Amy Zimmerman, the author of It Ain’t easy being bisexual on TV, is an entertainment reporter at the Daily Beast. She wrote the article in the year 2014 when the subject of gay marriages and gay relationships was most prevalent. Hence her timing was perfect because her article got the attention that she had expected. Furthermore, Zimmerman chose to focus on a rarely discussed sexual orientation subject, because many people were used to discussing either straight sexual orientation or gay sexual orientation and thus choosing to focus on bisexuals, drew a new audience to her article. Zimmerman wrote the article as an eye opener to television watchers about how bisexuals were portrayed on television. Her primary aim was to get rid of the stereotyping of bisexuals on TV and to convince her audience otherwise (Zimmerman, 2014). In her article, Zimmerman used all the rhetorical appeals to convince her audience as we shall discuss in this paper.
First, Zimmerman uses pathos by using popular TV shows that people loved to watch and thus appealing to people’s feelings. Those shows included Game of Thrones,
Orange is the New Black, and House of Cards. These TV shows were so popular such that she knew if her readers were not watching all of them, they could not miss any of the three. Using trending TV shows also made her audience part of the discussion because they could identify most of the characters she mentioned. In addition to that, Zimmerman made sure that readers who were not television watchers were not left behind by providing brief descriptions of the characters she used in her article. For example, she gives a brief description of Piper Chapman a character of the TV show, Orange is the New Black, by describing how the character thought herself as a ‘former lesbian’.
She further uses ethos by using credible evidence such as Larry King’s interview. King has been one of the most trusted and looked up to Television personalities, and using his interviews earned Zimmerman trust from her readers. In one of King’s interviews, he featured the actress Anna Paquin, who plays Piper Chapman a character in the TV show, Orange is the New Black. King asked Paquin if she considered herself a non-practicing bisexual, a question which Zimmerman found inappropriate. Zimmerman argued that one’s sexuality is not something that could be switched on and off at will. She further convinces her audience that the media could not be trusted regarding the portrayal of bisexuals because even the most trusted media personalities like King got it all wrong. She further uses the example of Frank Underwood of the show, House of Cards, who has sex relations with both men and women in the show. According to Frank, ‘sex is power, and power is everything’. However, according to Zimmerman, Frank depicts bisexuality as a form of political ideology, instead of something natural (Baller " Machart, 2017). Once again, the bisexual characters as portrayed on Television shows, are not role models that children and other bisexuals can look up to. In the examples mentioned above, bisexuals are portrayed as people who are confused about their sexual orientation and who are not sure of where they belong. That portrayal further confuses television watchers and children who might be bisexuals looking for role models they can admire. She argues that many actors are forced to depict bisexuality as “A term that gay guys in high school use when they want to hold hands with a girl and feel like a normal person”(pg 565). Her view on the matter made sense to me, and evoked feelings of anger towards TV shows that only portrayed bisexuals negatively.
Zimmerman uses logos to convince her readers that sometimes bisexuality was portrayed in unrealistic circumstances such as in the Game Of Thrones TV show. Oberyn Martell, a bisexual in the show, is portrayed as very powerful but that cannot be related today because of the period that the show is set in. The show is set in ancient times and in a magical world that does not exist in real world. Therefore, though Martell is portrayed as a bisexual that people can look up to, the whole concept is unrealistic and false because he exists in a false world (Smigel " Machart, 2017). Personally, I agree with Zimmerman because for bisexuality to make sense in today’s world, and the media needs to use examples and situations that we can identify with today. Unlike the time setting in Game of Thrones, today the world is characterized by globalization, technological innovations, the internet, and empowerment of women. Hence, the portrayal of bisexuals should reflect all these issues for viewers to identify more with the characters.
In the entire article Zimmerman is very persuasive and appeals to her readers in all the right ways. She knew the correct moment to share her article, a time when the subject of sexuality was most prevalent in many discussions. In addition to that, she used shows that people could identify with and thus made her readers part and parcel of her discussion. She further used feelings well to appeal to her readers by focusing on the ability to portray bisexuals as societal role models. Anyone would not want to be portrayed negatively in any way, and thus she made her readers identify with bisexuals who were negatively portrayed by the media. Using the example of Larry King, made her article believable and credible because she not only gave her views but the views of the media through King. Near the end of her article, she mentions that, “Just as every young girl should be able to see a reflection of her future self in a blockbuster female superhero, so should children of all sexual orientations be able to imagine lives for themselves inspired by the images they see in movies, television, and magazines”(pg566). Whether or not the media paid heed to Zimmerman’s article, the portrayal of bisexuals on TV has tremendously changed over the three years after the article was written. This could be attributed to the fact that, the subject was still very confusing at the moment, or that there were no real-life examples of bisexuals to copy from. However today, bisexuals are portrayed in the most normal way, not different from their gay and straight counterparts. They are portrayed as people who typically live with dreams and goals to achieve, and their sexuality is not a hindrance to becoming societal role models. Therefore, Zimmerman’s article was valid and appropriate four years ago, but if she were to write another article on the same subject today, it would take another perspective altogether.
References
Baller, K., " Machart, M. (2017). Rhetoric 1030:0430. Retrieved from https://nmachart17rhet0430.wordpress.com/2017/09/15/it-aint-easy-being-bisexual-on-tv-2/
Smigel, H., " Machart, N. (2017). Rhetoric 1030:0114: It Ain’t Easy Being Bisexual On T.v. Retrieved from https://hannahsmigel.wordpress.com/2017/02/10/rhetorical-analysis-hannah-smigel-2/
Zimmerman, A. (2014). It Ain’t Easy Being Bisexual on TV. Retrieved from https://www.kinokuniya.co.jp/f/dsg-02-9781457698644
