Faking It

MTV's Faking It isn't as polarizing or problematic as it's made out to be. Sure its premise is that two best friends pretend to be lesbians to get in with the "cool crowd" at their liberal school, but it does a better job exploring the often confusing process of discovering one's sexual orientation that it's given credit for. For its second season (which aired Tuesday), another character is revealed to be intersex. I'm loathe to use that word, "revealed," as it's often coded as shameful (there's a nice feel-goody part at the end of the episode with another character that touches on that), but I think MTV might just treat the topic of intersexuality with grace and nuance. I'm not giving them full credit, however. There was an "oh, my girlfriend's a dude," moment, which was pretty cringe worthy, but it was dealt with honestly.

From Buzzfeed:

In terms of accepting her identity as a woman with an intersex condition, Lauren has a long way to go. But on a larger scale, Faking It — a show that already features openly queer and questioning characters — is breaking new ground simply by making one of its regulars intersex. Though still in the beginning stages, Lauren’s storyline is a major step forward in intersex representation.

MTV approached GLAAD when developing the character, which seems to be working in their favor. Granted, MTV's track record isn't perfect, and mainstream TV has a way of whitewashing QUITLBAG characters for a "family-friendly" audience, so I say this with some reservation.