And then there was the computer technician Max (Daniela Sea), the only transgender character to become a show regular, whose grooming appeared less tailored to any individual personality and more designed just to showcase the process of transitioning—especially the baffling beard