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MinhTruong
Ms.Green
English12
June1,2016

SilverScreenReflections:FemaleBisexualityinTelevision

Bisexuality, broadlydefined,isthesexualorromanticattractiontomorethanonegender.
It, as a sexual orientation, makes up twothirds of the LGBT+ population. It is one of the most
prominentorientationsintheLGBT+community,andyetit isalsooneofthemostmarginalized.
Shunned by both theheterosexualAND theLGBT+community,bisexualpeoplearemadetobe
invisible andoutcast(Yoshino3).Asonewomanwrites, FemaleBisexualcharactersonscreen
are no different. The representationofbisexualwomenintelevision shows tendto neverportray
them as fully rounded characters, but either erase their bisexualityorreducethemtosimple,flat
stereotypes. It is an accurate viewofhowcurrentsocietytreatsbisexualwomensocietytendsto
view bisexual women in a very flat, negative way, or simply as something that does not exist.
Television producers and writers may, because of their own prejudices or unconscious biases,
portray bisexual women in this manner. The treatment of these characters reflect societal
bierasure and negative biases against bisexual women. As movie and television shows tend to
represent societal norms and biases, the biphobia and bierasure found and portrayed in
mediums with female bisexual characters is a definitive reflection of real life biphobia and
erasure.

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As societal views affects the world inside the silver screen,televisionalsoinfluencesthe

society it takes inspiration from. In this instance, television affects not just societal views on
bisexual women, but also bisexual women themselves. In astudyconductedontheinfluence of
media on LGBT peoples, it was found that LGBT characters identified with the characters and
helped them to have more security and comfort in their identity ( Gomillion and Giuliano 336).
From thisstudy,itcanbeconcludedthatifLGBTpeoplearemoreconfidentduetothe influence
of positive representations of themselves, the opposite effect can also happen from negative
portrayals. Considering that the majority of portrayals of bisexual women are overwhelmingly
negative, these characters are detrimental to the identities of bisexual women and their own
views ofthemselves.Asonestudyhasnoted,repeatedexposuretomediacontentleadsviewers
to begin to accept media portrayals as representations of reality ( Grabe and Ward 1). As
viewers watch and enjoy these shows, they inherit the attitudes that these characters are treated
with, and use them in their daily life, feeding into female bisexual negative characterizations
continuingaharmfulcycle.

1.TheNonExistentStateoftheBisexualWomen,orhowBisexualCharactersareErased
Bisexual women on television and in movies are often nonexistent, or erased in a
process called bisexual erasure, or bierasure. Bierasure is thepervasiveprobleminwhichthe
existence or legitimacy of bisexuality is questionedordeniedoutright(GLAAD).Onthesilver
screen, this problem is depicted in different ways.Inoneofthemostcurrentandpopularshows,
Orange is the New Black
, its main character, Piper,isneverreferredtoasbisexual,despiteclear
evidence of attraction to more than one gender.Sheisreferredtobyherhusbandashavingbeen

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a former lesbian and her former girlfriend as a straight girl. Although the character herself
refers to her as liking hot guys and girls, not once on the entire show is the word bisexual
mentioned . In a show that is celebrated for its groundbreaking diversity and that doesnt shy
awayfromusinglabels,itsoutofplaceforittoneveronceacknowledgePiperasbisexual
( Leninsky). This denial of Pipers bisexuality is a perfect example of how bierasure works in
real life society using ignorance and ultimately denying it outright. Characters like Piper, who
exhibit strong emotional and/or physical attractions to more than one gender but are never
defined as bisexual arent hard to find on television. Other examples include Kalinda Sharma
fromtheshow,TheGoodWife
,andWillowRosenbergfromBuffytheVampireSlayer
.Willowis
an iconic character, mainly due to the fact that she was one of the first wellportrayed lesbian
main characters in the 90s. The problem with Willow being a lesbian is that the character had
two strong emotional and physical relationships with men in previous seasons despite her
newfound lesbianism ( Casano para. 4). There is never a possibility of Willow being bisexual,
which is interesting to note as another character does have possible implied bisexuality, while
also having more questionable morals (Casanopara.5).Willowscharacterispresentedasbeing
far too important and centralto possiblybebisexualhavingthecharacterbeinglesbianis,while
still controversial in the 90s, more straightlacedandacceptablethanabisexualcharacter.This
example of stigmatization of bisexual characters continue today. In
Pretty Little Liars
, an
extremely popular television show adapted from an equally popular book series, one of thetitle
characters is depicted, originally as lesbian. EmilyFields,likeWillowRosenbergfrom
Buffythe
Vampire Slayer
, is largely presented as lesbian despite the fact that her character from the

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source material is bisexual. These characters are examples and victims of bisexual erasure and
invisibilityintheirownshows.
All of the characters cited above sharesomethingincommontheyareallcharactersthat
show attraction to more than one gender, but that attraction is either denied or ignored by the
show. These characters are excellent examples of bierasure on screen, and how it happens to
bisexual women in real life. It leaves, unspoken, asuggestionthatdenyingthesecharacterstheir
bisexuality does no harm, is even normal. Even in circles that work for diversity, bisexuality is
erased. As one bisexual woman reported, she attended a work group on diversity issues at a
lesbiandominated feminist conference when she raised a point that there was no mention of
sexuality issues. The woman also stated that bisexual issues should also be included when the
moderator who agreed with the point that gay and lesbian issues should be included. The
moderator shotherdown,bysaying No,bisexualsdontexist(Ault4).Bothheterosexualand
the lesbian/gaycommunity,whileoccasionallyclashingagainsteachother,bothcontributetothe
erasure of bisexual people. These communities, as ones with monosexual identities, have an, if
not conscious, interest in bisexual erasure. Bisexuality is a threat to monogamy and binary
sexualities, both of which are the majority in society

(Yoshino4). Bierasureanditsrelative,

bisexual invisibility which manifests itself inthestudiedomissionofbisexualityindiscussions

of sexual orientation are rampant among society (Yoshino 6). Discussions on bisexuality,
whether academic or not, are hardpressed to find, especially compared to research and
discussions on homosexuality ( Yoshino 6). Erasure of bisexuality can be clearly seen in these
examples, even as those from other communities deny it. Lumping in bisexual women with

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lesbians or leaving them out of place at all on television can only help further bierasure and
bisexualinvisibilityforbisexualwomenbothofwhichdonothingforthebisexualwoman.

2.Flat,StereotypicalandNegativePortrayals
Although few and far inbetween, there are some acknowledged bisexual female
characters in television shows. Unfortunately, few of these acknowledged characters are
wellrounded or positive portrayals. These characters, most of them supporting characters, are
usually quite stereotypical or portrayed in an extremely negative light. These characters
exemplify and perpetuate negative stereotypes of bisexual women. Characters in this vein are
results of biphobia, defined as intense hatred oraversiontowardsbisexuality,includingnegative
stereotypes or denial of bisexuality (Collins Dictionary). Female bisexual characters, much like
their straight and lesbian counterparts, are constantly sexually exploited fortheentertainmentof
the male eye (Martinez). Even canon heterosexual female characters become sexually involved
with women, with the unspoken message that their true attraction lie towardsmen.Examplesof
these tropes arent hard to find on television.
A highly visible illustration of this case comes
from the popular HBO show
Game of Thrones
,inthecharacterDaenarysTargaerayen. Other
favourite stereotypes involve the cheating, confused bisexual woman, exemplified by Barbara
Kean from show
Gotham,
and the promiscious, immoral woman, depicted in
Buffy theVampire
Slayer,
characterFaithLehane.
Take Daenerys Targaryen from the popular show
GameofThrones
asanexampleof the
hypersexualization phenomenon. Although the character has strong sexual and romantic
attraction towards men, the same cannot be said for women. Her female encounters only occur

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out of sexual frustration or when being taught how to pleasure her male lover ( Martinez). The
message from this show and others like it, is that female bisexualityisnonthreatening sinceit
is only used for sexual purposes and exclusively to please male viewers. The threat of
bisexuality, in how it deviates fromthenormasitisnotamonosexualorientation,leadsthoseof
both the heterosexual and LGBTQ+ community to shun both bisexual women and men.
Bisexualwomens hypersexualization onscreenalsoaffectsthemoffscreen.Inastudylookingat
the effects of sexualization of women in television, young college women seeing sexual
objectification in the media will later selfobjectify themselves ( Grabe, Ward, and Hyde 13).
Sexual objectification has also been linked to mental health problems in young women,
especially those of prepubescent and adolescent age (Sexualization of Girls is Linked ).
Combine these two factors, with the dominant narrative of bisexual female characters as
hypersexualizedobjects,it canbeseen thatbisexualwomenarebothmore likelytobe proneto
selfobjectification as well as increased mental health issues than women of a monosexual
orientation. Studies show that mental health of women and young girls suffer increase with
increased sexualization and if that is true, then with these sexualized characters being themain
representations of bisexual women, bisexual women have increased mental health issues
compared to their heterosexual and lesbian counterparts.

Characters such as Daenerys

Targaryen, who on show

Game of Thrones is constantly seen nude and insexualsituations add
to the problem of sexualizedbisexual womenviewersseeingthissamerepeatedimageryslowly
start to believe it as reality, normalizing bisexual women in a state of extreme objectification
andsexualization.

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When female bisexuality is not being exploited on screen, it is used as an indicator of a

negative character. These bisexual women are cheaters, manipulators, cold, and psychopathic.
One such character affected by the cheating bisexual trope is Barbara Kean, from the television
show
Gotham
. Not only is Kean an insignificant character in the series, even while being the
fiance of the main character, her relationship status and her bisexuality is the only noteworthy
things of her character ( Riedel). At the end of the ninth episode, Kean flees Gotham with her
former female lover, perpetuating the stereotypes of thecheating andconfusedbisexualwoman
(Riedel). To skew things further, the original source material that much of the showisbased on
positions Keans fiancee as the cheater, rather than Kean herself ( Riedel). As Riedel herself
writes, Barbara Kean is a walking example of societys stereotypes about [bisexual women]
that [theyre] confused about what [they] really want, and thus incapable of holding down a
monogamous relationship. The continued usage of thecheatingbisexualtropeinanexpendable
role with minimal personality demonstrates the disregard the showhasforthecharacterandas
seen with previous examples, the disregard society has for bisexual women in reality. Constant
reinforcement of these tropes reinforces those who believe these false representations to be true
for bisexual women, creating situations in which even those who are similarly marginalized by
society, such as lesbian and gay people, pigeonhole bisexualwomenintothesestereotypes.This
discriminationfrombothendsofthespectrumis reflectedintoeverydaylifeforbisexualwomen
asonesuchwomanstates:

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My ex used to say she couldnt trust me because Im bi. I have seen this in other
relationships, too. As much as we, the bisexuals, try toconvincethepeoplewelove that
there is a difference between being bisexual and being unfaithful, promiscuous, or
disloyal,wecantseemtoconvincethepeoplewelove(Ault4).
This statement is a reality that most bisexual women and men as well face. In an overtly
monogamous and monosexual society, the idea of a woman who is attracted to more than one
gender cannot possibly have a faithfulmonogamousrelationshipwithanygenders.Thisharmful
myth damages relationship balances between bisexual women and their loved ones, through no
faultoftheirown.
Seen as cheaters, confused, and women with looser morals in general, society has done
an excellent job of pushing bisexual women to the brink of its edge. An example of a character
pushed to the edge because of her implied bisexuality is Faith Lehane from the show B
uffy the
Vampire Slayer
. Faith is shown as having looser morals than the main characters of the show,
along with her implied bisexuality (Casano).Whatisinterestingtonoteisthatanothercharacter,
mentioned in part one, Willow iscast asalesbian,evenwithpaststrongrelationshipswithmen.
The difference in treatment of the two characters subtly implies that Willow, a main character
and part of themainstoryline,cannot bethoughtofasbisexual,whereitismoreacceptablefora
side character with looser morals to be bisexual ( Casano). Bisexuality is still too different,
considered too promiscuous and unrespectable for a positive main character. What is the
underlying messagehere,isthatbisexualityandwomenwhoarebisexualhaveloosermoralsand
are inherently worse people. The outsider treatment of Faith in the show for her rougher,
lowerclass upbringing, her promiscuousness, and her uncaring attitude is similar as to how

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bisexual women are treated asoutsiders.Evenincirclesinwhichtheir interestissimilar,suchas

in the fight for equal rights, much like Faith, theyarepushedout.Onesuchwomanrecountsher
encounters, with various threats to get the hell out of [their] community, and onelesbianeven
questioned the right for bisexuals to exist making this woman stay far out of the gay/lesbian
community ( Ault 4). Bisexual women are silenced in the very community the LGBTQ+
communitythathasbeensilencedforsolong,evenwhileitkeepstheBinitsname.
Female bisexuality is exploited and demonized on television screens through the few
openly labeled bisexual women characters. Characters like Daenerys Targaryen from
Game of
Thrones are sexualized and used for the viewing pleasure of male audiences. Other characters,
suchas
Gothams
BarbaraKean,areexpendablecharactersthatarepaintedasconfused,cheating
women. Andinmostcasesofbisexualcharacters,theirorientationisusedasanindicatoroftheir
loose morals, such as Faith Lehane from
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
All together, thesetiredand
overused stereotypes are emblematic of a larger problem, bisexual phobia.Biphobiamanifests
itself in several different ways, oneofthewaysbeingusingthesestereotypestoedgebisexuality
into a box. Biphobia onscreen has further reaching circumstances thanjustthecharactersinthe
shows it increases mental health issues for bisexual women, presents a falsified version of
bisexuality, and increases justification and belief in denying bisexuality. The ones hurt most by
television female bisexual characters are the very women that they are portraying, and whether
intentional or not, these characters are only helping to further ignorance and hatred of bisexual
women.

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3. Television Producers and Writers on the Creation of Bisexual Female Characters and
TheirCounterparts
Television producers and writers have a history ofwashingtheirshowsandcharactersto
be more palatable and normal for larger audiences. In the context ofbisexualcharacters,these
characters are constantly straight washed, with producers usually defending these changes as
done to reach a wider audience. Producers and scriptwriters are the main forces behind the
creations of television shows, and as those with direct control over these characters, they have
the most power in how these characters are portrayed to the public. Disappointingly, most of
them have chosen to continue with the current treatment of bisexual characterserasingthemor
neglecting them to harmful stereotypes.Bisexualcharacters,bothmenandwomen,stillmakeup
only 28% of LGBTQ+ characters on television a tiny fraction considering the fact that
LGBTQ+ characters make up only 4% on all scripted broadcast series.(GLAAD 7/26). It is a
continuance of the history of bisexual phobia and erasure that television shows still see
bisexuality as too controversial to feature as wellroundedmaincharacters.Evenwithproducers
and writers not speaking out on the directionoftheircharacters,their femalebisexualcharacters
areaclearindicationoftheirattitudestowardsthesecharacters.Theygivethesecharactersminor
roles, treat them as expendable ( see part two) and deny them their sexuality. In their minds,
these characters are simply not worth the hassle. Television shows are only willing to portray
wellrounded LGBTQ+ characters if they are white, gay or lesbian. These particular characters
are deemed more palatable, more acceptable and easier for their characters. Bisexuality, a
nonmonosexual orientation still has too much of a stigma for there to be characters with that
orientation onscreen in a major role. In
Hellblazer
, a comic turned television show, while the

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main character is not female, he is bisexual except for in theshow.Inallthereleasedepisodes,

not once does John Constatine act on his bisexual attractions. Although executive producer
David S Goyer has publicly confirmed that John is indeed bisexual, there has not been one
mention or attraction towards men in the show. Bisexuality in these characters are ignored or
denied by their shows the shows that these producers and writers create. The refusal to create
female bisexual characters that are main characters, further biphobia and bierasure, with the
stigmathatbisexualwomeninreallifearenotworthyofrealisticrepresentationsofthemselves.

Conclusion
Today, society in the western world places a great emphasis on one form of media:
Television shows. Producers and networks have created a playland of options when it comes to
television shows.These shows span vastly different genres, such as superherostorylines,reality
tv, and even medieval fantasy. The characters are getting, slowly, but increasingly diverse in
termsofsexualorientation,witha0.1%increaseofLGBTQ+charactersfrom2014
( GLAAD 7). Television as entertainment has become a gigantic industry in this society, to the
point where it sometimes may even influence societal attitudes. One area, however, that
television has failed to do properly is the treatment of its bisexual characters. In society today,
bisexuality is met with misunderstanding, ignorance, and thedenialofitsexistence.Television,
as a reflection of societal attitudes, has recreated these treatments of bisexuality far too well.
Problems such as denying bisexuality, objectification and sexualization, and treating bisexual
peopleascheaterswithimmoralityinsocietyarefoundpaintedquiteclearlyonthesilverscreen.

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Thesecharacters,with theirinaccurateportrayals ofbisexualityin women,canonlyhurtbisexual

women. Studies find thatrepeatedshowingsofmediareinforcestheideathatthemediashownis
anaccuraterepresentationofrealityandwiththis,thesecharactersslowlybecomerealexamples
for the viewers of the shows ( Grabe and Ward 1). This is extremely dangerous for bisexual
women already living under the burden of most of these stereotypes, an increased amount of
people that believe the portrayal of female bisexual characters will only increase the amount of
biphobia and erasure that they go through. These portrayals even have an effect on the mental
health of bisexual women, most likely increasing the health risks and issues among them.
Bisexual women are already edged out of both the heterosexual and the gay and lesbian
communities, because whetherintentionalornot,thesecommunitiesbothseebisexualwomenas
a threat ( Yoshino 4). The absence of monosexuality is hard to graspforthosewithmonosexual
orientations, and their ignorance on bisexualityevolvesintooutrighthatred.
Thesecommunities
teach themselves and bisexual people that bisexual people are not to be trusted, have looser
morals, are cheaters, liars and are terrible people. This is societys attitude to bisexual women,
and so those who use society as an inspiration in their television shows take this attitude and
apply it to their characters. Their viewers see these characters as realistic portrayals and pay
attention to the falseness of these representations and the victims of this cycle are the only
bisexualwomenwhosocietyhasdeterminedtosilence.

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Martinez, Ren. I Kissed a Girl and Ill Deny It: TV Tropes and Bisexuality in Men and
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Yoshino, Kenji. The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure.

Stanford LawReview(2000):n.
pag.Pdffile.