Mademoiselle Noir

I waited and waited and waited for the day I would finally see a Bi reality dating show appear from Korea. Finally, I got my wish. Was it everything I hoped for? Yes and no.

I felt the openness of all the participants to meet and become close to new people and, perhaps, fall for someone while staying at the BI-LIVE house. That they felt comfortable enough to express their varying levels of attraction to people of the same/different gender, without judgment.

While I felt some participants were more sincere about their feelings than others, that didn't matter to me as much as real representation of Bisexual people being on the screen.

Unlike His Man, this reality dating show didn't set up a dialogue/prompt a conversation for everyone to discuss their experience of coming to terms with their sexuality, coming out, and/or the difficulties they faced because of it. Particularly for Bisexual people and the discrimination/pushback they face from Straight people AND the Queer community, I felt this was a huge missed opportunity to start a conversation/dispel stereotypes about Bisexual people. Additionally, I did shake my head at the times dates set a requirement to date a specific gender. I wished the date options were more free. Limiting one's options in that manner seems counterproductive to a Bisexual reality dating show, if you ask me (a Bisexual person). I understand wanting to "mix things up," but there are plenty of other ways to do that without making gender a factor. They managed it with other non-gender-related limitations they set for dates.

Any of my criticisms being said, I have to applaud this show for virtue of being such a valuable stepping stone in LGBT+ representation. Too often, Bisexual people are dismissed/ignored. It was good to see them not only highlighted but treated like others.