Bi+ Media Studies
Dr Jennifer Moorman on (mis)representation of bisexuality in popular TV shows, adult films, and queer media studies.
Dr Jennifer Moorman is Assistant Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University. She received her PhD in Cinema & Media Studies at UCLA in 2014.
Her research examines the representation of bisexuals in film. For example, in a chapter she wrote called Shades of grey: Articulations of bisexuality in the L word, she wrote a critique of the representation of bisexual characters in film:
“[b]isexuals have been described at different times and in different circles variously as traitors, as a menace, as a myth, as sexually indiscriminate and irresponsible, as hopelessly confused, as bottomless pits of desire with a lust unsated by man or woman alone”.
Why are you interested in research on bisexualilty?
My interest in bisexuality as a research topic surely originated with my own bisexuality/queerness.
I noticed, as many viewers from marginalized groups can't help but do, that there were very few images of openly bi+ people in popular media, and fewer still that I found in any way relatable.
So in my first TV seminar as a graduate student, I took the opportunity to write about bisexuality in The L Word, and that paper would become my first published article.
Can you tell me about your research?
I have published several articles on bisexuality in popular US television, including an analysis of the generative nature of serial television in relation to bisexuality for two editions of Televising Queer Women (ed. Rebecca Beirne). I am currently working on a book manuscript, The Softer Side of Hardcore? Women Filmmakers in Pornographic Production Cultures, examining gendered creative labor in the adult film industry. Queerness and bisexuality are addressed throughout, but one chapter focuses specifically on the subgenre/movement of queer pornography.
I am also completing two relevant article manuscripts - one exploring the queer sensibilities of the film Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle, and another investigating how the "progressive" depictions of a bisexual Latina detective and a Black gay police captain in Brooklyn Nine-Nine function to sanitize and legitimize the institution of policing for a liberal audience.
3 things you wish everyone knew about bisexuality?
That it is not inherently transphobic or reinforcing of the gender binary simply because it includes the prefix "bi".
That it persists regardless of the gender of one's partner(s).
That it exists/persists regardless of one's sexual experiences or lack thereof.
How do you define bisexuality?
For me, bisexuality is quite simply attraction to one's own gender and other(s).
What bi research would you like people to know about?
Maria San Filippo's excellent book, The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television.
Are you bi?
Yes
Can you tell me a bit about your experience?
When did you know you were bi? I believe I first had an inkling in middle school, but didn't really come out until college.
Do your friends and family know you are bi? Yes.
Do your colleagues know you are bi? Many do. I don't hide it, but I was hired to teach queer media and I'm pretty sure that those I haven't specifically come out to suspect it based on my research profile.
When did you come out as bi? I came out to my family in my first year of grad school, to various friends when I was in college.
Was there any particular reason you came out as bi? It felt important to share that part of myself.
Learn more about Dr. Jennifer Moorman here.