Abstract Bisexual representation in media has historically lagged behind gay and lesbian representation. Given that bisexual people experience poorer mental health measures when compared to heterosexual and gay people, positive representation could have a significant impact on bettering bisexual people’s lives. Additionally, examining historical trends of bisexual representation may help us better contextualize the current state of bisexual representation. This paper conducts a thematic analysis of three bisexual women from two texts: Miriam and Sarah from The Hunger, a 1983 movie, and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a 1997–2003 television show. Although Miriam, Sarah, and Willow all exhibit attraction toward both men and women, they are commonly referred to as lesbians. The erasure of potential readings of their sexualities as bisexual occurs through three streams: downplaying attraction to men, describing erotic scenes as “lesbian,” and formulating bisexuality as an invisible identity. Further, the supernatural context of these texts creates a connection between bisexuality and monstrosity. However, these texts occasionally subvert traditional methods of erasure and are thus praised as progressive, rather than criticized, by reviewers. These texts imply that potential bisexual readings of characters in the 1980s and 1990s were erased by both the texts themselves and their reviewers, in favor of characterizing progression of lesbian representation.

中文翻译：

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“现在的同性恋”：1983 年至 2003 年超自然媒体中的双性恋擦除

摘要 媒体中的双性恋代表历来落后于同性恋代表。鉴于与异性恋和同性恋者相比，双性恋者在心理健康方面的表现较差，积极的表现可能会对改善双性恋者的生活产生重大影响。此外，检查双性恋代表的历史趋势可能有助于我们更好地了解双性恋代表的当前状态。本文对来自两个文本的三名双性恋女性进行了主题分析：1983 年电影《饥饿》中的 Miriam 和莎拉，以及 1997-2003 年电视节目《吸血鬼猎人巴菲》中的 Willow。尽管 Miriam、Sarah 和 Willow 都对男性和女性都表现出吸引力，但他们通常被称为女同性恋者。消除对双性恋的潜在解读是通过三个流派发生的：淡化对男性的吸引力，将色情场景描述为“女同性恋”，以及将双性恋表述为一种无形的身份。此外，这些文本的超自然背景在双性恋和怪物之间建立了联系。然而，这些文本偶尔会颠覆传统的擦除方法，因此被评论家称赞为进步，而不是批评。这些文本暗示 1980 年代和 1990 年代潜在的双性恋阅读被文本本身及其评论者删除，以支持女同性恋代表的发展。这些文本的超自然背景在双性恋和怪物之间建立了联系。然而，这些文本偶尔会颠覆传统的擦除方法，因此被评论家称赞为进步，而不是批评。这些文本暗示 1980 年代和 1990 年代潜在的双性恋阅读被文本本身及其评论者删除，以支持女同性恋代表的发展。这些文本的超自然背景在双性恋和怪物之间建立了联系。然而，这些文本偶尔会颠覆传统的擦除方法，因此被评论家称赞为进步，而不是批评。这些文本暗示 1980 年代和 1990 年代潜在的双性恋阅读被文本本身及其评论者删除，以支持女同性恋代表的发展。