In celebration of bisexual visibility day on September 23, the Camosun College Student Society’s Pride Collective spent time speaking to students and raising some of the issues associated with bisexual identities. Some of the issues contributing to the oppression of such identities include patriarchal double standards, common misconceptions, and lack of representation.
Double standards for bisexual people of different genders mean that some people’s sexual identities are taken seriously, while others are not. Patriarchal sexualization of bisexual women assumes that women could only be attracted toĘother women for men’s pleasure. This is also related to ideas that a bisexual identity is simply sexual and cannot be inclusive of everything from sexual attraction to love.
Many people also assume that bisexuals are simply confused about which gender they are attracted to, This can result in a rejection of bisexual identities and often means that the specific issues that bisexual people face are left out of queer advocacy efforts.
One of the biggest misconceptions of bisexuality is that bisexuals are only attracted to men and women. In fact, bisexuality is not binary. Bisexuality just means that a person is attracted to more than one gender.
It’s also important to remember that bisexuality isn’t erased when a person enters into a monogamous relationship. A person, for example, who’s attracted to more than one gender, doesn’t magically become heterosexual or homosexualĘifĘthey enter into a monogamous relationship with a specific gender. After all, like all sexual identities, bisexuality is self-determined.