People, often in the name of whimsy, say things like “ That’s hot!” or “Oh, so you want to have a threesome?”, in response to a bisexual person’s sexuality. Many bisexual individuals also have had to suffer through belittling and crude remarks passed off as supposed humour. This could be done by expecting individuals to label their sexuality in a way that reflects their present relationship, such as classifying a bi woman in a relationship with a man as straight.Ĭomments like “ It’s just a phase,” “ You need to pick between boys or girls, you can’t like both,” and “ Make up your mind”, all haul the load of invalidation. Examples of bi-erasure include downplaying or attempting to reduce bisexuality to a phase. Integral to this dynamic is the automatic assumption people can be defined by the gender/sex of their current or potential romantic interest.”Īlso read: Representation Of Bisexuality In Pop Culture: From Sex And The City To The Bold Typeīi erasure can be defined as “ the existence or legitimacy of bisexuality (either in general or regarding an individual) questioned or denied outright,” according toa national organisation that fights defamation of people in the LGBTQIA+ community known as GLAAD. ‘them’ dynamic which effectively marginalises bisexual people as ‘other. UC San Diego’s LGBT Resource Center explains the same by stating, “ Lesbian, gay, and heterosexual people are invested, and find a sense of security in being the ‘other’ to each other, and unite in the fact that they are only attracted to either the ‘same’ or the ‘opposite’ gender/sex. Such comments perpetuate the stereotype that bisexual people are hypersexual, and this can be an exhaustive narrative to combat People, often in the name of whimsy, say things like “ That’s hot!” or “Oh, so you want to have a threesome?”, in repsonse to a bisexual person’s sexuality. This is jeopardous as it invalidates an individual’s sexuality and denies them the right to live as their true, authentic selves.Ĭomments like “ It’s just a phase,” “ You need to pick between boys or girls, you can’t like both,” “ Make up your mind”, all haul the load of invalidation. This can often result in a feeling of alienation, due to the lack of a support system or community to lean on.Ī frequently circulated and harmful stereotype regarding bisexual individuals is that, they are simply confused and that their bisexuality is a phase, and possibly part of the journey toward identifying as straight, gay, lesbian, or other orientations. The reasons for this can be traced back to discrimination that people from the bisexual community face from both the homosexual and heterosexual communities. al, conducted in 2019, finds that out of all the sexual orientations, bisexual individuals experience relatively more turbulence in mental health.
They represent the B within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. If you’d like to contribute, kindly refer to our submission guidelines and email your articles to individuals are people who are romantically and/or sexually attracted to more than one gender or sex. We invite submissions on the many layers of this theme throughout the month. Editor’s Note: FII’s #MoodOfTheMonth for June 2022 is Pride Solidarity.