Bisexual lighting is the simultaneous use of pink, purple lighting, and blue lighting to represent bisexual characters. Some commentators have pointed to the pink and blue color scheme as merely a reference to 1980s aesthetic.
It is reminiscent of neon lights and is also associated with retrowave. George Pierpoint of BBC News writes that some social media users claim bisexual lighting has been used as an “empowering visual device” which counteracts perceived under-representation of bisexuality in the visual media. The colors may be a direct reference to the bisexual pride flag. Amelia Perrin has criticized the trend of using such lighting when bisexual characters appear in television and music videos, arguing in Cosmopolitan that this visual image “perpetuates bisexual stereotypes”.
According to Jessica Mason of The Mary Sue, the color purple—being a combination of multiple pure, spectral colors—has historically been used to represent “royalty and the divine,” as well as “magic, aliens and the unknown. According to Pierpoint, the visual aesthetic may have been used as early as 2014 in the television series Sherlock, referencing the speculated hidden interests of Dr. Bisexual lighting also features in the music videos of Janelle Monáe’s “bi anthem” “Make Me Feel” and Demi Lovato’s “Cool for the Summer”. Lara Thompson, a lecturer of film at Middlesex University, has argued that bisexual lighting is not well-known, stating: “I would have to see more examples before I see bisexual lighting as a wholly convincing phenomenon”. The use of bisexual lighting became a popular meme in 2018, with multiple Twitter threads showcasing instances of the lighting scheme going viral, as well as photographs of animals in bisexual lighting being shared widely on social media.
