Wayward Son, bi erasure/visibility
Finished "Wayward Son." I've got a lot of things to talk about and will probably use the blog for that rather than a bunch of toots, but wanted to touch on this as it was one of the big concerns people had with "Carry On."
Still no explicitly bi characters. Simon does say he still hasn't worked it out, so there's *potential* and an acknowledgement that it's a thing, but he still doesn't identify that way and no other characters have yet either.
Wayward Son, bi erasure/visibility
Also when when Simon says he's figuring it out, he still doesn't use the word bisexual, now that I think of it. He's wondering if he still likes girls, or if he ever did, or if he's just Baz-sexual. No mention even of whether he likes other *guys*.
I see a movement in the right direction and doubt Rowell is bi-phobic, but seems just using the word (for Simon or anyone else) would be an easy way to settle the concern, and she didn't do it. So that's weird.
Wayward Son, bi erasure/visibility
@zephasaurus_hex no you're shitting me. Seriously. Ugh.
I seriously thought like, she would address this in the goddamn sequel. I wasn't going to go as far as "addressing this was the point of the sequel" but honestly the original book had seemed pretty closed and in no need of a sequel in the first place, so getting one, my hopes were kind of up for... I mean, I get it, sexuality is hard, but as a writer you have to take this sort of thing into account.
Wayward Son, bi erasure/visibility
@lapis Yeah, I wouldn't say the *point*, but definitely it was an opportunity and she ignored it.
And she's currently writing a bisexual character in the Runaways comic, but I don't remember the term used there either and the character is kind of a mess who can't do healthy relationships so...troubling. I love Rowell's work and really want to assume it's just oversight, but it's 2019. Pay more attention.
