Mimi Hoang
Imagine coming out as someone who is attracted to more than one gender, only to get a reaction such as, “Oh, you’re just confused,” or “You’re so greedy.”
Or if this is easier, think about it like this; imagine that you told someone you’re gay or straight, and that person said, “You’re so picky. Why only have one?”
Most would feel hurt, right? Generally, bisexuals are not very respected in society. They are often seen as those who want to “fit in with both gays and straights.”
In this day and age, we are influenced by what’s on the news, TV, or internet. If a child connects with a character, naturally, they’ll feel excited. Though, if that specific character is portrayed as “bad”, the child will also come to think of themselves as bad.
The media isn’t helping much to the representation of bisexuality. Often bisexual characters are played off as “players” or “confused.”
An example would be in Glee. The openly gay character of the show, Blaine Anderson, drunkenly kisses a girl and finds that he enjoys it. When Anderson confides in telling his friend about how he believes he might be bisexual, his friend dismisses the thought, saying, “Bisexual is a term that gay guys in high school use when they want to hold hands with a girl and feel normal for a change.”
There are plenty of celebrities over the years that have explicitly stated that they were bisexual, yet were labeled as “gay” or “straight” by the gender of their current partner. Well known stars whose sexualities have been erased would be Angelina Jolie, or Alan Cumming. Jolie’s longstanding relationship with Brad Pitt constantly gets her labeled as heterosexual, while Cumming being with a man often gets him mistaken as homosexual. Mistakes happen, but reporters seem adamant on labeling bisexual stars incorrectly even after many corrections.
Even Anne Frank’s diary was edited to make it seemed like she only liked boys, when in reality, she often wrote about her love for girls and how she longed to date a fe
Now this isn’t something one would brush off, as it completely ignores the other part of a person’s identity. Sexuality is a fluid thing and should not be limited to “one or the other.”
People generally see this as either black or white, when instead, we should also be looking at the shades of grey in between. Many other identities go unnoticed, such as asexuality, demi-sexuality, pansexuality, and so on. I believe that it is crucial that we show them in media in a positive manner, and allow viewers to see the different kinds of people in the world. The key thing is to make everyone feel accepted in society.
