Bisexuality
What exactly is bisexuality and why is it threatening to so many straight people as well as many gay men and lesbians? Some believe that bisexuality is a third kind of sexual identity, between or beyond homosexuality and heterosexuality. Is this the case, or is bisexuality something that puts in question the very concept of sexual identity in the first place? Are bisexuals "just gay and lesbian people who are afraid to admit they are gay" (Eliason 1997), or are they people who have "sexual attraction towards or sexual behavior with persons of both genders"? (Fox 1996) The fact is that public perception of bisexuals is based largely on a series of stereotypes that seem to challenge our cultural norms and beliefs related to sexuality, relationships, intimacy, and gender. Some of these stereotypes may include that bisexuals: don't exist, are confused, need to date a man and woman, have the best of both worlds, and spread AIDS. In general, many of these stereotypes can be fact!ual, based on fact, or completely inaccurate. Bisexuality is simply defined as having sexual desire for people of the same and opposite gender. (Patrick, 417) In the Boswell article, it is said "People consider themselves 'homosexual' or 'heterosexual' b
ecause they are induced to believe that humans are either 'homosexual' or 'heterosexual'. (Boswell, 34) The same holds true for bisexuality, as well as any other sexual orientation. People consider themselves to be bisexual because they are induced to believe that people are indeed bisexual. Furthermore, it is argued that without such processes or socialization, people would simply be sexual. (Boswell, 34) In conclusion, there are many ways that bisexuality can be threatening to members of the straight and gay communities. To many, bisexuality challenges our cultural norms and beliefs related to sexuality, relationships, intimacy, and gender. However, there are many stereotypes of bisexual oriented people that do not hold true for many of them. In reality, there are many ways that people are bisexual, and for many people it is the healthiest, happiest, and most comfortable way for them to live. (DeBoer, 482) dered to be a "disease-carrier" because she had sex with men. This was definitely not the case, as I knew her personally and knew none of those stigmatizations were true. The DeBoer article also argues "While the stereotypes might be true for certain individuals, they hardly represent all bisexual people." (DeBoer, 482) I asked her how she felt about it, and she said, "Personally, I am tired of it. Straight communities need to learn that we are not gay, but instead somewhere in the middle of the sexual continuum, and the gay communities need to learn that we want the same thing as them, to have the freedom to love whomever we wish without consequence." Although they are often accused of having the best of both worlds, bisexuals often face discrimination from both the homosexual and heterosexual cultures because they challenge the notion of monosexuality. Many homosexuals view bisexuality more negatively than heterosexuals do (Deacon et al. 1996). Caught between two monosexual worlds, closeted in both, bisexuals often act straight to the heterosexual world and gay to the gay community (Ault 1996). Warner argues in his article that the reason for this is because "People whose gender identity differs from the norm are despised." (Warner, 477) When they are out about being bisexual they are likely to have the dual stigmatization of having been rejected from both straight and gay communities; often feeling "invisible" since they don't quite fit in either (Weasel 1996). In the heterosexual world
Some common words found in the essay are:
America Online, , Lecture Monogamy, Vice Versa, Seventies Nineties, gay communities, patrick 417, cultural norms, ault 1996, garber 423, et al, related sexuality, straight gay, deacon et al, beliefs related sexuality, gays lesbians, gay community, related sexuality relationships, straight gay communities, sexuality relationships intimacy,
Approximate Word count = 1637
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
