A few months ago Netflix released the series Dear White People on April 28. It’s a great, progressive show, but it’s not perfect. Unfortunately, this show follows the lead of another Netflix show, Orange is the New Black, in having an aversion to the word “bisexual.” These shows, despite having characters that are clearly shown as being attracted to both men and women, refuse to utter the word “bisexual.”
I won’t spoil too much, but Dear White People has two characters that could potentially be bisexual. One is presented more as being a partially closeted homosexual and the other is treated as if they have a gay/straight switch in their brain that they flip at will. Not one character in the show presents the idea that either character could just be genuinely attracted to more than one gender without any confusion of their sexual orientation. Orange is the New Black’s main character is clearly bisexual, but is also treated as if she has a gay/straight switch in her brain, rather than being bisexual. All of these characters are treated by other characters as if they are confused about their sexuality.
There is a big problem with treating characters that are attracted to more than one gender as if they are confused homosexuals or heterosexuals. Bisexuality is very real, as is pansexuality. Gay and straight are not the only possibilities. There are many people in this world that are attracted to more than one gender. To refuse to say the word “bisexual” in these shows is to treat bisexuality as invalid.
Orange is the New Black is a very diverse show with women of every color, a transgender woman, as well as many women that are attracted to women. The main character, Piper Chapman, is a bisexual woman. On the surface, this seems pretty progressive and it seems like this would be a very LGBT+ friendly show. However, despite the fact that Piper clearly shows attraction to both men and women, it’s not until the second season that any characters propose the idea that she is bisexual.
In the first season when Piper's fiance Larry and her family find out about her drug smuggling ex-girlfriend, they treat the situation as if Piper used to be a lesbian and is now straight. When Larry suspects that Piper's old feelings for Alex are returning, Larry asks Piper's brother, "So what, is she gay now?" This isn't even something that just Larry does. Alex, Nicky, and other characters treat Piper as if sometimes she's gay and sometimes she's straight. One of Alex's most memorable quotes from the show is when she gets mad at Piper and says, "Rule number one: Never fall in love with a straight girl." I've even seen shirts with this quote as if this is a good rule to live by, rather than the biphobic nonsense that it really is. Piper is not a straight girl. She never was.
Bisexual people are attracted to more than one gender. People don't just switch between gay and straight whenever they feel like it. Orange is the New Black is a very popular show, which means their ignorant portrayal of bisexuality is reaching a large audience. Having ignorant characters wouldn't be a problem if there were also characters that correct them, but no one does that in defense of Piper or in Dear White People.
Neither of these Netflix originals are giving bisexuality any validity and Netflix needs to do better. I enjoy both of these shows, but even in the newest season Piper hasn't outright said, "I am bisexual." She's said that she likes "hot people" and that gender isn't really a thing for her, but the actual label of bisexual is treated as a bad word. The few times that the words "bi" and "bisexual" are said, they are brushed over with doubt and ignorance, with not a single character treating it as real sexual orientation. For once it would be nice to hear someone say that they are bisexual, rather than, "I don't subscribe to heteronormative labels," like one of the characters said in Dear White People. Bisexuality is valid and it needs to be treated as such.
