Biphobia

Biphobia is a term used to describe fear of and aversion toward bisexuality and bisexuals as a social group or as individuals. People of any sexual orientation can experience such feelings of fear and aversion. A source of discrimination against bisexuals, biphobia is based on negative bisexual stereotypes and bisexual erasure.

Etymology and use

Biphobia is a portmanteau word patterned on the term homophobia. It is derived from the English neo-classical prefix bi- (meaning "two") from bisexual and the root -phobia (from the Template:Lang-el, phóbos, "fear") found in homophobia. Along with lesbophobia, transphobia, homophobia, gayphobia, and biphobia is a member of the family of terms used when discussing issues of intolerance and discrimination toward LGBT people. Note that biphobia need not be an equivalent to the clinical or medical meaning of a phobia - an anxiety disorder. Instead, its meaning and use typically parallel those of xenophobia. The adjectival form biphobic is used to describe things or qualities related to biphobia whereas the noun biphobe is a label for people thought to harbor biphobia.

Basic ideas and their negative stereotypes

Multiple negative stereotypes of bisexuals center on the belief that bisexuality does not exist and on the generalization that bisexuals are promiscuous.

Belief - Bisexuality does not exist.

This belief stems from binary views of sexuality: a heterosexist view or a monosexist view. In the first view, people are presumed to be attracted to the opposite sex and only heterosexuality and male to female relationships truly exist. Therefore, bisexuality, like homosexuality, is not a valid sexuality or identity. In the second view, people are either homosexual (gay/lesbian) or heterosexual (straight). Maxims such as “people are either gay, straight or lying” embody this dichotomous view of sexual orientations.

Resulting negative stereotypes represent bisexuals as confused, undecided, dabblers, insecure, experimenting or “just going through a phase”. Attractions toward both sexes are considered fashionable as in bisexual chic or gender bending. Either homosexual or heterosexual relations are dismissed as a substitute for sex with members of the “right” sex or as a more accessible source of sexual gratification. What’s more, homosexuality can also be perceived as purely situational, in other words due to sex-segregated environments or groups such as the armed forces, schools, sports teams, religious orders, and prisons. It has also been suggested that people claiming to be bisexual are simply straight people who are seeking attention. Conversely, heterosexuality and opposite-sex relationships are viewed as “caving into” society’s pressures, fostering oppressions, condoning discrimination, keeping up appearances, retaining straight privilege, hiding in the closet, being self-hating or in self-denial, suffering from internalized homophobia, etc.

Generalization - Bisexuals are promiscuous.

Categorizing all bisexuals as being promiscuous is a hasty generalization. Moreover, having more than one sexual partner in one’s lifetime, in addition to being commonplace in the world, is not restricted to bisexuals. People of all sexual orientations change partners, practice serial monogamy or have multiple casual sex partners. The strict association of bisexuality with promiscuity stems from a variety of negative stereotypes targeting bisexuals as mentally or socially unstable people convinced that sexual relations only with men, only with women or only with one person is not enough. As a result bisexuals bear a social stigma from accusations of cheating on or betraying their partners, leading a double life, being "on the down-low", and spreading sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. They are characterized as being "slutty", insatiable, “easy”, indiscriminate, and in the case of women, nymphomaniacs. Furthermore, they are strongly associated with polyamory, swinging, and polygamy, the last being an established heterosexual tradition sanctioned by some religions and legal in several countries.

Current issues of debate

Apparently validating the above belief and generalization and their related stereotypes are current issues of debate connected to identity and human sexuality in general.

1. The nature versus nurture debate over homosexuality complicates matters. Supporting a polar view of sexual orientations, discussion here revolves around possible causes for a homosexual orientation and not a heterosexual or bisexual one. See separate articles on Kinsey scale and Klein Sexual Orientation Grid
2. In line with the nurture side of the previous debate is Sigmund Freud’s term for sexual disposition and gratification in the first five years of a child’s development: the polymorphous perverse. This theory is misinterpreted as meaning that all people are (born) bisexual, that socialization is the key factor in determining whether people will be heterosexual or homosexual, or that people eventually choose their sexual orientation toward one or the other sex, but not both.
3. People do not always choose to identify themselves strictly according to their sexual orientation. Just as someone can feel pressured not to disclose his or her homosexual orientation and claim heterosexuality, so too can a person claim bisexuality. Mainly out of oppression from negative bisexual stereotypes, the reverse is true for some bisexual people choosing to identify or state that they are straight, gay or lesbian depending on company and the situation.
4. The concept of bisexuality may not exist in a given culture or may be encompassed by transgender identities as in some indigenous cultures such as those of Native Americans, Aboriginal peoples in Canada or the Zapotec in Oaxaca, Mexico.
5. Having sexual relations with both men and women is perceived as a direct indication of a person’s sexual attractions and, hence, a bisexual orientation. This perception explains how the Kinsey Scale is used to label sexual orientation despite its original design and use to explain a person’s sexual history or past. Moreover, in most parts of the world, gay men and lesbian women still lead so-called straight lifestyles. The reasons cited are discrimination, internalized homophobia, strong personal or religious beliefs about the family, and a lack of information on and visibility of same-sex relations and sexuality.
6. Regardless of their actual sexual orientation, prostitutes and pornographic actors opt to participate in gay or lesbian sex and maintain that they are heterosexual or bisexual. Dubbed “gay-for-pay”, this grey-area situation creates confusion that reinforces both Belief 1 and Belief 2.

Bisexual erasure

Main article: bisexual erasure

Bisexual erasure is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of bisexuality in the historical record, academic materials, the news media, and other primary sources. When bisexual erasure is found in intellectually dishonest or erroneous works, it has been called a manifestation of biphobia. In its most extreme form, bisexual erasure can include denying that bisexual people actually exist.

Controversial studies

A 2002 study said that a sample of men self-identifying as bisexual did not respond equally to pornographic material involving only men, and to pornography involving only women, but instead showed four times more arousal to one than the other. However, bisexuality does not imply equal attraction towards both genders. In addition, opponents state that genital arousal to homosexual pornographic material is not a good indicator of orientation both because the material is chosen by the researchers, ignoring the study participants' preferences (i.e. body types, scenarios, presentation of relationships, etc.), and because tumescence is problematic as an indicator of arousal (some tumescence may be caused or prevented by anxiety, and erectile dysfunction should be considered before such studies commence). They also point out that the study showed a third of men had no arousal, and ask why this does not mean that one third of men are really asexual. The study, and The New York Times article which reported it in 2005, were subsequently criticized as flawed and biphobic. Lynn Conway criticized the author of the study, J. Michael Bailey, citing his controversial history, and pointing out that the study has not been scientifically repeated and confirmed by any independent researchers.

See also

• Bisexual chic
• Bisexual Community
• Bisexual erasure
• Duclod Man
• Heteronormativity
• Heterosexism
• Homophobia
• Monosexism
• Lesbian until graduation
• List of media portrayals of bisexuality

Further reading

• Garber, Marjorie (1995). Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life, pp. 20–21, 28, 39.
• Fraser, M., Identity Without Selfhood: Simone de Beauvoir and Bisexuality, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press 1999. p.124-140.

External links

• Bialogue/GLAAD Bisexuality Packet for Mental Health Professionals
• Fairy Tales, by Job Brother in The Advocate September 21, 2007
• Curiouser and curiouser by Mark Simpson
• Bisexuality Basics, UC Riverside LGBT Resource Center, Riverside, CA