All Bi Myself: Analyzing Television's Presentation of Female Bisexuality

ABSTRACT

As queer lifestyles become mainstream, television reflects this trend with more queer representation. There are several lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters currently on the airwaves. However, overly stereotypical representations of such characters present overtly negative presentations of such lifestyles. This research effort seeks to determine if there are any underlying themes—and what they are—in the way that television presents bisexual female identities. To achieve this, three television shows are analyzed: Grey's Anatomy, Lost Girl, and Orange Is the New Black. The themes that emerge are unilaterally negative in nature and paint those who identify as bisexual very poorly. The overwhelming conclusion is that more bisexual characters are not needed. More diverse bisexual characters are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Bisexual erasure
• bisexuality
• female bisexuality
• media representation
• television

Note

Notes

1. Sexual identity in which an individual is attracted to more than one sex or gender (Galupo, Mitchell, Grynkiewicz & Davis, 2014)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Corey

Sarah Corey is a current graduate student at Arizona State University, studying American media and popular culture. She obtained her bachelors of arts degree in communication studies from Lynchburg College in May 2016. Her research interests include gender and sexuality studies, media portrayals of identity, and how media portrayals of identity affect social beliefs.