Spring Break
Clearing up the myths of bisexuality
Blue Balls
Issue date: 11/8/07
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On Urban Dictionary, which invites everybody on the Internet to contribute definitions, one lexicographer offers the following explanation for what he calls a "myspace [sic.] bisexual:"
"A girl who makes out with other slutty chicks at parties and then claims to be bisexual because it's trendy to say so and gets people's attention on myspace [sic.]."
This simple act of semantic demystification says a lot about modern attitudes toward bisexuality. The bi-curious are often accused being inauthentic or vain; blame for spreading this misconception could be laid at the feet of David Bowie, who, back in the '80s, minted the cult of bisexual chic (a truly false view of bisexuality that reduces it to a style, a choice of clothing and the occasional same-sex smooch - only when drunk of course).
Like any good definition scribe, this one has provided a helpful taxonomy to classify his term: "skanks, whores, sluts, poseurs, dumb, bitches."
Why the long face, grumpy? Perhaps this fellow's bi himself - and pissed at the co-optation of his identity by a sick online parade of tonsil hockey.
Or perhaps, like myself, he finds it difficult to look at anything on MySpace without vomiting.
Or maybe this definition is a reflection of what many people think about bi-curiosity itself, even bisexuality in general: that it grabs attention by pushing the boundaries we've all grown comfortable with. Maybe we'd be better off without bisexuality?
Oops - did somebody say biphobia? What's that mean? Don't search Urban Dic for a definition - no luck there (although it does trace the etymology of "bioznitchizzle").
It's a grave omission, because biphobia - a contempt, conscious or not, for bisexuals - is everywhere.
Biphobia originates in a misunderstanding of what bisexuality is.
Here's a recent case: Recently, two scholars from the Culture and Family Institute published an article saying that if the government enacted sexual harassment legislation to protect bisexuals, that would "elevate multiple-sex-partner relationships (bisexuality) into a federally protected 'right.'
"A girl who makes out with other slutty chicks at parties and then claims to be bisexual because it's trendy to say so and gets people's attention on myspace [sic.]."
This simple act of semantic demystification says a lot about modern attitudes toward bisexuality. The bi-curious are often accused being inauthentic or vain; blame for spreading this misconception could be laid at the feet of David Bowie, who, back in the '80s, minted the cult of bisexual chic (a truly false view of bisexuality that reduces it to a style, a choice of clothing and the occasional same-sex smooch - only when drunk of course).
Like any good definition scribe, this one has provided a helpful taxonomy to classify his term: "skanks, whores, sluts, poseurs, dumb, bitches."
Why the long face, grumpy? Perhaps this fellow's bi himself - and pissed at the co-optation of his identity by a sick online parade of tonsil hockey.
Or perhaps, like myself, he finds it difficult to look at anything on MySpace without vomiting.
Or maybe this definition is a reflection of what many people think about bi-curiosity itself, even bisexuality in general: that it grabs attention by pushing the boundaries we've all grown comfortable with. Maybe we'd be better off without bisexuality?
Oops - did somebody say biphobia? What's that mean? Don't search Urban Dic for a definition - no luck there (although it does trace the etymology of "bioznitchizzle").
It's a grave omission, because biphobia - a contempt, conscious or not, for bisexuals - is everywhere.
Biphobia originates in a misunderstanding of what bisexuality is.
Here's a recent case: Recently, two scholars from the Culture and Family Institute published an article saying that if the government enacted sexual harassment legislation to protect bisexuals, that would "elevate multiple-sex-partner relationships (bisexuality) into a federally protected 'right.'
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