Clockwise from top: Hattie, Nia and Marie
Lesbian Hattie struggles with love, work and life generally alongside her two straight best friends Marie and Nia. A drama series broadcast on BET, it was created by Lena Waithe.Examples:
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Hattie is visibly uncomfortable when her estranged dad, a stand-up comic, talks in his set of how if she's at all like him she'll have been with many women.
- Butch Lesbian: Hattie is a lesbian with a buzzcut plus a very masculine clothing style and mannerisms. She's repeatedly mistaken for male due to this.
- But Not Too Black: Hattie accuses Ida of having it easier than other black people because she's light-skinned, with a more conventional style white people accept. Ida retorts that she's still had to endure great hardship breaking through the glass ceiling however despite that.
- But Not Too Gay: Discussed in regards to gay characters on TV series who often have a non-existent onscreen sex life. The show itself averts this-although not explicit, the very first scene is of two women having sex. Queer characters continue to have sex lives no less active than the straights.
- Coming-Out Story: In a subplot, Marie's fiancé Chuck admits he's bisexual and they wrestle with it as a couple.
- Disappeared Dad: Hattie mentions at one point that her dad left years ago. It turns out that she hasn't seen him for ten years. Her dad then shows up out of the blue and wants to reconnect. It goes awkwardly, though they part on friendly, bittersweet terms.
- Erotic Dream: Ida B dreams of her and Hattie having sex multiple times before they actually do.
- Friends with Benefits: Lorraine and Hattie had no commitment, but slept together sometimes, with an amiable relationship.
- Grammar Nazi: Ida B's response to Hattie sending a sexy text? Correct her spelling.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Hattie is mistaken for male multiple times (once a trans man, maybe nonbinary too) as a result of her very butch style.
- Lipstick Lesbian:
- Lorraine, Hattie's sometime lover, is very femme with long hair, always made up and wears very stylish feminine clothing. She also dates men though and has rejected all labels.
- Ida B, whom she gets involved with later, is an elegant women with the same kind of tastes.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Hattie's been with Lorraine and Ida B. While she's very butch, to the point of being mistaken for male, both are quite feminine.
- Modesty Bedsheet: Hattie and Ida have the sheets around their chests after they have sex.
- No Bisexuals: Discussed, as Hattie's friend Nia expresses skepticism that people can really be bisexual. The show however does not take this view, with Lorraine and Ida both being viewed as possibly bisexual (the former rejects labels though), given they have dated or had sex with Hattie though also men. Marie's fiancé Chuck also tells her that he's bisexual, which she'd already known, averting this since she fully accepts that it's real, along with Nia and Hattie.
- Open-Minded Parent: Hattie's mom Esther is very accepting of her sexuality, even watching lesbian porn so she can understand her better (Hattie finds that embarrassing and asks her to stop it, while saying it's for straight men anyway).
- Opposites Attract: Hattie, a working class Butch Lesbian who is deep in debt constantly losing jobs, often semi-homeless and has a plain-spoken manner, gets involved with Ida B, a wealthy executive who's got a very femme style with very refined taste. She's also Hattie's former boss, starting to date her right after she had fired Hattie to boot.
- Polyamory: Marie and Chuck, her fiancé, agree they'll have an open relationship after he comes out to her as being bisexual. After this Chuck sees a guy he finds attractive, while Marie has sex with her handsome boss. It's Marie's permission for Chuck to explore his attraction toward men at first. The pair decide to break up though, but remain friends.
- Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Courtney, a white woman, imitates black vernacular a bit (calling black main character Hattie her “sister” for instance) and seems to hang out only with black people. They seem okay with it, although slightly put off at times.
- R-Rated Opening: The very first scene is of Hattie having sex with a woman (though without anything explicit).
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Hattie and Ida become lovers, while being very different from each other. Often this still would be shown to work out swimmingly even so. However, they struggle due to their differences, with Ida also wanting to keep their relationship a secret initially. They later break up.
- Technical Virgin: Nia claims she's saving herself for marriage, but only considers intercourse as “counting”, so that other sexual stuff is fine.
- A Threesome Is Hot: Marie and Chuck, her fiancé, are both turned on by threesomes, watching a porn video of two men with a woman as their foreplay.
- Token White:
- Courtney, a somewhat annoying woman, in the only white female regular on the show.
- Zach, Marie's boss, is the sole white guy.
- Transparent Closet: Marie says she already knows after Chuck, her fiancé, comes out as bisexual to her. Hattie was also aware before too.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Marie is very accepting and supportive after her fiancé Chuck tells her he's bisexual (which she'd already known), even agreeing on an open relationship so he can see men too. They amicably break up in the end though.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Series creator Lena Waithe says it was based on her own life somewhat, with main character Hattie her counterpart.
