Bisexuality

Bisexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by aesthetic attraction, romantic love and sexual desire for both males and females. It is usually contrasted with homosexuality, heterosexuality, and asexuality.

Bisexuality in modern Western entertainment

Comparatively positive and notable portrayals of bisexuality can be found in mainstream movies such as: Goldfish Memory; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; and Henry and June. In popular music, many of the songs of The Smiths are commonly cited as classic examples. In notable graphic novels, Love & Rockets subtly portrays bisexuality. Krazy Kat is an early comic-strip character whose loves are not limited by gender. Notable novels containing significant bisexual characters are: Sean David Wright's Two For One--a novel about having choices; Anne Rice's Cry To Heaven; Rosamond Lehmann's Dusty Answer; Mary Renault's The Last of the Wine and The Persian Boy; Colette's Claudine novels; David Leavitt's The Lost Language of Cranes and While England Sleeps; Jeanette Winterson's The Passion; Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time; and Jane Rule's Young in One Another's Arms. Non-fiction scholarship, such as Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae (1990) and Louis Crompton's Byron and Greek Love (1985), has uncovered previously hidden histories of bisexuality. On the TV show Will & Grace, the character of Karen is described as "omnisexual" and although is married to a man, often kisses Grace and appears to have had many female lovers throughout her life.

Related Topics:
Goldfish Memory - The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Henry and June - Popular music - The Smiths - Graphic novel - Love & Rockets - Krazy Kat - Anne Rice - Rosamond Lehmann - Mary Renault - Colette - David Leavitt - Jeanette Winterson - Marge Piercy - Jane Rule - Camille Paglia - Will & Grace

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There are also negative media portrayals, reflecting prejudices and stereotypes. For instance, the television show Friends sported a short song about the topic that expresses a common prejudice on the subject:

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:Sometimes men love women,

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:Sometimes men love men,

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:Then there are bisexuals

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:Though some people say they're kidding themselves

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And a Saturday Night Live joke ran thus:

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:"A bisexual is a person who reaches down the front of somebody's pants and is satisfied with whatever they find." -- Dana Carvey as the church lady, Saturday Night Live.

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Prejudice is also expressed in the storylines of movies in which the bisexual characters conceal murderous neuroses (Basic Instinct, Black Widow, Cruising).

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