GRSJ224/bisexualityintelevision

Bisexuality in Television

Bisexuality is represented in the media now more than ever before. Sexually-fluid characters are featured in prominent television series, such as Netflix originals Orange is the New Black and Sense8 and network series How to Get Away with Murder and American Horror Story: Hotel. Cult movie musicals The Rocky Horror Picture Show and RENT contain bisexuality. Internet personalities such as YouTubers RJ Aguiar of TheNotAdam and Orion Carloto speak openly about identifying as bisexual and what that means for them. However, even with this increased representation of polysexualities in the media, people who identify as bisexual, pansexual, or sexually-fluid still face discrimination in society, even within the LGBTQ community. Perhaps the medium where it is most common to encounter bisexuality is the television screen. Television series give creators the space to create backstories, introduce more characters as the seasons progress, and with streaming services like Netflix, are available to a widespread audience. This makes TV an ideal medium to increase bisexual representation. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Glee and How to Get Away with Murder, the evolution of bisexual representation on television has not been without its ups and downs. Many current shows contain positive portrayals of bisexuality. Others avoid the word or erase its validity completely.

Willow Rosenberg in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the series about a young woman who slays vampires, has been a talking point in the issue of LGBTQ representation on television. One of the core characters, Willow Rosenberg (played by Alyson Hannigan), is initially presented in the first few seasons as only being attracted to males – she dates Oz starting in the second season, and has had a crush on Xander since childhood, which is initially unrequited. Willow and Xander begin a brief romantic relationship in season 3. Her longest relationship and most explicit on-screen relationship is that with Tara. After Tara’s death, Willow begins dating Faith. Although she is shown to have genuine romantic interest in both genders, the series implies that she is not bisexual, but was a closeted lesbian before dating Tara. Willow’s insistence that she is not attracted to males erases the validity of her relationships in the first few seasons. While the show could have taken the opportunity to identify and discuss bisexuality, it instead dismisses Willow’s previous attractions.

Brittany Pierce in Glee (2009-2015)

Glee has been praised for its representation of the misfits of a high school community, characters that aren’t often seen on television such as an effeminate gay student, a paraplegic student, and a student with Downs Syndrome. Since the series is mainly about high school students, the show is a platform for self-discovery and coming-of-age storylines. Brittany Pierce (portrayed by Heather Morris) is a cheerleader in the New Directions glee club. She is shown to have romantic and sexual relationships with men and her best friend, Santana. In the last season of the series, Brittany marries Santana.

Annalise Keating in How to Get Away with Murder (2014-)

Shonda Rhimes’ How to Get Away with Murder as it features a protagonist who is a bisexual woman of colour. Annalise Keating (played by Viola Davis) is introduced to us on the show as married to Sam Keating, has an affair with policeman Nate, and briefly rekindles a romance with a past female lover, Eve Rothlo. The show’s creators have identified Annalise Keating as a bisexual character. How to Get Away with Murder has won many awards, including an Emmy awarded to Viola Davis for outstanding actress in a drama series.

American Horror Story: Hotel (2015-2016) and Doctor Who (2005-)

Although these series first seem like they could not be more different, American Horror Story: Hotel and Doctor Who use bisexuality as a similar indicator of a character’s other-ness. In Hotel, the central character, the Countess Elizabeth (portrayed by Lady Gaga), is a centuries-old vampire who is overt in her sensuality. She is shown to have sexual and romantic dalliances with people of multiple genders. Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman) in Doctor Who is from another dimension in the future. Although Doctor Who is more of a family show than American Horror Story and does not overtly show sexual interactions, Jack Harkness is shown to be in a serious relationship with Iago and to have sexual attraction towards beings of different species and genders. In the spin-off series Torchwood, the sexual interactions are portrayed more openly. Both the Countess and the Jack Harkness are representations of a society that is not sexually constrained – as if the distant past and the distant future are eras where polysexuality is normalized.

Unlabeled Bisexuality

Even when romantic or sexual attraction is exhibited by a character to more than one gender, these characters rarely identify themselves as bisexual. The audience is left to make assumptions based on the characters’ actions, but is never told outright that the character is bisexual. The same cannot be said for homosexual characters – we often see storylines based on the tension a character feels before coming out as gay or lesbian. This double standard sends the message that being attracted to more than one gender is more perverse, secretive, or fantastical than other sexualities. Representation of bisexuality in the media normalizes it, but the danger of not identifying characters as such can contribute to bi-erasure or bi-phobia. Even within the LGBTQ community, bisexuals can often be stereotyped to be more sexually promiscuous, more likely to cheat on a partner, or using the label “bisexual” as a gateway to coming out as gay or lesbian or excuse to experiment sexually with the same gender. These assumptions can be attributed to bi-phobia.