Sumith Prasad
Rhea Norwood’s Imogen Heaney navigates her life through several realizations and confusions in the third season of Netflix’s romantic series ‘Heartstopper.’ Even though her feelings for Sahar Zahid are evident, especially after they share a kiss at a costume party, her belief that she is a straight girl stops her from making any more advances. Sahar, on the other hand, doesn’t want to be the subject of an experiment that will help her companion understand whether she is queer. As the installment concludes, Imogen gains more clarity concerning her sexuality and shares her understanding with Nick Nelson! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Imogen Realizes She is a Queer Person in Heartstopper Season 3
Imogen’s feelings and intimacy with Sahar convince her that she is not a straight girl as she believed. Amid her road trip to visit some of the top universities in England to plan her future, she shares her realization with Nick. She reveals that she now believes she never truly liked boys, indicating that she is queer. While her words imply that she is gay, Imogen has yet to explicitly identify herself and come out as a lesbian, which may happen in the potential fourth season of the teen drama. Since she says that she hasn’t liked any boy in particular, we can infer that she may identify herself as gay rather than bisexual.
Imogen’s initial belief that she is straight can be a result of compulsory heterosexuality, which is more popularly known as “comphet.” The theory states that heterosexuality is forced upon individuals by several social constructs, such as patriarchy, religion, and heteronormative society. Adrienne Rich, the renowned feminist and author who popularized the term, explained that women are often expected to entertain romantic and sexual relationships with men irrespective of their true sexual orientation. In Imogen’s case, she went out with boys because that was what a “cool girl” was supposed to do.
There are countless high school films and literary works in front of us that showcase the popular girls’ obsession with the most agreeable boys in their educational institutions. Imogen’s experiences were not any different. She dated Ben Hope and tried to be with Nick Nelson because they were “the” boys in her social circles. Dating them was one way for her to be “popular” and “cool.” These relationships are the results of the existing social expectations rather than the reflections of her sexual orientation. Therefore, her experiences with Ben and Nick don’t make her straight or even bisexual, for that matter.
Sexual orientation is one of the most personal, intimate characteristics of an individual. Imogen is exploring the same with the help of Sahar and the numerous gay friends she has. Her realization that her past is rooted in compulsory heterosexuality helps her figure out who she really is. From what we understand, she is finally understanding and embracing that she is seemingly gay. While Imogen is queer, Rhea Norwood, who plays the character in ‘Heartstopper,’ has been extremely private about her sexuality. She hasn’t discussed her sexual orientation in public.
Read More: Is Darcy Non-Binary in Heartstopper?
