By Kelsey Rogers, Editor-in-chief
The Netflix original TV series “Big Mouth” released its third season on Oct. 4.
The adult animated show covers controversial issues on sex and puberty in comical ways and quickly gained a large following during its debut of the first season in 2017.
The third season presented a new character, voiced by Ali Wong, who introduced herself to her classmates as pansexual in what was an extremely inaccurate portrayal.
“Bisexuality is so binary,” Wong’s character said. “Being pansexual means my sexual preference isn’t limited by gender identity. If you’re bisexual, you like tacos and burritos. But I’m saying I like tacos and burritos, and I could be into a taco that was born a burrito, or a burrito that is transitioning into a taco, comprende?”
This assumption implies that people who identify as bisexual cannot be attracted to transgender people, which is not true. The statement also implies that nonbinary people cannot identify as bisexual because they do not fall under the binary gender.
Bisexuality typically means that the individual is attracted to people who have the same gender as them, along with genders that are different from their own. Pansexuality is typically defined as gender not playing a role into attraction. While that implies that the individual can be attracted to all genders, it doesn’t mean that the same can’t apply for bisexual people.
Every individual can have a definition of how their own sexuality applies to them. Statements like the one in the newest season of Big Mouth can be unintentional, but they send the community miles backward in progression.
As a bisexual person, I cringe when people assume that I would not be attracted to anyone who is transgender. This is just one of the many problems that bisexual people deal with.
I’m constantly told that I’m going through a phase, that I have to pick a side. I’m told that I’m not actually bisexual because I’m currently in a relationship with a man. I feel like I’m being pulled back and forth in a tug of war, forced to pick a side when I’m perfectly fine staying somewhere in the middle.
This has been an ongoing cycle that it took years for me to come to terms with. It took me 19 years to finally admit out loud that I found a label that I’m comfortable with. However, there are still people in my life that would shun me or be confused because the concept of being attracted to multiple genders just doesn’t make sense to them.
I shouldn’t have to be ashamed of who I am. I shouldn’t turn on a TV show that I enjoy and have what was supposed to be a joke strike a nerve that has been reopened many times.
While the creators of “Big Mouth” have apologized, the false implications do not fade away.
