Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: You People and Your Quaint Little Categories

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  • Just thinking,

    Not sure if this will help or if it is even bi.

    But all I could think of was Mr Stagger Lee

    "I'm a bad motherfucker, don't you know and I'll crawl over
    Fifty good pussies just to get one fat boy's asshole" Said Stagger Lee

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Lyndon Hood,

    "I'll just go and look at one TV Tropes page," I said to myself.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report Reply

  • Zippy Gonzales,

    Bisexual role models have certainly come a long way from Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct and Billy Chenowith, the slightly psycho artist in Six Feet Under.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 186 posts Report Reply

  • kmont,

    Was also instantly thinking "hotties" but there really really ought to be more options. Using "people" really is clunky and it draws attention.

    I know this from experience.

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 485 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    It's quite refreshing, especially in a book like The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan where homophobia is standard and the goadingly unrepentant gay hero is totally kick-arse.

    I am obliged to briefly threadjack to recommend anyone who wants their fantasy to come with awesome gay characters to check out S M Stirling's work of the last decade or so, in particular the Nantucket trilogy. Mainstream fantasy + lead lesbian romance = WIN.

    (Also, does Lois McMaster Bujold's Aral Vorkosigan count as a decent bisexual character? To quote his wife, he's now monogamous, but his bisexuality is hardly ignored.)

    "I'll just go and look at one TV Tropes page," I said to myself.

    Bwahahahahahahahaha.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Bisexual role models have certainly come a long way from Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct and Billy Chenowith, the slightly psycho artist in Six Feet Under.

    The Depraved Bisexual. I used to write with a woman who did write LGBT characters despite being a bigot, but they were all of this type. Their sexuality is a sign of their depravity.

    Crumpet?

    [why yes, I'd love some, thanks for asking]

    Heh, a minor game the English and I play with the US writers. "Want some crumpet?" "Oh, yes please. Have we got any butter? I do love my crumpet all hot and buttery."

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    The Depraved Bisexual.

    But that's the best kind!

    "I do love my crumpet all hot and buttery."

    Dammit! Now you've gone and made me ... hungry.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • joff,

    Yes, hence the name 13 eh?

    That's mainly to do with the fact that House is a dick ;)

    Melbourne, Aus • Since Oct 2008 • 7 posts Report Reply

  • Moz,

    I’m open to suggestions. (Of course I am, you know what those bloody bisexuals are like.)

    And baby do I have a suggestion for you...

    I'm with the generic and ambiguous terms myself. Even for people I suspect are straight white christians. Especially for them. f**k'em if they need the constant reassurance that all the nice people are straight white christians just like them.

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Billy Chenowith, the slightly psycho artist in Six Feet Under

    I could forgive the psycho if he wasn't so *pretentious*. Along with his sister. And his father. And his mother. OH GOD I HATED THEM ALL SO.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    That's mainly to do with the fact that House is a dick ;)

    But I like the dick. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    But I like the dick. :)

    Good when they have 'em, not when they're being them.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    But I like the dick. :)

    Good when they have 'em, not when they're being them.

    I have to say, and this is one of my language crusades, what is with English considering a person who is a "dick" a "cock" or a "cunt" to be someone objectionable. I tend to like dicks, cocks, and cunts.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Good when they have 'em,not when they're being them.

    Although my comment was tongue in cheek I did like House the programme and House the person, and a house is good too.I think he'd be a good boss to have.... at least I could be my own person..., not that I don't have that down already....
    I'll get me coat. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I tend to like dicks, cocks, and cunts.

    Yes, I have no problem with that. And I'll throw in "slut", being a term of endearment for my best girlfriend.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    And I'll take that as a compliment, (it's all a state of mind) Thank you very much :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    A picture paints 1000 words....
    ...in so many words
    What's in a word?
    A word with you.
    A song to soothe,
    I like the words,
    "Lay lady lay."
    Bob Dylan


    Bob

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • TracyMac,

    Mmm, hot and buttery crumpet. Both kinds.

    As for nomenclature, as well as the "hotties" and "babes" solution, I go for "lust objects" myself. And yes, I say it in RL. Whether that would work for a particular character's voice is another matter.

    For poly people, when talking about those you have shagged, "sweeties" seems to be common. I find it a bit twee myself (and not that great for prospective lovers), but since my last partner called me that, I'm somewhat more reconciled to it. My favourite poly term is "metamour" - a lover's lover.

    @Lucy - Aral is definitely bi, and Lois actually did cop a bit from a few bi people with that line from Cordelia saying he was bi, and is now monogamous. However, it was understood what she was getting at; just some clumsy phrasing.

    Also, I'll vote for Byerly being the coolest potentially bi man. And Lois also wins for having a hermaphrodite significant character.

    Canberra, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 701 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    "13" from House is another example of an openly bisexual character on TV... and it seems to be treated in a (relatively) normal manner..

    Oh, I guess you've got a point in the sense that "13" is as dull and wafer-thin a character in that endless shark jump of a show as the straights. Not so sure that's an advance though.

    And at least House was marginally less offensive than when Grey's Anatomy turned the resident ball-breaking, emotionally constipated bitch into a ball-breaking, emotionally constipated dyke. And she hooked up with another sweeps-week has-bian (apparently, having your marriage fall apart within days when he screws another woman makes you bi-curious!), whose muff-licking cooties quickly went into remission when the lezzer got written out.

    So what have we learned from this, children: Adding bi-/homophobic insult to borderline misogynistic injury is a bad bad thing.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Billy Chenowith, the slightly psycho artist in Six Feet Under

    When it came to psychosis, I think more of his incestuous fixation on his sister rather than screwing his mother's lover back in the day at art school when we all know everyone "messes around" at least once.

    I could forgive the psycho if he wasn't so *pretentious*. Along with his sister. And his father. And his mother. OH GOD I HATED THEM ALL SO.

    I used to quite enjoy Six Feet Under, just to marvel at how such magnificently self-absorbed people could find new ways to show their utter lack of self-knowledge. Then the Alan Ball Effect kicked in around the middle of season three (and it's repeating itself in True Blood): He seem to think that if you throw in enough pretty people screwing, nobody will notice (or much care) that nothing anyone does makes any sense whatsoever. SFU ended up feeling like an astoundingly pretentious, sour soap opera where I just didn't care about the characters and the random hoops they jumped through.

    We do seem to cause much consternation. The biography point is interesting: I remember when the Cole Porter biopic came out, there was some snarling in the gay community about how he had been made 'straight' for a mainstream audience, and how too much emphasis was put on his relationship with his wife.

    Nic C: If you're talking about De-Lovely, I was more fucked off that Linda Lee Thomas was older than Porter and not quite such a masochistic drip. (Much as I adore Ashley Judd, she's over twenty years younger than Kevin Kline and it showed.) It's not as if Hollywood is exactly over-stocked with meaty roles for women of a 'certain age'.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • kmont,

    Would we need to categorise them Steven? And why would heterosexual people find bisexual people extra appealing as soul mates unless it was some kind of kinky fascinated curiousity which seems a bit disrespectful.

    Maybe bisexual people are just balanced?

    Interested in what you think.

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 485 posts Report Reply

  • kmont,

    Oh no Steven I definitely did not mean that! It wasn't directed towards you, just thinking out loud.

    I just do not know why they would, which was why I was asking. Am interested in what you think.

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 485 posts Report Reply

  • kmont,

    To clarify more, what I mean is, aren't people attracted to people? I know that people have types and characteristics that they find super appealing in a person but it is hard to imagine why a straight person would have a particular attraction to bisexual people as a "type". And I can imagine a certain kind of person who might have kinky fascinated curiousity, fueled by misconceptions from porn or something.

    Can you see what I am saying? But I thought you might have an interesting take of your own on it, that I had not thought of. So I didn't mean to be insulting, just interested in what you think.

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 485 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Perhaps maybe, because there are as many sexuality's as there are people. But thats not actually the point.

    But, a good point.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    And I can imagine a certain kind of person who might have kinky fascinated curiousity, fueled by misconceptions from porn or something.

    To derail slightly, this would be MUCH more likely to be generated by the Depraved Bisexual trope in mainstream movies and tv than by porn.

    it is hard to imagine why a straight person would have a particular attraction to bisexual people as a "type"

    There are straight women who appear to be strongly attracted to gay men, and it doesn't seem to be any more salacious than perhaps the added attraction of unattainability. Given that I can't see any reason why people couldn't be attracted to 'bisexuals'. I think what steven is asking is would you describe them as straight, as kowhai just did? It doesn't necessarily have to be some kind of negatively salacious (assuming that when it comes to sex 'salacious' is negative) attraction. It might be just like being attracted to a good singing voice.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

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