Bisexual Erasure in Life & Media

 I was struggling to come up with a well-rounded topic for this week's discussion, and I know I could've waited later in the week to post but a topic that has been discussed by me and a good many of my friends lately is the mistreatment of bisexuality in media. While all queer representation in media still needs a lot of work, one that I've especially noticed lacking in a personal sense is bisexuality, with there being little to no good representation. I think the best example of representation would probably be heartstopper, Nick's experience accurately encompasses how most people who identify as bisexual are usually shoved into one box or another. I know from personal experience that depending on who I'm talking to at the time I've been told that I must be straight and just exploring or just gay and confused. Bisexual erasure is such a harmful thing, I know personally me and a lot of my friends have felt pressured to just identify with whatever has been projected on us just to stop people from talking. But this isn't an answer it is just more harmful to us; it doesn't solve anything it just makes narrow-minded people feel better about themselves. In media, a lot of bisexual characters often end up with characters of the same sex, which while that is good representation it also falls into one stereotype that bisexual individuals are usually just "gay and confused." I personally would love to see representation where a bisexual individual explored dating both, I don't personally know any films or media like this but if anyone does, I'm open to recommendations. I am aware that heated rivalry also had a bisexual character, but they treated his relationship with Svetlana as a fling instead of a fully fleshed out relationship. I just feel like most media falls short when it comes to accurately representing bisexual individuals, and maybe this is just my experience, but I would love to hear what other individuals think and hear some other accounts.