Abstract
Despite increased awareness and acceptance of LGBTIQ sexualities in many Western countries, and considerable theory and research on bisexuality, it is still an invisible sexual identity in many regards. Bisexual invisibility is manifested in a continued dominance of the binary of sexuality that suggests there are only two sexual identity categories—heterosexual and homosexual. Bisexual invisibility is also reinforced by monosexism, the tendency to prioritize the single-sex attractions and/or sexual behaviors of gay, lesbian, and heterosexual individuals. Both the sexuality binary and monosexism play out in everyday constructions of sexuality as well as in representations of sexuality in the media and popular culture. As a result, bisexuality is silenced on the sexual landscape and is made invisible through three mechanisms: absence through erasure; appropriation of bisexuals as another sexual identity by other people; and assimilation, where bisexual people hide their bisexuality in order to avoid negativity or rejection. The consequences of this silencing is that bisexual people lack a range of role models to help build positive bisexual identities, which also has a significant impact on the mental health of bisexual people overall. Campaigns using new media platforms are increasing bisexual visibility, but there is still a way to go to ensure bisexuality is recognized as a legitimate sexual identity category within Western society.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
In Australia, the SSAY acronym was used for many years in promotional materials aimed at young LGBTIQ people, in sex education programs, and in government and nongovernment policy documents.
- 2.
Nixon later described herself as bisexual in the same interview (Sessums, 2012).
- 3.
At the time of writing, the international website http://dayagainsthomophobia.org/ still used only the word “homophobia” in its URL, and the acronym IDAHOT; its Twitter handle is @may17idahot. It does mention biphobia on the website, however. In Australia, a central website for the day (https://idahobit.org.au) uses the acronym IDAHOBIT and refers to biphobia throughout its materials. In the UK, the acronym IDAHOBIT is preferred by many university groups and other organizations, and the UK government uses IDAHOBIT as well. There is no central IDAHOBIT website for the UK.
- 4.
Of course, this also applies to other identities within the queer umbrella; some have accused queer movements as simply being another way to privilege gay male interests over others (Sullivan, 2003, p. 48).
References
Aguiar, R. [TheNotAdam]. (2014, July 7). Bisexuality: Setting the record “straight.”[Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/K1xnnY7oKtI
Alarie, M., & Gaudet, S. (2013). “I don't know if she is bisexual or if she just wants to get attention:” Analyzing the various mechanisms through which emerging adults invisibilize bisexuality. Journal of Bisexuality, 13(2), 191214. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2013.780004
Ault, A. (1996). Ambiguous identity in an unambiguous sex/gender structure: The case of bisexual women. Sociological Quarterly, 37(3), 449–463.
Barker, M. (2007). Heteronormativity and the exclusion of bisexuality in psychology. In V. Clarke & E. Peel (Eds.), Out in psychology: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer perspectives (pp. 86–118). Chichester, England: Wiley.
Barker, M., Bowes-Catton, H., Iantaffi, A., Cassidy, A., & Brewer, L. (2008). British bisexuality: A snapshot of bisexual representation and identities in the United Kingdom. Journal of Bisexuality, 8(1–2), 141–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299710802143026
Barker, M., Richards, C., Jones, R., Bowes-Catton, H., Plowman, T., Yockney, J., & Morgan, M. (2014). The bisexuality report: Bisexual inclusion in LGBT equality and diversity (Milton Keynes: The Open University Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance). Retrieved from http://www8.open.ac.uk/ccig/files/ccig/The%20BisexualityReport%20Feb.2012_0.pdf
Callis, A. (2014). Bisexual, pansexual, queer: Non-binary identities and the sexual borderlands. Sexualities, 17(1–2), 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460713511094
Cholodenko, L. (2010). The kids are all right. [Motion picture]. United States of America: Focus Features.
Clinton, P. (2005, September 12). ‘Gay cowboy movie’ shatters stereotypes. CNN [Online]. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/12/brokeback.toronto/
Dolan, C. (2013). Transcending monosexism: Breaking cycles and a call for nonmonosexual liberation. The Vermont Connection, 34, 23–31.
Duggan, T. (2008, October 10). The dangers of fauxmosexuality. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-dangers-of-fauxmosexuality/2008/10/09/1223145536075.html
Ebert, R. (1997). Chasing Amy film review. Retrieved from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/chasing-amy-1997
Elia, J., & Eliason, M. (2010). Discourses of exclusion: Sexuality education’s silencing of sexual others. Journal of LGBT Youth, 7(1), 29–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361650903507791
Eliason, M. (1997). The prevalence and nature of biphobia in heterosexual undergraduate students. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26(3), 317–326.
Fender, A. [MissFenderr]. (2015, October 24). My Coming Out Story. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/VfyHBqwbGpA
Foucault, M. (1990). The history of sexuality (Vol. 1). London: Penguin.
George, S. (1993). Women and bisexuality. London: Scarlet Press.
Gonzales, G., Przedworski, J., & Henning-Smith, C. (2016). Comparison of health and health risk factors between lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults and heterosexual adults in the United States: Results from the National Health Interview Survey. JAMA Internal Medicine, 176(9), 1344–1351. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.3432
Gorman, B., Denney, J., Dowdy, H., & Medeiros, R. (2015). A new piece of the puzzle: Sexual orientation, gender, and physical health status. Demography, 52, 1357–1382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-015-0406-1
Guasp, A., & Taylor, J. (2012). Bisexuality: Stonewall health briefing (London, Stonewall). Retrieved from http://www.stonewall.org.uk/sites/default/files/Bisexuality_Stonewall_Health_Briefing__2012_.pdf
Hartman-Linck, J. (2014). Keeping bisexuality alive: Maintaining bisexual visibility in monogamous relationships. Journal of Bisexuality, 14(2), 177–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2014.903220
Hayfield, N., Clarke, V., & Halliwell, E. (2014). Bisexual women’s understandings of social marginalisation: ‘The heterosexuals don’t understand us but nor do the lesbians’. Feminism and Psychology, 24(3), 352–372. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353514539651
Heath, M. (2005). Pronouncing the silent ‘b’ (in GLBTTIQ). Gay and Lesbian Issues in Psychology Review, 1(3), 87–91.
Heldke, L. (1997). In praise of unreliability. Hypatia, 12(3), 174–182.
Howard, R. (2001). A Beautiful Mind. [Motion picture]. United States of America: Universal Pictures.
IDAHOT. (2017). What is May 17th? International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia [website]. Retrieved from http://dayagainsthomophobia.org/what-is-may-17th
James, C. (1996). Denying complexity: The dismissal and appropriation of bisexuality in queer, lesbian and gay theory. In B. Beemyn & M. Eliason (Eds.), Queer studies: A lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender anthology (pp. 217–231). New York: New York University Press.
Jones, T., & Hillier, L. (2014). The erasure of bisexual students in Australian education policy and practice. Journal of Bisexuality, 14(1), 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2014.872465
Jorm, A., Korten, A., Rodgers, B., Jacomb, P., & Christensen, H. (2003). Sexual orientation and mental health: Results from a community survey of young and middle-aged adults. British Journal of Psychiatry, 180(5), 423–427. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.180.5.423
King, I. M. (2017). Pretty Little Liars. [Television series]. California: ABC Family.
King, R. (2012). The dream team [Television series episode]. In The Good Wife. California: CBS Productions.
King, R & King, M. (Creators) (2009-2016). The Good Wife. [Television series]. California: CBS Productions
Kornits, D. (1997, June 27). Jumping The Fence For Love. In Melbourne Star Observer. n.p.
Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., & Martin, C. (1948). Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company.
Kinsey, A., Pomeroy, W., Martin, C., & Gebhard, P. (1953). Sexual behavior in the human female. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company.
Lee, A. (Director). (2005). Brokeback mountain. [Motion picture]. United States of America: Focus Features. Lukeisapenguin|-/. [@saleeeexx]. (2017, March 30).
#BiTwitter love is love. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/saleeeexx/status/847131727025852416Manning, C. [AConnMann]. (2015, March 29). What coming out as bisexual is like. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/cOV_Uv224Qg
McAllum, M. (2014). “Bisexuality is just semantics…:” young bisexual women's experiences in New Zealand secondary schools. Journal of Bisexuality, 14(1), 75–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2014.872467
McIntosh, M. (1996). The homosexual role. In S. Seidman (Ed.), Queer theory/sociology. Massachusetts: Blackwell.
McLean, K. (2007). Hiding in the closet? Bisexuals, coming out and the disclosure imperative. Journal of Sociology, 43(2), 151–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783307076893
McLean, K. (2008a). Inside, outside, nowhere: Bisexual men and women in the gay and lesbian community. Journal of Bisexuality, 8(1), 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299710802143174
McLean, K. (2008b). Silences and stereotypes: The impact of (mis)constructions of bisexuality on Australian bisexual men and women. Gay & Lesbian Issues and Psychology Review, 4(3), 158–165.
McLean, K. (2015). Inside or outside? Bisexual activism and the LGBTI community. In D. Patternote & M. Temblay (Eds.), The Ashgate research companion to gesbian and gay activism (pp. 149–162). Surrey: Ashgate.
Monro, S. (2005). Gender politics: Citizenship, activism and sexual diversity. London: Pluto Press.
Murphy, M. [Melissa Murphy]. (2016, July 16). What NOT to say to bisexual people(ft. YouTubers!) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/db1i21_0TpI
Musto, M. (2006, June 6). NY Mirror. The Village Voice. Retrieved from https://www.villagevoice.com/2006/06/06/ny-mirror-482/
Nasar, S. (1998). A Beautiful Mind. New York: Faber and Faber.
Nussbaum, E. (2006, October 2). Educating Cynthia: How the former Miranda learned to hide in plain sight. NY Magazine Retrieved from http://nymag.com/arts/theater/profiles/21647/
Pallotta-Chiarolli, M. (2014). Erasure, exclusion by inclusion, and the absence of intersectionality: Introducing bisexuality in education. Journal of Bisexuality, 14(1), 7–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2014.872454
Paul, J. (1984). The bisexual identity: An idea without social recognition. Journal of Homosexuality, 9(2–3), 45–63.
Pew Research Center. (2013). A survey of LGBT Americans: Attitudes, experiences and values in changing times (Washington D.C.: Pew Research Center). Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2013/06/SDT_LGBT-Americans_06-2013.pdf
Pramaggiore, M. (2011). Kids, rock and couples: Screening the elusive/illusive bisexual. Journal of Bisexuality, 11(4), 587–593. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2011.620889
Rich, A. (1980). Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence. Signs, 5(4), 631–660.
Roberts, T., Horne, S., & Hoyt, W. (2015). Between a gay and a straight place: Bisexual individuals’ experiences with monosexism. Journal of Bisexuality, 15(4), 554–569. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2015.1111183
Rust, P. (1992). The politics of sexual identity: Sexual attractions and behavior among lesbian and bisexual women. Social Problems, 39(4), 366–386.
Rust, P. (1995). Bisexuality and the challenge to lesbian politics. New York: New York University Press.
Rust, P. (2000). Bisexuality: A contemporary paradox for women. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 205–221.
San Francisco Human Rights Commission LGBT advisory committee. (2011). Bisexual invisibility: Impacts and recommendations. San Francisco: San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Retrieved from http://sf-hrc.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentID=989
See, H., & Hunt, R. (2011). Bisexuality and identity: The double-edged sword: Stonewall research into bisexual experience. Journal of Bisexuality, 11(2–3), 290–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2011.571995
Sessums, K. (2012, January 25). Cynthia Nixon on Bisexuality & Her New Role in ‘Wit’. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/24/cynthia-nixon-discusses-her-role-in-wit-her-cancer-bisexuality-and-her-kids
Setoodeh, R. (2015). Brokeback Mountain’s 10th Anniversary: Ang Lee and James Schamus Look Back. Variety. Retrieved from http://variety.com/2015/film/news/making-brokeback-mountain-ang-lee-james-schamus-gay-romance-film-1201529588/
Sex and the City Star Cynthia Nixon Plans to Marry. (2008, May 12). The daily mirror. [Online]. Retrieved from http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/sex-and-the-city-starcynthia-nixon-307306
Smith, K. (1997). Chasing amy. [Motion picture]. United States of America: Miramax Films.
Spohrer, E. (2009). Not a gay cowboy movie? “Brokeback Mountain” and the importance of genre. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 37(1), 26–33.
Sullivan, N. (2003). A critical introduction to queer theory. Melbourne: Circa Books.
Twitter Moments. [@TwitterMoments]. (2017, March 30).
#BiTwitter is calling on bisexuals to claim the narrative by sharing their pictures and stories. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/i/moments/847181522948050945Weeks, J. (2012). Sex, politics, and society: The regulation of sexuality since 1800 (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
Weinberg, M., Williams, C., & Pryor, D. (1994). Dual attraction: Understanding bisexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Welzer-Lang, D. (2008). Speaking out loud about bisexuality: Biphobia in the gay and lesbian community. Journal of Bisexuality, 8(1–2), 81–95.
Yoshino, K. (2000). The epistemic contract of bisexual erasure. Stanford Law Review, 52(2), 353–461.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Ella Buczak for information about the many YouTubers uploading their videos to increase bisexual visibility.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
McLean, K. (2018). 5 Bisexuality in Society. In: Swan, D., Habibi, S. (eds) Bisexuality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71535-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71535-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71534-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71535-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)