Invisibility of bisexuality

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pride Flag for bisexuality designed by Michael Page

As invisibility of bisexuality (English: Bisexual Erasure ) is called a tendency to bisexuality to ignore in history, in academic circles and in the media to deny or reinterpret it. The most extreme form of bisexual erasure is the claim that bisexuality does not exist. Sometimes there is an overlap with biphobia , although this does not have to include direct attacks on bisexuals. However, the inclusion and visibility of bisexuals, especially in the LGBT community, is steadily increasing.

backgrounds

Researcher Kenji Yoshino suggests that there are three main reasons that both heterosexual and homosexual people culturally suppress or suppress bisexuality. The first of these reasons is to stabilize their sexual orientation; this means that people do not have to question their sexual orientation themselves. The second reason is to protect the traditional understanding of gender, which is important to monosexual people but is challenged by bisexuality. The third reason is to maintain monogamy ; it is generally accepted in society that bisexuals are intrinsically not monogamous.

Heron Greenesmith wrote in an article that bisexuality barely appears in legislation. The first reason she sees is that bisexuality is seen as legally irrelevant because it is assumed that the parties involved are monosexual, unless they have come out differently. The second reason is that when bisexuality is relevant in law, most of the time it is ignored because most of the legal system is based on a binary gender system and a binary view of sexuality.

Motivations from men

Psychologist Richard C. Friedman , who specializes in the field of the psychological dynamics of homosexuality, wrote in his essay Denial in the Development of Homosexual Men that many gay men have sex fantasies about women and even slept with them. On the other hand, straight men have fantasies about men and sexual experiences with them. Although these two groups of men would be considered bisexual, at least in thought or in reality, they identify themselves as only homosexual or only heterosexual. This denial of bisexuality comes from people downplaying the importance of fantasy or experience in order to maintain their own sexual identity or to still feel part of a community.

Columnist Zachary Zane , who writes for Bisexual.org , states that 20.7% of all straight men watch gay porn and 7.5% of men surveyed have had sex with men in the past six months. 55% of gay men watched straight porn movies and 0.7% of them said they had slept with a woman within the last six months. He speculated that some of the men who describe themselves as straight are actually bisexual. They would only suppress their orientation because of internalized biphobia in order to preserve their heterosexual identity. He interpreted the fact that many gay men also watch straight porn films to mean that many of these men are actually bisexual, but are forced by society to choose either side. Without this pressure from society, these men would likely have relationships with women as well, but by making choices, they only stay with men.

Gay rights activist Carl Wittman wrote that gay men who sleep with women should only identify as gay, rather than bisexual, until society has accepted their homosexuality:

“Bisexuality is good; it is the ability to love both sexes. The main reason so few people call themselves bisexual is that it was so difficult to fight for homosexual rights. In doing so, we were forced to identify as either gay or straight. Many gay men reject the classic distribution of roles in heterosexual relationships. There will be more gay men entering into heterosexual relationships if 1) this is something we do because we want it, not because society expects it, and 2) if women's equality leads to that change the classic behaviors in heterosexual relationships. Many gays also have the feeling that bisexuality leads to discrimination against homosexuality and therefore do not identify with it. So we will identify as gay until no one makes a big deal out of it. Only then can we feel complete and live out openly. "

- Carl Wittmann : Refugees from America: A Gay Manifesto I.3

In the LGBT community

Bisexual Erasure is also when it is believed that bisexuals do not deserve the same status or inclusion as gays or lesbians. At official events or in organizations, the "B" is deleted from the acronym LGBT. It can also mean being condescending to the issue of bisexuality. Bisexuals were ignored in the debate on same-sex marriage: The debate ignored how bisexuals suffer under current law, as their right to marry depends on the gender of their current partner. Further, they would be classified as gay or lesbian if their partner is of the same gender as them, even though they identify themselves as bisexual. For example, Robyn Ochs , one of the first women to enter into same-sex marriage in America, has often been referred to as a lesbian, although she described herself as bisexual in interviews.

For many years the Lambda Literary Awards did not have a category for literature by bisexuals, it was not until 2006 that this category was introduced after long lobbying by BiNet USA .

Invisibility of Bisexuality in Fiction

Bisexual individuals have been largely ignored in the literature. Clare Hemmings argued that bisexual erasure is important in queer literature in order to portray lesbians and gays as the main characters. Bisexuals are often listed as LGBT + in scientific studies, but there is less data on bisexuals than on homosexuals. Historically, there has been a lot of research on bisexuals linked to the HIV / AIDS epidemic. This also spread the myth that bisexuals are more likely to transmit HIV / AIDS.

literature

  • Kim Ritter and Heinz-Jürgen Voß: Being Bi - Bisexuality between Invisibility and Chic (Vol. 13), Wallstein, Göttingen, 2019

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Germany - Biphobia: Invisibility of bisexuality and stereotypes towards bisexuals. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Carol K Oyster; Mary Zeiss rod; Jane Sloan: The multimedia encyclopedia of women in today's world . Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks 2011, ISBN 978-1-4129-9596-2 (English).
  3. ^ Dworkin, SH: Treating the bisexual client . In: Journal of Clinical Psychology . 57, No. 5, 2001, pp. 671-80. doi : 10.1002 / jclp.1036 . PMID 11304706 .
  4. ^ Loraine Hutchins : Sexual Prejudice - The erasure of bisexuals in academia and the media . In: American Sexuality Magazine . National Sexuality Resource Center, San Francisco State University. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2007.
  5. ↑ Queers United . Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved on February 13, 2013.
  6. ^ Task Force Report On Bisexuality . Archived from the original on February 16, 2014.
  7. ↑ Invisibility of Bi, Pan and No Monos at a conference on the subject of queer in school - (bi) sexualitaet.org. Accessed January 31, 2020 (German).
  8. ↑ Kenji Yoshino : The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure . In: Stanford Law School (Ed.): Stanford Law Review . 52, No. 2, January 2000, pp. 353-461. doi : 10.2307 / 1229482 .
  9. ↑ Heron Greenesmith: Drawing Bisexuality Back into the Picture: How Bisexuality Fits Into the LGBT Strategy Ten Years After Bisexual Erasure . In: Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender . 17, 2010, pp. 65-80. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  10. ^ Denial in the Development of Homosexual Men . SpringerLink . Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  11. ↑ 1 in 5 straight-identifying men watch same-sex porn: are they all closeted? . Bisexual.org. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  12. ↑ Jillian Todd Weiss: GL vs. BT: The Archeology of Biphobia and Transphobia Within the US Gay and Lesbian Community. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. In: Haworth Press (Ed.): Journal of Bisexuality . 3, No. 3-4, 2004, pp. 25-55. doi : 10.1300 / J159v03n03_02 .
  13. ↑ http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/index.php/Main/Bisexuality#hyphen
  14. ^ Dan Savage-Stop with the Biphobia Already! .
  15. ^ Bisexuals Overlooked in the Debate on Equal Marriage Rights . Archived from the original on July 20, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 2, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thetaskforce.org
  16. ↑ Tony Valenzuela: ABOUT THE LAMMYS. In: Lambda Literary. January 27, 2010, accessed January 31, 2020 .
  17. ^ Clare Hemmings: What's in a Name ?: Bisexuality, Transnational Sexuality Studies and Western Colonial Legacies . In: The International Journal of Human Rights . 11.1-2, 2007, pp. 13-32.
  18. ↑ Being Bi - Bisexuality between Invisibility and Chic (Vol. 13). In: BUNDESSTIFTUNG MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD. June 19, 2019, accessed on January 31, 2020 (German).