Taylor Henderson

Yes to all of this. And JohnArthur’s comment is spot on.

This is AWESOME. As an athiest myself, I take internal notes on mention of religion and God in tv shows, and this summed up the Whedonverse perfectly. I absolutely love the Angel quote. Might get that thrown up on a poster….

This was an awesome read! I loved the bit about the blurred lines between fiction and reality and how stories can influence daily experiences as much as, if not more, than our own experiences. Thanks for sharing!

This is and always been a problem in television. The idea of “picking a side” or “just figuring out who they really are” runs rampant and bisexuality is never even considered, one might argue even more so in gay and lesbian television programming.

I love Orange is the New Black and consider it groundbreaking, especially for something that’s become so mainstream. I did perceive Piper as bisexual pretty early on, but that might just stem from my own bisexuality. I did notice that her sexual preference was put into narrower categories, always referred to as switching teams, and not a single person besides Larry even considered the idea, doing so with contempt. It’s incredibly disheartening to see gay characters dismiss the idea as well, who idealistically should be more open to the fluidity of sexuality. But that’s not the case.

That being said, it’s incredibly important that bisexuality is acknowledged by characters, and while I love her line about just liking hot people (so accurate), it only perpetuates bi erasure. Attaching the bi label onto Piper could only increase the audiences knowledge of the bisexual identity and make the word much less taboo and much more open to discussion. It’s extremely important to all minority groups to have any kind of representation in media, and the sweeping under the rug of the possibility is very disheartening for people like me. Piper’s sexuality could be revolutionary for public understanding and could help break down the stereotypes (promiscuity, cheaters, etc.) that bi people have to face. Or in Piper’s case, at least make the stereotypes seem more human and motivated.