Friday, July 06, 2018

My Weekend Crush

I like Tessa Thompson a lot. Like a lot a lot. I’ve seen her in “Thor: Ragnarok,” and “Westworld” and “Selma” and even an episode of “Rizzoli & Isles” among other things over the years. And one of her more remarkable abilities is to chameleon herself into her roles. Put Julia Roberts in any role and you’re always like, “OK, we get it, you’re Julia Roberts.” But with Tessa you watch her for a while and then go, “Oh yeah, that’s Tessa.” That’s a good quality to have for an actor. A very good quality.

She has been described as “an unapologetic, complex actress, who seeks out unapologetic, complex characters.” Nowhere is this more evident than in her personal life, where she had championed Time’s Up and other progressive, feminist movements. And, of course, there’s her veryclose relationships with Janelle Monae.

Last week Tessa took another big step and came out as bisexual in a cover story for the fashion magazine Net-a-Porter. She said:

“I can take things for granted because of my family – it’s so free and you can be anything that you want to be. I’m attracted to men and also to women. If I bring a woman home, [or] a man, we don’t even have to have the discussion.”
And about her relationship with also recently out Janelle and her Vagina Pants she said:
“We love each other deeply. We’re so close, we vibrate on the same frequency. If people want to speculate about what we are, that’s okay. It doesn’t bother me.”
Now, of course, folks ran with the “we love each other deeply” part as confirmation they’re in a relationship. But Tessa herself put on some brakes and tweeted:

Two things: 1) Good for her for coming out! And 2) Good for all of us for her coming out! Whenever a famous person comes out it makes us all feel a little less along. Those of us who, as Hannah Gadsby would say, exist in the margins, each person who steps up to speak her or his or their truth is another acknowledgment of our shared humanity. It’s that connection we crave.

So congratulations, Tessa. And thank you. Happy weekend, all.

ETA: It should go without saying that just as homophobia is not welcome here, neither is biphobia. But, alas, it seems it does need to be said. Biphobia is unacceptable. Nor, while we are at it, is transphobia. Making broad and hateful generalizations on an entire group of people based on stereotypes about their sexual orientation or gender identity is everything I stand against. If you cannot accept and embrace the entire spectrums of the LGBTQ community then please find another blog and/or planet to frequent. (Note: Blogger has stopped notifying when I receive new comments, so I do not see all of the posts as quickly as I used to, hence the delay in response. My apologies.)

12 comments:

Carmen SanDiego said...

Yay Tessa
But it’s hard to think you and Janelle aren’t an item.
Have a great weekend DS

Anonymous said...

I am super tired of bisexual women coming out. They always end up with men. How about Fergie or Evan Rachel Woods, been with women much since they "came" out? Ultra tiresome. They sleep with women once in a while, big deal. Let's not make more of it than it is.These are not bisexuals. She (Tessa) will end up married to a man with a couple of kids and then he'll divorce her and then she will marry another man.

CNC Routers said...

I agree with you.

Osiris said...

Bisexuals are the worst. Can't stand them. They toy with emotions and just seem to want attention and then when you give it they back off.

Anonymous said...

Some nice biphobia in them comments ladies, so classy.

Hey, Dorothy, any chance of acknowledging and addressing the hateful bile spoiling what should have been an awesome post?

Anonymous said...

Nothing biphobic about it. My best friend is a bisexual. Just commenting on what reality shows us.

Anonymous said...

Oh shut up, these women don't owe you their body count and their body count doesn't have to be equally divided over all the sexes. Bisexuals with a preference towards women exist, bisexuals with a preference towards men exist. And they're all valid. Fuck your biphobia.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you're not getting the desired result with bisexual people cause you're a twat.

Anonymous said...

You don't know all bi women, so you don't know anything.

Florence said...

Biphobia from lesbians is not really a thing though since lesbians don't exactly have power over, well, anyone and bisexuals supposedly (if we have to believe the countless celebrities who come out as such) vastly outnumber lesbians. It's not like lesbians are obligated to date bisexuals. Right? Right? (in this day and age sadly this is not a given). Pointing out that most bisexuals end up with men is not biphobia. And yes they have straight priviledge. That's a fact. If they are dating women, awesome. If they're dating men, honesty I don't care. Sorry I'm not interested in yet another straight relationship. Good for Tessa and all but if she is actually dating Janelle Monae why not say so? If she's only there to tease, yawn.

Anonymous said...

Well put Florence and without any name calling!

Erin O'Riordan said...

Bisexuals are bisexual no matter who we're dating. If it happens to be a guy, it's not a "straight relationship," because I don't magically turn into a heterosexual regardless of my partner's gender. The idea that a man can magically turn a bi woman straight is itself sexist. And if bi women didn't face discrimination when we come out, more bi women would be out at work, which most bi women are not. Women who love women need to stick together, not beat each other over the head with sexist stereotypes.