Historically, Jane the Virgin has been a pretty ~woke~ show. The writers clearly aren’t afraid to tackle bold storylines. I mean, the whole series begins with the lead character getting accidentally artificially inseminated as a virgin. Unconventional much? Through the years, JtV has explored many cultural issues including diversity, social status, immigration and abortion. In doing so, the show has inspired social discussion and worked to destroy Latino stereotypes, among others. This season, the writers are guiding the discussion in a different direction by addressing another topic: bisexuality.
Jane’s new love interest, Adam, is bisexual. In last Friday’s episode, Jane learned that her new beau had a couple previous relationships with men. As much as I hoped Jane would be totally cool with the news, she pretty much spent the entire episode freaking out. Her reaction proved that even Jane—super mom, writer, daughter and best friend—is not flawless. Her panic served a useful purpose, though, as it gave Adam the opportunity to dismiss some infamous stereotypes about bisexuality.
Naturally, Jane had some questions about Adam’s news. For starters, why didn’t he just tell her? Viewers learned that Adam was afraid to tell Jane, and rightfully so. He was worried that the truth would mess things up between them, and who could blame him? Coming out is hard, both on screen and IRL, so the confession wasn’t any easier for even the most confident of guys. The rest of their conversation was refreshing, to say the least, and since I can’t say it any better than Adam did, here’s how the convo went:
Jane: “It wasn’t that you waited a long time to tell me. It was what you told me… I guess I just have questions, which are silly and stupid.”
Adam: “Ask me.”
Jane: “Is being bisexual a stop? On your way to coming out as gay?”
Adam: “Definitely not. It just means that I’m open to a connection with a man or a woman. What else you got?”
Jane: “Well, I guess I feel a little insecure, you know. It’s not like I can give you what a man can.”
Adam: “Well, yeah, you’re right, you can’t. But you can’t give me what another woman can give me either. But it doesn’t matter because I choose to be with you. I don’t want to be with anyone else, regardless of gender.”
Jane brought up some common misconceptions about bisexuality, and I, for one, am really happy she did. Unfortunately, our culture has a difficult time understanding bisexuality and what it means. Many people assume that a person who identifies as bi is just “confused” or “promiscuous” or “going through a phase.” The truth is, bisexuality is as valid as any other sexual identity, even though its definition may not be black and white. Identity means something different to every person, and Adam said it best: Just because he’s attracted to both genders doesn’t mean Jane should have double the worry. They’re in a monogamous relationship and only have eyes for each other. *Insert a million heart-eye emojis here.*
I applaud JtV for introducing Adam, allowing Jane and the fans to fall in love with him, and then dropping this sexuality bombshell. Seriously, does this revelation make anyone, fictional or not, love Adam any less? Is he any less of a boyfriend, father figure to Mateo or overall awesome person because of who he is attracted to? And does this piece of him have any effect on the magical romance that is developing between him and Jane? If you couldn’t guess, my answer to all of these questions is a hard no. Adam is Adam: kind, hilarious, free-spirited and hot AF, no matter what. In fact, I think I love his character even more now.