If you haven't watched Grown-ish yet, you're missing out on some hilarious television—and important LGBT conversations. The Black-ish spinoff (and Freeform's best new show) is relevant, fresh, funny, and maybe even better than it's predecessor.
Zoey (Yara Shahidi) leaves her privileged life of leisure for the bottom of the collegiate food chain. As she struggles with classes, boys, internships, popularity, and popping unprescribed Adderall for a daily boost, she meets a group of misfits along the way, including Nomi Segal (Emily Arlook), a sexually-liberated, free spirit who promptly came out as bisexual in the first episode.
In the lastest episode, "Starboy," Nomi's learning some hard lessons about the reality of being bisexual and her own prejudices. While at a sports bar watching a school basketball game, Nomi and her new lesbian boo stroll up to the bar and a guy quickly offers to buy the women a drink.
"We're on a date," Nomi declines.
"Can I buy you both one?" he replies.
"We're not looking for a threesome, so..."
As the guy walks away, Nomi's date leans over and voices her frustrations. "I just hate straight guys with the whole lesbian fantasy thing. It's so cliché."
But Nomi thinks the threesome idea is kind of hot, and when she comes out to her date as bisexual, her face cracks.
"Look, I don't want to be some girl's experiment, okay? Why don't you call me when you're done going through this whole bi-phase."
"Did you just say 'phase'?" Nomi yells as the girl turns away. "You know it's LG 'B' TQ. Respect the letter, bitch!"
The scene may be all too familiar to many bisexuals who've had their experiences discredited by both straight and queer people who believe it to be a phase on the journey to realizing you're gay. This aversion to bisexual partners because of stereotypes like this one lead to biphobia and the erasure of the bisexual experience, but also illustrates the fear many gay people might have that they're being used simply for sexual experimentation.
But Grown-ish isn't done schooling us just yet. Nomi meets up with the guy who offered to buy her drink and takes him up on his offer, and he quickly becomes her new boo, so much so that he's invited to sit with Nomi and her friends at the next game.
When Nomi's old date walks by and gives her the finger, she gives her the stank eye and explains to ther friends that she dumped her for believing she was "an immature lesbian going through a phase."
New beau chimes in, "That's ridiculous, right? I've messed with guys. It doesn't make me gay."
Shifty glances fly during the awkward pause as the group registers what was just said. "So when you say you've 'messed with guys,'" asks Nomi, "that was like a one time, 'I messed with a guy,' phase?"
"No, I'm bi. Just like you."
Nomi's face drops, "Totally... just like me...."
Even though Nomi was just screaming about accepting the B in LGBT, she struggles to process bisexuality in her new man. Her reaction points out prejudices, even inside the queer community, and the double standard of bisexual women, for whom it's more socially acceptable to explore their sexuality, vs. bisexual men, who aren't allowed that freedom and held to much more rigid ideas of sexual expression.
Tackling these parallel bisexual issues in the same episode in such a funny and enlightening way is a power move for the show, and Grown-ish's promise to address these issues in the future will definitely keep us tuned in.
