In Jan Zita Grover’s article on lesbian photography, she speaks about “the burden of scarcity” in relation to lesbian sexual imagery. To explain what this means, one must first understand the context in which it is being discussed. In our patriarchal society, lesbians are consistently either represented as deviant bodies or not represented in society. The lesbian body is almost seen as a deviant object in the stereotypes of the current patriarchal society. Grover mentions that there are typical issues when things are in short supply, including problems with hoarding and placing too much “value and power to whatever commodity has become or is designated as scarce” (p.187). In turn, Grover seems to be suggesting that there are high expectations for the limited number of images that represent lesbian desires. These scarce images cannot properly symbolize all lesbian bodies, but rather a select few that only have a portion of the population’s characteristics and do not take into account different subcultures. As an example, she compares movies, which depict white heterosexual women in a particularly negative light that would cause shame if they were the only models available. However, this is not the case and there are many representations of heterosexual white women in movies that they can pick from.
-CB
Grover, J. Z. (1991). Framing the Questions: Positive Imaging and Scarcity in Lesbian Photographs. Stolen Glances. (pp. 184-190). Ontario, Canada: Pandora Press.