Bisexuality IS An Option -- And An Intriguing One, At That

[originalpuck]

Is slash canon? Well, that's the question that has been prominently displayed on metafandom, and in every BNF's journal across the web. And, predictably, I've been following this debate with a lot of enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this whole mess has left me (a pansexual woman) with a headache and a vague feeling that the general slash community is turning a

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[13_tezcatlipoca]

Not sure if this makes sense as a response, but I'm going to post it anywho. You must have tapped into my thoughts, heh; I've been thinking about this a lot recently ;)

I agree that bisexuality is so ignored in all forms of "fiction" and consequently the surrounding meta. Quite frankly, I believe that's because, and I say this as someone who knew gender didn't matter since they were 5 years old, bisexuality, from an EXTERNAL perspective, only exists until you're in a relationship, and then, as far as the "world's" simplified belief system goes, you're either a breeder, or you're gay. And then you lose half of your sexual identity in one fell swoop. (Joy. :/ )That's something that happens if the onlooker is gay or het, too, incidentally. Friend's brother calls me a 'breeder' which makes me murderous, and a guy at work used to call me a lesbian since I was in a love with a girl and not him. That's the black and whiteness of it all right there. And that complexity is something that is beyond the abilities of most writers to portray anyway. Sure, you could have the person eying off other characters, sleeping with them (can you say stereotypical image of bisexuals as sluts right there?), or "talking about their bisexuality" (big fat yawn) but frankly, I'd rather read a fic that deals with the internal complexities. But, most fanfic writers err on the side of "bisexuality is assumed" if the character was previously in a relationship with a member of the opposite sex and now is in a same-sex relationship, and thus it is glossed over. Funny, that.

Raven in Trapdoor is bisexual, though it wasn't presented to the best of my abilities in the existing text. One of the things for the rewrite. Some of my other characters are bi/pan-sexual. But for now it's just me and Captain Jack Harkness, I guess. *sigh*

[originalpuck]

Quite frankly, I believe that's because, and I say this as someone who knew gender didn't matter since they were 5 years old, bisexuality, from an EXTERNAL perspective, only exists until you're in a relationship, and then, as far as the "world's" simplified belief system goes, you're either a breeder, or you're gay.

Oh goodness, bisexual invisibility ftw! People constantly refer to me as a lesbian, even after I've corrected them, because I'm married to a woman, and having to remember an additional fact/alter their perceptions is too difficult. It regularly boggles my mind.

But, most fanfic writers err on the side of "bisexuality is assumed" if the character was previously in a relationship with a member of the opposite sex and now is in a same-sex relationship, and thus it is glossed over.

You would think that, since it is what I assume, as well, but that is precisely what boggled my mind about the recent fandom meta -- there WASN'T any discussion of assumed bisexuality, simply about assumed het or gay status. Which is kind of the point of the post: an utter WTF confusion at why bisexuality wasn't being mentioned at all.