If anyone doesn’t already know this, I am bisexual. Yes, I date someone who is male, but that doesn’t make me less bisexual or my sexuality less valid. Bisexuality is something that is rarely explored in popular media, with many characters written to either be exclusively straight or gay. However, this month has given me a lot to think about in terms of bisexual representation in the media and I am going to use three examples I have discovered this month to make my case as to why these stories matter.
Television – ‘Loki’
Of course, the biggest example that came out this past month was the TV series Loki, in which Loki is finally revealed to be bisexual. Whilst it has taken so long for the MCU to finally establish an LGBTQ+ character, Loki is the perfect character to have this representation.
There have been many debates about how his bisexuality has been represented as of now, only having a relationship with a female Loki. Whilst I would also be excited to see Loki develop feelings for a male at some point, I don’t like how fans are saying that his bisexuality is invalid because his first kiss on screen is with a girl. The main thing looking forward is making sure that MCU continues to give representation to the LGBTQ+ community and further develop these ideas with Loki, alongside some other potential characters in the future.
Music – Måneskin
The Italian band Måneskin have blown up since winning Eurovision back in May, and it is easy to see why. Their music is fresh and cool, it’s great to see people playing their own music and even the structure of the band – having a female bassist amongst a typical male rock group, adds something unique to their style.
It can be easy to say that the band gives off bisexual vibes purely because the band has a mix of male and female members. However, it is their persona that gives off the bisexual tones and that in particular comes through in their latest music video I Wanna Be Your Slave.
In this music video, there are many different sexual shots within it from kissing, spitting, grinding and nudity. However, these actions happen across all members, guy to guy and guy to girl. In particular, the kiss that happens in the video is guy to guy and it feels completely natural. Måneskin has been a great representation of sexuality and how normal it is, and that it should not be considered taboo or unnatural.
Books – ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid
WARNING: This section contains spoilers for the book.
Even though this book came out in 2017, it has only been recently that I have seen everyone shout their praises for author Taylor Jenkins Reid and her book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I had liked a lot of books that I was reading over the past few months, but this book blew me away to the point where it is now one of my top books of all time.
This book feels like it was particularly made for me. It tells the story of Evelyn Hugo, who has had a long and successful career as an Oscar-winning actress, and is now sitting down to tell her story about the seven husbands she had, why she married so much, and who she had actually fallen in love with. This would end up being a fellow actress, Celia St. James.
This book has so many strong messages about bisexuality and the perception across different generations. When Evelyn fell in love with Celia, they had to keep their relationship under wraps due to the stigma against same-sex relationships at the time. That is predictable, but it was when the interviewer slips up and asks Evelyn if she was gay that caused me to fall in love with the themes of this book. Not only does the book establish that Evelyn is bisexual, but that the interviewer realises her mistakes and apologises for putting a label so quickly on someone without realising the context and recognising the validity of bisexuality. It is one of many reasons why I have fallen in love with this book and will continue to recommend people to read it.
The post A Month of Bisexuality – how the media represents sexuality appeared first on Film For Thought.
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