#10 "The L-Word"

After visiting http://www.afterellen.com/ I came to discover that many shows on television address bisexuality and homosexuality. Such shows include "Bad Girls," "Cashmere Mafia," "Exes & Ohs," "South of Nowhere," and "The L-Word." As I scanned the website, I came across the article "THE L WORD Reinforces Negative Bisexual Stereotypes" by Nicole Kristal. This particular writer feels that "The L-Word" represents the bisexual women on the show in a negative manner by contributing to the negative stereotypes put on bisexuals. I think the author feels this show represents the LGBT community in a negative way because of her use of several examples. One example is that these myths include that all bisexuals are crazy, in denial about their true sexual orientation, and likely to cheat on their partners for the other gender (para. 1). Another example is that this particular author is a bisexual viewer of the show and was disappointed that the show does not portray bisexuality fairly in the sense that the character fulfilled the stereotype that all female fence-sitters transition into lesbians (para. 6).

I had not ever heard of the stereotype that all bisexuals transition into lesbians, in fact I thought the opposite. The authors points brought important stereotypes to my attention that I had never paid attention to before.