There are so many things wrong here.

First of all, someone pointing out that changing a bi character’s sexuality is problematic is not the same thing as saying lesbians shouldn’t exist or that you should “go back to your hole.” Second of all, considering the history of forced conversion and erasure within the LGBT community as a whole, altering queer people’s sexualities is frankly gross and a little disturbing for the same reason murdering queer characters is. It erases queer sexuality–and erasing ANY queer sexuality falls under that heading, not just ones you like more. Yes, actually, that IS appalling.

We can certainly talk about shows hedging with bi female characters to try to ensure their characters have the possibility of romance with a male character–yes, that is a problem, but that’s not what you’re talking about, and I know for a fact that bi people don’t appreciate their identities being used for the purposes of sweeps (ie: House). Not all representation means good representation, and having a bi character on a show (for example*cough*theonehundred*cough*) whose lovers continually DIE is not good representation of bi people, or a character whose only same-gender love interest is murdered 2 seconds after they consummate their relationship for sweeps, so it’s not like they’re doing great here either. You’re talking about forcefully converting already queer characters to a sexuality you identify with more. Should there be more/any living lesbians on TV? Yes. (And in fact, there is one on Orphan Black–Cosima. In that show they actually shot (and most likely killed) the bi woman.) Does that mean lesbians should erase bisexuality (and bi erasure is already a problem–none of the bi characters on TV have openly identified AS bisexual)? No.

The fact that you said this simply proves that bi representation is also woefully lacking and shows how bi people are shit on from all directions in society.

Bi people don’t have it “better” (which is what the undercurrent of your recent posts have been) and there is no evidence to support that claim other than a skewed understanding of both sexual orientation and media representation (and actually, bi people do WORSE on psychological and sociological scales than gay people–they tend to have higher rates of suicidal tendencies, mental illness, poverty, etc).

Edit: And, frankly, I think this whole discussion is because some lesbians find the idea of women being with men icky, and they don’t want Gabby and Xena to be with men because they would see it as undermining whatever would happen between the two of them (ie, when gay folks won’t date bi folks). If they’re going to be together in the show, why does it matter who they’re with before (or in between, if the show portrays them as on-again-off-again, which was a popular fan headcanon about their relationship during the original)?

Unless the role is for a bigoted racist, or some “only white person in an area/White Men Can’t Jump” sort of thing, there are no roles *for white people*. Being white doesn’t affect someone’s life. It’s neutral. Being a PoC is not neutral. Characters written to be a particular race are written that way on purpose. White people should *never* be cast in a role specified for a PoC. PoC *can* be cast in roles that are not specified… and honestly, white-passing PoCs can be cast as the “only white person” too. There’s no reason not to.

I think it depends. I would expect a movie set in, say, Norway, to have an overwhelmingly white cast. But characters not rooted to a specific time/place should be played by actors of a variety of ethnicities.

The problem is that people often get the demographics of specific time/places wrong. Take Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them–no non-white lead characters, theoretically some sort of minor roles played by POC. The film takes place in HARLEM during the 1920s.

Or they get it wrong because there are histories that get written out and so people make incorrect assumptions based on the canonical set of research people tend to focus on. IE: all of the films set in England or something in the Renaissance or the Victorian era having no black people. Granted, the exact demographics are difficult to find (particularly since race was often referred to in terms of euphemisms/coded language), but we have photographic evidence that there were black people…and in fact England got an influx of black people during the 17/1800s because England didn’t practice slavery in London.

Even Norway–there are a number of immigrants from the middle east who have been moving there in the past few years. While they don’t make up a huge proportion of the country’s overall demographics, it still seems feasible that you could have a movie that included a Turkish family/group of friends, for example, particularly if it takes place in Oslo or something.

IDK, the argument that a white majority cast is “realistic” will always ring false in my ears, because as someone whose school system was 98% white (literally, not even exaggerating–i looked up demographic information at the time because i was curious) growing up, I still had a number of friends who were not white who would be “main characters” along with me in a hypothetical film about my life.

PS: The issue with Gods of Egypt wasn’t that they weren’t Egyptian. Egyptians didn’t look the same then as they do now because there’s been like… millennia since then and at least one empire (?? my history isn’t great on this but the ottoman empire happened, which I believe is also why islam is predominant in northern africa)  (and there’s some debate about what Egyptians looked like, afaik, but people know it wasn’t white). The problem is that the movie didn’t even TRY to consider the fact that people in Egypt thousands of years ago would not have been white.

psychic: *reads my mind*

me: B R E A K I N G  N E W S the mongols have invaded china. “w e ‘ v e  i n v a d e d  c h i n a” said the mongols. “p l e a s e  r e s p e c t  u s  o r  e l s e  w e  m i g h t  i n v a d e  y o u  a s  w e l l” *swords unsheathing* okay said japan. so the mongols came over, ready for war. and diedinatornado (actually a typhoon). but they tried again, and had a nice time fighting with the japanese but then diedinatornado (actually a typhoon). then the emperor overthrows the shogunate then the shogunate overthrows him back and moves to kyoto and makes a ~new shogunate~. and the emperor can still dress like an “”emperor””” if he wants. that’s fine.

psychic: what the fuck

2012: Oh My God, there has never been , or will there ever be a candidate as bad as Mitt Romney

Trump: 

reblog and tag which mario 64 glitch you are

im too many entities

i’ve never played a dragon age game in my life and mykie wanted my reactions to some of the companions. i think i nailed it.

<3 Xena on her way to save her girl <3

Invisible rope?

no, Lucy Lawless can actually fly, which greatly saved the effects budget.

(source)

The history of lesbian representation on television is rocky — in the beginning, we seemed exclusively relegated to roles that saw us getting killed/attacked or doing the killing/attacking. And until the last five or so years, lesbian and bisexual characters seemed entirely unable to date an actual woman or stay alive for more than three episodes, let alone an entire run, of a show. Gay and lesbian characters are so often murdered on television that we have our very own trope: Bury Your Gays. We comprise such a teeny-tiny fraction of characters on television to begin with that killing us off so haphazardly feels especially cruel.

Reblog to say the list is up to 135 now, and Autostraddle has published a companion article: All 29 Lesbian and Bisexual Female TV Characters Who Got Happy Endings

KIMA WAS INCLUDED ON THIS LIST!

I’m so glad someone finally mentioned Kima Greggs, as she’s usually left out of these conversations, unintentionally or not.

Till this very day, Kima is the only lesbian I’ve ever seen who was actually shot, and who survived it.

And both her and her partner lived too!

Anyways, this is a good list. And it even has Korrasami too.

okay is there any photograph in history that deserves to be painstakingly rendered in oils and hung in a gilt frame in the Louvre more than the threesome photoshoot from that production of Twelfth Night with Anne Hathaway tho

like…dude…Caravaggio doesn’t hold a single candle to this shit………

throwback to the year anne hathaway was in shakespeare in the park and i stayed up all night trying to get tickets

….. I have such a crush on her and her big goofy teeth already

this was released literally 1 year after i realized i was a Gay. i died. there is so much going on here. the sword as the phallic symbol connecting the two love interests technically but unknowingly in competition for viola’s affections (also the fact that olivia is wielding it and orsino is on the receiving end). the clothes (pls give me viola’s/hathway’s clothes. i will wear them unironically.). the fact that orsino’s shirt is basically useless. viola’s face which screams “i shouldn’t be into this but i kind of am.” orsino’s face metaphorically demonstrating lying on a couch and crying about music being the food of love.

Viking ring castle in Denmark, dating from c. 980 AD.

apparently he’s supposed to be playing a non-binary character :/ i’m worried that other people calling him ugly etc in response to this movie is going to negatively backlash against nb folks, esp dmab and/or trans feminine folks 

and ofc trans women as well

can you guys please help my friend out. she got into a Harvard program for the summer but she’s comes from a very low income family. she lives with her disabled father and is the only breadwinner in her family and cannot afford the travel costs etc so any help would be very appreciated!!!

https://dm2.gofund.me/5es53kks