Joanne Jefferson, as already mentioned, is Maureen Johnson's love interest in Rent the Movie. She is an African American lawyer with very important parents in the community (her mother is running for a judge position while her father is a politician). Joanne is very sensible and realistic so it is surprising that she is dating the free-spirit, Maureen.
Joanne definitely doesn't follow any stereotypes. She actually defies them. She is dating a woman of a different race while remaining a highly respected lawyer. Joanne is a great model for not only gay women, but anybody. She is true inspiration because she shows that your sexuality doesn't define you. "Openness about one's sexual orientation was related to better mental health among sexual minority women, but not among their male counterparts". (Kuyper and Fokkema) This shows that, because Joanne is so open about her sexuality, she is a happier person because of it. She definitely has stress about her relationship with Maureen, but that can be said about any relationship involving any sexuality. She does not show any signs of mental health issues because she has one less thing to worry about: people finding out her true identity. She does not have to hide herself. Joanne can show gay/bisexual women that even if people judge you, you can still be who you want to be. Joanne didn't let anybody bring her down. She was fearless, even more fearless than Maureen (which is a difficult task). I think that lesbian women can look up to her and try to live their lives without fear of what other people think because this can seriously bring down their stress levels and make them happier inside.
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