If you want to know what bisexuality is like, ask a bisexual person. But if you want to know whether you’re bisexual, don’t ask me or your therapist or Women’s Health. Ask yourself. September is among the most bisexual months, containing as it does two days of great importance to our community: Bisexual Visibility Day […]
When two women dance together to a slow song, people tend to stare. And this night seemed to be no exception. At the end of September, she wrote me an email with the subject “Just to clarify.” My legs buckled, but I balanced myself against the desk. Opened her message. I skimmed through two paragraphs […]
Chipping away at the problem of bisexual erasure starts with living truth out loud. Last June, in honor of Pride Month, actress Evan Rachel Wood filmed a YouTube video to clear up some common misconceptions about bisexuality and to discuss her personal process of coming out. Her honesty and activism earned her the Human Rights […]
Just like that, I found myself realizing I wasn’t nearly as straight as I thought I was. Sexuality is a topic that’s difficult to write about, for a lot of obvious reasons. Sexual identity is something that’s unique and personal to every human being, and as such, my experience is unlikely to mirror yours in […]
I wish we lived in a place where it was totally normal to check in with your friends, and to ask, “Are you dating anyone?” rather than, “Do you have a boyfriend?” When I told my friends I was gay, the majority of them said, “I knew it! I kept wondering why you wouldn’t tell […]
If I could accept that none of my attractions cancel out the others, why do I still feel like I am not enough? As a girl who liked boys, I never thought when I was younger that I would be allowed to take up space in those communities meant for people who were wholly something […]
I keep my guard up, my mouth closed, because I won’t forget that it only takes one student, one parent, to take it all away. When I take the job teaching English at a small Connecticut boarding school, my parents ask when I’ll tell my colleagues I’m bisexual. I’m folding laundry in their house in […]
Coming out is a deeply personal decision, and nobody needs extra policing or shaming around it. “What are you afraid of? As long as you don’t mess it up, people will accept you.” “How can you love yourself if you’re living a lie?” “It’s a scary rite of passage, but it gets better!” “You might […]
While finding a partner can be challenging for bisexual women, once they’re in relationships, there’s pressure to play down their bi-ness in order to be taken seriously as a partner. In the new film Appropriate Behavior, bisexual protagonist Shirin—played by writer/director Desiree Akhavan—has a conversation with her brother about her romantic life that goes like this: […]
Men and women will not be comfortable labeling themselves as bisexual if the label is riddled with negative implications. He’s a bisexual. The weird thing was, he was so open about it. When did this all happen? When did the sexes get all confused? I’m not even sure if bisexuality exists. It’s greedy! He’s double-dipping! […]
This originally appeared on Alternet.org. Republished here with permission. From slut-shaming to rape culture, female sexuality is vilified and controlled. Here are some reasons to feel awesome about women’s sexuality. If we were to believe mainstream cultural perceptions, beliefs and media portrayals, female sexuality is terrifying and should be controlled and repressed at almost all […]
