Lily - Final Project

While it is true that there is more representation of different sexual preferences in the entertainment media, the representation of bisexuality is still seriously lacking. For some reason completely unknown to me, bisexuality has been seen as a threat to most heteronormative narratives that we have seen throughout time on mainstream entertainment media. It is important to note that while the depiction of bisexuality in entertainment media has increased, the quality of these depictions is poor and harmful. These misrepresentations are problematic because they reaffirm the stereotypes that marginalize bi-identifying people in both the straight and queer communities.
Popular culture, specifically mainstream entertainment media, perpetuates a culture that reinforces negative bisexual stereotypes. This in turn invalidates bisexuality as a normal and healthy sexual orientation and contributes to negative feelings toward those who do identify as bisexual. According to CBSNeews, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh said, “Bisexual men and women face prejudice, stigma, and discrimination from both heterosexual and homosexual people,” and “Men who identified as heterosexual were three times more likely to consider bisexuality ‘not a legitimate sexual orientation.”’ I believe this is largely due to the reinforced stereotypes of bisexuals portrayed in the overwhelming amount of media we consume daily as a society.
Due to my need to physically work with an artist medium and my inexperience with most media tools, I chose to make a collage. My collage features large images of characters from popular TV shows and movies whose characters identify as bisexual or are depicted as being such and who reinforce these sterotypes. My collage also features famous celebrities who have come out as identifying as bisexul and faced prejudice. Making a physical object such as this collage allowed me to produce my project on a larger scale, which I believe contributes to its impact. In the margins surrounding my images I have written the hashtag #BiIsNotAStereotype along with several other hashtags. I chose to do this because of the overwhelming impact social media has on people today, especially my generation. This hashtag is an instantly recognizable tool used to get a message across using very few words that can connect hundreds of thousands of people in a conversation pertaining to a serious issue such as this.
By creating this work I hoped to spark a realization that these stereotypes do exist and are in direct correlation to how bi-identifying individuals are presented in the mainstream entertainment media we are constantly consuming without much critical thought. In a generation who is making strides to deflect from this idea of “binaries,” I believe this issue is important because it would allow us to recognize that sexuality is even more complex and fluid than we ever could have imagined and however one wants to identify themselves is healthy and valid. The recognition that this is an issue is the first step towards actually changing this misrepresentation.