Puccini for beginners (Rant)

I watched this movie for the first today while recuperating from my illness. I've heard about it before, but never worked up the nerve to sit through this romantic comedy until it popped up on Netflix. I gotta say...romcoms aren't my thing. But because it deals with lesbi issues, I thought I'd give it a try. 

After watching the film I began to wonder: when did "bisexuality" become such a dirty word? Clearly, the characters engaged in bisexual behavior, but the word was never used...not once...in the entire film. The lesbian character was  called "confused" when she chose to date a man. The fact that she could've been bisexual didn't even enter the conversation. It was, "No sweety, you're confused. A lesbian with a boyfriend is ridiculous!" Hmmm. That would be true if she was a lesbian, she would not have been interested in a man, correct...but she WAS attracted to the MAN and to the WOMAN, so...by logic, that makes her bisexual! Not fucking "confused." It was like...being "bisexual" wasn't even an option for her because, so clearly, a person can only be homosexual or heteronormative...you can't be attracted to both sexes, right?
 
And like most bisexual characters portrayed in film, she was a flighty, cheating, manipulative imbecile who didn't know what she wanted and seemed only interested in sex. She hurt everyone around her for her own selfish needs, and thought very little of commitment until the very end of the story. 

Ugh! Gimme a break! I'm so tired of this stereotype. If it isn't bisexual erasure it's all-out biphobia! Bisexuals and Transgender people are constantly sidelined in the LGBTQIA community. It makes me so mad I want to distance myself from the movement. At least with bisexuals, we are constantly being told: "You're not really gay. You're just doing it for attention!" or "You're just a closeted lesbian/gay man! Bisexuality doesn't exist!" 

*headdesk* 

I'm tired of being told I'm not "gay enough." I really am. And this movie, as lighthearted and silly as it was, brings up a bigger issue here. I've been regarded with suspicion all  my life. "What do you mean you like BOTH?! Just PICK a SIDE!" as if there is a "side." It's like being biracial in a way. You're told to pick a "side," to fit into a neat little box for people to categorize and label you. 

I say, "Fuck your goddamn labels! I am me, my name is TK. Why can't you be satisfied with my name? What does it matter if I'm multiracial? What does it matter if I'm bisexual? Leave me the fuck alone!" But no one is satisfied with just my name. 

Just yesterday, some Indian dude asked me what my ethnic origin was while I was waiting for my ticket at the airport. I hate that question. "What are you?!" I'm a human being, moron! Just like you. But I didn't say that, I said, "I'm American." But he wasn't satisfied with that--he pressed on, "No, no, you look Indian. You have an Indian face. Is one of your parents from India?" 

Goddammit! How many times have I been asked: "are you MIXED?! What ARE you?!" Like I have to explain myself to complete strangers in order for them to proceed with how to "treat" me. The same thing goes for the gay community. It pisses me off. 

Anyway. I need to take my meds. My throat hurts. I don't need to piss myself off this early in the day. Over and out.