SPOILER ALERTS (for Kirk, see comments)
Here is arms crossed Lily on How I Met Your Mother. She is mad because while trying to ‘help’ Robin with her plan to sleep with Barney again, Lily suggests that Robin make out with a woman to make him jealous, meaning herself, and Robin shows up with a blonde from work instead. Is Lily’s wearing of a leopard print sweater simply a wardrobe choice, or an (unconscious) sign of aggressive sexuality?
Also, it is mildly annoying that the show keeps making Lily enact and project lesbian fantasies while safe and cozy in her heteronormative middle class characterization where we are constantly reminded of her marriage, husband and new baby (and this being the envy of the other main characters). Although these ‘outbursts’ of lesbian fantasy have a subtext of referencing her über lesbian character Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a past tv life, here in How I Met Your Mother, her long term heteronormativity is confirmed with flash forwards, situating any queering of her sexuality as temporary experiments and projected as normal expectations and desires of (real life) women who she mirrors.
Ted’s envy in this particular episode about “one day having what you guys have” (Marshall and Lily’s heteronormative full package of marriage and a baby) even though HE JUST BUILT A SKYSCRAPER IN NEW YORK CITY also stuck in my craw.
Please Note: I read Lee Edelman’s “No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive” a few weeks ago for one of my classes.
Heteronormativity aside, do you realize how many spoilers there are in this article for someone who isn’t finished season one yet? Sigh. :)
I will add the Spoiler Alert. In my rage against the machine, I forgot! Take that, heteronormativity.