MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Queer representation in reality television allows audiences to engage with narratives of queerness beyond coming-of-age tales of self discovery (Plank, 2003). Bisexual and sexually fluid identities are gaining visibility in reality TV, however they are often represented in ways that perpetuate banal understandings of queerness (Greteman & Stiegler, 2019; Segdwick, 1990). I will explore the problematizing ways bisexuality and sexual fluidity are depicted on two of MTV’s competition-based reality dating shows, through a comparative analysis of “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” (McCormick & Jeffress, 2007) and Season 8 of “Are You the One?” (Shultz et al., 2019). These depictions of bisexuality and sexual fluidity capitalize on myriad lived experiences of queer folk, while conceptualizing their sexualities, and the way they perform them, as transactional. Sexual fluidity is framed as dangerous, deceptive, or invalid (Angelides, 2001), and yet these representations are on display through a bi-erotic lens (Garber, 1995). Each show furthers representations of queerness in popular media, but “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” invalidates bisexuality and sexual fluidity as identities, through framing both seasons trajectories as a narrative of bi-erotic triangulation, (Garber, 1995, Alexander, 2009) through a predominantly male gaze (Mulvey, 1975). “Are You the One?” Season 8 has released 2 episodes at the time of writing this abstract, and holds promise for representing sexual fluidity in identity-affirming ways, but currently perpetuates narratives of promiscuity that frame sexually fluid folk as hypersexual, and untrustworthy for monogamous partnership (DeCapua, 2017; Klesse, 2005; 2011; Morgenstern, 2004). The contestants exist in the same context as earlier heteronormative seasons, complete with traditionally attractive bodies on display. This paper will compare both MTV shows, and consider how “Are You the One?” builds upon the legacy that Tila Tequila brought into reality television, through critically analyzing the ways MTV capitalizes on queerness.