(Un)loveable monsters: representations of bisexual women as monstruous in audiovisual fiction

Abstract

Otherness is an essential element in identity politics. Hegemonic discourses created under the heteropatriarchy situate bisexual women as the Other in terms of gender identity and sexual orientation. This study focuses on unveiling the relations between biphobic and sexist stereotypes, and the representation of bisexual women as monstruous on audiovisual fictions. By taking categories of gender and sexuality, as well as theories from film studies, the depiction of emotions and the body are studied in regards to representation. The concept of hunger is used to control the dissident body, and the depiction of violence and anger criminalize (what are considered to be) improper emotions for women. Moreover, mental instability is related to bisexuality because of the implications it has for the mono and heterosexual system. The monstrous depiction of this identity is fetichizized and the bisexual woman is turned into an object that cannot be loved, only desired.