(...why no) woe?

[reenka]

You know, it just struck me that I've yet to find a fic or manga that has anything I could term 'bisexual angst'. I mean, there's 'omg, no, I'm gay and I like someone I could never have' angst and there's the regular old 'omg boys/girls drive me INSANE yet I like one, woe!' angst... well, there's a bunch of variants, but. Point being, bisexuals always seem to be portrayed as being free spirits for whom gender doesn't matter-- either in a slutty way or just in a really 'enlightened' way, and that sort of... annoys me, actually. Not least because in my own experience, at least, gender does matter in terms of attraction, even if you like -both-; there's still that intrinsic difference between both and either, right? (Though yes, I realize both are different types of bisexuality; it's just that I see one represented and not the other.)

I mean, sure, everyone knows it's rude and un-PC to perpetuate the bi-slut stereotype, but the whole 'uncommon wisdom' shtick can also seem oppressive, in a way, simply because it doesn't recognize that we -all- have the same kind of identity crises and self-questioning at some point. Yes, even straight white male quarterbackers in the Midwest can question themselves sometimes, I'm sure.

In other words, in fanfic and manga-- and even in general media-- I find that whenever bisexuals aren't -invisible-, they're... kind of dismissive and/or dismissed-- like, oh, they're bi, so that whole angst you-the-pov-character are having doesn't apply.

I mean, I can easily see a character having -more- confusion because wow, they're attracted to -both- and it's easy enough to have -no- clue what you want in that case. What if Harry was bi, and therefore liked -both- Ginny and Draco in 'that' way, for instance?

...I dunno. Maybe that was my rare sudden burst of bisexual angst or... something. :/

Comments

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Haha, I went through the whole 'I'm only partly a freak' thing too, definitely-- I mean, when I was a teenager, anything that made me less of a freak made me happy. I suppose if you're painfully well-adjusted (as all those bi guy leading characters tend to be, or at least their sexuality issues tend to be kinkier)-- then maybe you don't care if you're a freak. Yeah -.-;;;; That sounds just right, for sure.

Hahaha, it's good to see I'm not alone with the weird messy time, also-- though mine sort of comes and goes sometimes, with relapses. Or amybe my life is just messy--?

A lot of people responded to say they just like writing characters who're confident in their sexuality, and you know, I understand that because -I- certainly don't write most fics focusing on sexual identity crises either. But maybe when you have all this background experience yourself, you (and by 'you' I mean 'me') can't help but feel like characters so often being -so- blase is just... irritating somehow :> Even at the end, I feel like one becomes less blase and more just self-aware, which isn't the same thing as 'I don't care as long as they're hot' and/or 'people are people... ommmmmm'.

Heh. I'm just happy I made sense to you... maybe. *is also sheepish*