Queer Erasure
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| artist Tikva Wolf |
I love me some Deadpool. He’s sarcastic, he’s
funny, he’s played by Ryan Reynolds (who is oh-so-yummy), and best of all –
he’s queer. When I saw the many articles about Marvel’s first queer superhero,
Negasonic Teenage Warhead, I was confused. She’s not the first! Deadpool
is pansexual! But, Deadpool hasn’t been depicted onscreen with a romantic
interest other than a woman, so despite the fact that he has said he’s pan,
that’s not good enough for the media.
I relate to this SO much. I mean, the media is always
up in my business.
Kidding. I’m a ninja, they don’t even know I
exist. Mwahahaha!
In the comic above, Deadpool mentions that he’s
being bi-erased in his own show. I haven’t seen Deadpool 2 yet, so I don’t know
if they focus on his sexuality at all, but bi-erasure is very real. Every
bisexual person has heard “it’s just a phase,” or “I told you you’re not bi,”
when dating a cis person of the opposite sex.
There were hundreds of comments on the comic
about the fact that he says he’s being bi-erased. It was War of the Queerfolk
in that comment section. Again, Deadpool has said he is pansexual. There
were people saying bi and pan are essentially the same thing (um, no they’re
not), that pan is a type of bi the same as bi is a type of queer (okay,
maybe…?), and then so many people saying “Don’t invalidate my identity!”
Their feelings are valid. Bi is not the same as
pan. Sometimes I’ll say I’m bi because it’s more commonly known than pan
or omni, which is actually what I identify as (and sometimes I’ll say
pan instead of omni because no one has heard of omni), and I shouldn’t do
that, because then I’m invalidating my true identity. Why should I make it
easier for others to understand who I am? Why shouldn’t I just claim my
sexuality, regardless of what the person I’m talking to understands? [For an
explanation of the difference between pan and omni, click here.]
In response to those comments, the artist then
posted this, with an edit pointing out the error:
I love it. You claim your sexuality, Deadpool! I
also love that the artist listened to the concerns of their fans, and while
they did point out that Deadpool has claimed at various times to be bi or pan,
they made an edit that went even further to show that it’s not just an
issue of bi-erasure.
I have anxiety over bi-erasure (or pan-erasure,
or omni-erasure, it applies to all three.) It took me so long to come out, and
now that I am out, I’m owning that shit. And yet, when I’m with my boyfriend, I
know people see me as a typical straight chick because I don’t look
queer. I feel like I need to wear a neon sign proclaiming my sexual identity
just to make sure no one is mistaken.
Why do I care what other people think, you may
ask? Because Anxiety is a dick and says I should care.
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