Anybody else watch the show? I'm thinking about the character, Callie, who supposedly identifies as a bisexual woman. The only other bisexual characters I think of on mainstream television are Brittany and Sontana on Glee.
Callie started off on the show having relationships with men (George and Mark) and then a femme lesbian (Arizona) pursued her and Callie "came out" as bi. In the last episode, a recently-divorced-from-Arizona Callie was hit on by another femme lesbian.
Apparently, mainstream t.v. isn't ready for a butch lesbian character. As a "femme" who likes other "femmes," I love watching the lesbian/bi hook-ups on Grey's (and Glee.) But it would be so interesting to see a female character that identified as gay or bi whose appearance actually advertised their sexual orientation.
I think it's funny that Callie doesn't dress or look in any way like a woman who identifies as queer. Yet the show's writers would have us believe gay women sniff her out instantly, and she doesn't get hit on by random men. The show totally ignores the whole "invisible femme" phenomena.
Plus, they seem to be forgetting the whole "attracted to men" part of being bisexual. Realistically, the person who tempted Callie in the (not gay) bar would have been a man. Statistically, there are more heterosexual men around than gay/bi women, and these men would assume Callie was straight. The gay woman probably would not assume Callie identifies as gay. So the show ignores heterosexual normativity too.
I remember the Willow character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer took a similar trajectory. She started by being with men (Xander, Oz) then fell for one particular woman (Tara.) After that, she was ONLY with women (Kennedy.)
It's like once a female character admits to being bi, she can only be with women, or else she won't be considered gay enough?
Random, hungover thoughts on sexual identity politics on a Saturday afternoon
Callie started off on the show having relationships with men (George and Mark) and then a femme lesbian (Arizona) pursued her and Callie "came out" as bi. In the last episode, a recently-divorced-from-Arizona Callie was hit on by another femme lesbian.
Apparently, mainstream t.v. isn't ready for a butch lesbian character. As a "femme" who likes other "femmes," I love watching the lesbian/bi hook-ups on Grey's (and Glee.) But it would be so interesting to see a female character that identified as gay or bi whose appearance actually advertised their sexual orientation.
I think it's funny that Callie doesn't dress or look in any way like a woman who identifies as queer. Yet the show's writers would have us believe gay women sniff her out instantly, and she doesn't get hit on by random men. The show totally ignores the whole "invisible femme" phenomena.
Plus, they seem to be forgetting the whole "attracted to men" part of being bisexual. Realistically, the person who tempted Callie in the (not gay) bar would have been a man. Statistically, there are more heterosexual men around than gay/bi women, and these men would assume Callie was straight. The gay woman probably would not assume Callie identifies as gay. So the show ignores heterosexual normativity too.
I remember the Willow character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer took a similar trajectory. She started by being with men (Xander, Oz) then fell for one particular woman (Tara.) After that, she was ONLY with women (Kennedy.)
It's like once a female character admits to being bi, she can only be with women, or else she won't be considered gay enough?
Random, hungover thoughts on sexual identity politics on a Saturday afternoon