{"id":4461,"date":"2023-05-02T19:14:32","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T23:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soc.hamiltonlits.org\/sharingsociology\/?p=4461"},"modified":"2023-05-05T12:12:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T16:12:57","slug":"bisexual-invisibility-where-are-the-in-betweens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soc.hamiltonlits.org\/sharingsociology\/spring-2023\/bisexual-invisibility-where-are-the-in-betweens\/","title":{"rendered":"Bisexual Invisibility: Where Are \u201cThe In-betweens\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

LGTQ+ VS Bisexuals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re in your straight era.\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re in your gay era.\u201d
\u201cIf you had to choose only men or women for the rest of your life, what would you choose?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are all common phrases people around me have told or asked me. Ever since I\u2019ve come out as bisexual, people have always assumed I\u2019m half straight and half gay. Because bisexuality is seldom represented in popular culture or media, people may not always be aware of what bisexuality is. Instead they may try to reframe it to fit into the mental boxes they\u2019re more comfortable with and already have an understanding of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people hear what I identify as, they continuously project binary categories on me because of their lack of awareness. It was no longer about people as individuals, but about their gender and how my sexuality fit or didn\u2019t fit into their sexual categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funnily enough, these comments are more typically from people who identify as LGBTQ+.<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Counterintuitively, in the \u201cpostgay\u201d era, a time when lesbian and gay people have more freedom and greater autonomy, homonormativity has greatly increased. Homosexuals are often accepted more than bisexual people because gay people are often able to mimic straight people, as they are also only attracted to one gender. Specifically, white, middle and upper class homosexual people can align their lifestyles to heterosexual religious, raced, and classed norms (Mathers et al, 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presumption that one should be on one end of the sexuality spectrum reinforces monosexism, an oppressive idea that solely supports lesbians, gay men, and heterosexuals, while perpetuating biphobic ideas (Mathers et al, 2018). As homosexuals begin to obtain more respect in the \u201cpostgay\u201d era, heteronormativity has converted to monosexism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making connections and assuring society that straight and gay people are not that different is important, but more care should be taken to avoid discrediting or forgetting bisexual people or people identifying with other sexualities in these conflicts (Mathers et al, 2018).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Bisexuals Were Left Behind in the Dominant Narratives of LGBTQ+ Movements and Culture<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cI think \u2018B\u2019 was added to LG in the later 1980s \u2026 In any event the B has rarely (if ever) been taken seriously in my experience.\u201d <\/p>\nPlummer, 2015. Monro et al, 2017.<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the 1980s, the LGBTQ+ rights movement divided itself<\/strong>. Gay men created a subculture for themselves while lesbian women became deeply rooted in the lesbian-feminist movements of the time. The lesbian-feminist movement\u2019s activities included reframing narratives of what sex was defined as, because it was heavily believed that sex was only for a man and a woman. These battles were not the place for bisexual women, who lesbians typically believed did not help to reframe this definition (Seidman, 2015). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gay culture began making new \u201csexual codes\u201d that adopted ideas that people were expected to neatly fold themselves into boxes and excluded those without mutually exclusive sexualities. While many bisexual people did not mind this organization, they wanted to feel legitimate within their identities alongside their gay or lesbian peers but because of these codes, bisexual people were often left out of gay and lesbian spheres (Seidman, 2015).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, where does this leave bisexual people?<\/strong> Do bisexual men join the subculture made by gay men and lack the ability to fully fit in? Do bisexual women continue to be pushed to the sides of important conversations surrounding identity? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the lack of representation for bisexuals, some LGBTQ+ individuals began what\u2019s referred to as \u201canti-identity politics,\u201d a belief that prevents individuals from including every part of their identity in their self-assigned sexuality (Seidman, 2015). For example, a woman who assigned herself a lesbian will avoid calling herself bisexual even when she feels attracted to men alongside women. Assigning herself a more conventional sexuality<\/em> that fits into the binary <\/em>allows her to fit into lesbian spaces, even though she has to hide part of her whole sexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI have a problem with identifying as bisexual\u2026 I do not know what \u201cbisexual\u201d desire would be, since my desire is always for specifically sexed and gendered individuals. When I am with a woman, I love as a woman loves a woman, and when I\u2019m with a man, I love as a woman loves a man. So bisexuality is not a sexual identity at all, but sort of anti-identity, a refusal\u2026 to be limited to one object of desire, one way of loving.\u201d <\/p>\nTestimonial from Clausen, J. (1990). seidman, 2015.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This thought of bisexuality dividing into half of each side of the binary is commonly believed and argued. People desire to fit things into boxes they are comfortable with, and are sometimes only able to do this by dividing up fluid identities into binary categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anti-identity approach is still used by bisexual people today.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When my best friend came out as a lesbian, she told me she\u2019d rather not have to label her sexuality. I was initially confused as to why she came out in the first place, so I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She responded with something along the lines of, \u201cmy parents will understand this better than if I told them I was bisexual or pansexual. They wouldn\u2019t care if I was gay, but they\u2019d be confused if I was anything else.\u201d This idea frustrated me. Why is it that in such progressive times compared to years ago that anything that isn\u2019t on the extreme ends of the sexuality spectrum is still so misunderstood?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the lack of awareness surrounding fluidity is less prevalent as the relatively new idea of a sexuality spectrum has arisen, but that doesn\u2019t mean ignorance surrounding the subject hasn’t persisted through time (Seidman, 2015).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bisexual Invisibility and Lack of Recognition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cWe\u2019re told that we can\u2019t exist, that we\u2019re really heterosexual or really gay, that nothing exists except these two extremes.\u201d <\/p>\nTestimonial from  Hutchins, L., Kaahumanu, L. (1991)<\/strong>. seidman, 2015.<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Bisexuals still remain far less represented in LGBTQ+ research, texts, and media, perpetuating the idea that it in itself is not an identity on its own, but a confusing mixture of the two extremes, homosexuality and heterosexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n