Biphobia is aversion toward bisexuality and
toward bisexual people as a social group or
as individuals.
It can take the form of denial that bisexuality
is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative
stereotypes about people who are bisexual
(such as the beliefs that they are promiscuous
or dishonest).
People of any sexual orientation can experience
or perpetuate biphobia.
== Etymology and usage ==
Biphobia is a portmanteau word patterned on
the term homophobia.
It derives from the English neo-classical
prefix bi- (meaning "two") from bisexual and
the root -phobia (from the Greek: φόβος,
phóbos, "fear") found in homophobia.
Along with transphobia and homophobia, it
is one of a family of terms used to describe
intolerance and discrimination against LGBT
people.
The adjectival form biphobic describes things
or qualities related to biphobia, and the
less-common noun biphobe is a label for people
thought to harbor biphobia.Biphobia need not
be a phobia as defined in clinical psychology
(i.e., an anxiety disorder).
Its meaning and use typically parallel those
of xenophobia.
== Forms ==
=== Denial and erasure ===
Biphobia can lead people to deny that bisexuality
is "real", asserting that people who identify
as bisexual are not genuinely bisexual, or
that the phenomenon is far less common than
they claim.
One form of this denial is based on the heterosexist
view that heterosexuality is the only true
or natural sexual orientation.
Thus anything that deviates from that is instead
either a psychological pathology or an example
of anti-social behavior.
In these instances, homophobia and biphobia
are largely the same.
Another form of denial stems from binary views
of sexuality: that people are assumed monosexual,
i.e. exclusively homosexual (gay/lesbian)
or heterosexual (straight).
Throughout the 1980s, modern research on sexuality
was dominated by the idea that heterosexuality
and homosexuality were the only legitimate
orientations, dismissing bisexuality as "secondary
homosexuality".
In that model, bisexuals are presumed to be
either closeted lesbian/gay people wishing
to appear heterosexual, or individuals (of
"either" orientation) experimenting with sexuality
outside of their "normal" interest.
Maxims such as "people are either gay, straight,
or lying" embody this dichotomous view of
sexual orientation.Some people accept the
theoretical existence of bisexuality but define
it narrowly, as being only the equal attraction
towards both men and women.
Thus the many bisexual individuals with unequal
attractions are instead categorized as either
homosexual or heterosexual.
Others acknowledge the existence of bisexuality
in women, but deny that men can be bisexual.Some
denial asserts that bisexual behavior or identity
is merely a social trend – as exemplified
by "bisexual chic" or gender bending – and
not an intrinsic personality trait.
Same-gender sexual activity is dismissed as
merely a substitute for sex with members of
the opposite sex, or as a more accessible
source of sexual gratification.
Situational homosexuality in sex-segregated
environments is presented as an example of
this behavior.
Biphobia is common from the heterosexual community,
but is frequently exhibited by gay and lesbian
people as well, usually with the notion that
bisexuals are able to escape oppression from
heterosexuals by conforming to social expectations
of opposite-gender sex and romance.
This leaves some that identify as bisexual
to be perceived as "not enough of either"
or "not real."
An Australian study conducted by Roffee and
Waling in 2016 established that bisexual people
faced microaggressions, bullying, and other
anti-social behaviors from people within the
lesbian and gay community.Bisexual erasure
(also referred to as bisexual invisibility)
is a phenomenon that tends to omit, falsify,
or re-explain evidence of bisexuality in history,
academia, the news media, and other primary
sources, sometimes to the point of denying
that bisexuality exists.
==== Allegations that bisexual men are homophobic
====
One cause of biphobia in the gay male community
is that there is an identity political tradition
to assume that acceptance of male homosexuality
is linked to the belief that men's sexuality
is specialized.
This causes many members of the gay male community
to assume that the very idea that men can
be bisexual is homophobic to gay men.
A number of bisexual men feel that such attitudes
force them to keep their bisexuality in the
closet and that it is even more oppressive
than traditional heteronormativity.
These men argue that the gay male community
have something to learn about respect for
the individual from the lesbian community,
in which there is not a strong tradition to
assume links between notions about the origins
of sexual preferences and the acceptance thereof.
These views are also supported by some gay
men who do not like anal sex (sides, as opposed
to both tops and bottoms) and report that
they feel bullied by other gay men's assumption
that their dislike for anal sex is "homophobic"
and want more respect for the individuality
in which a gay man who does not hate himself
may simply not like anal sex and instead prefer
other sex acts such as mutual fellatio and
mutual male masturbation.
==== Claims of bisexuals adapting to heteronormativity
====
Some forms of prejudice against bisexuals
are claims that bisexuality is an attempt
in persecuted homosexuals to adapt to heteronormative
societies by adopting a bisexual identity.
Such claims are criticized by bisexuals and
researchers studying the situation of bisexuals
for falsely assuming that same-sex relationships
would somehow escape persecution in heteronormative
cultures by simply identifying as bisexual
instead of homosexual.
These researchers cite that all countries
with laws against sex between people of the
same sex give the same punishment regardless
of what sexual orientation the people found
guilty identify as, that any countries where
same-sex marriage is illegal never allow marriages
between people of the same sex no matter if
they identify as bisexual instead of homosexual,
and that laws against "gay" male blood donors
invariably prohibit any man who had sex with
other men from donating blood no matter if
he identifies as homosexual or as bisexual.
The conclusion made by these researchers is
that since there is no societal benefit in
identifying as bisexual instead of identifying
as homosexual, the claim that bisexuals are
homosexuals trying to adapt to a heteronormative
society is simply false and biphobic and causes
bisexuals to suffer a two-way discrimination
from both LGBT society and heteronormative
society that is worse than the one-way discrimination
from heteronormative society that is faced
by homosexuals.
It is also argue that such two-way discrimination
causes many bisexuals to hide their bisexuality
to an even greater extent than homosexuals
hide their sexuality, leading to underestimations
of the prevalence of bisexuality especially
in men for whom such assumptions of "really
being completely gay" are the most rampant.
=== Negative stereotypes ===
Many stereotypes about people who identify
as bisexual stem from denial or bisexual erasure.
Because their orientation is not recognized
as valid, they are stereotyped as confused,
indecisive, insecure, experimenting, or "just
going through a phase".The association of
bisexuality with promiscuity stems from a
variety of negative stereotypes targeting
bisexuals as mentally or socially unstable
people for whom sexual relations only with
men, only with women, or only with one person
at a time is not enough.
These stereotypes may result from cultural
assumptions that "men and women are so different
that desire for one is an entirely different
beast from desire for the other" ("a defining
feature of heterosexism"), and that "verbalizing
a sexual desire inevitably leads to attempts
to satisfy that desire."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.
This presumed behavior is further generalized
as dishonesty, secrecy, and deception.
Bisexuals can be characterized as being "slutty",
"easy", indiscriminate, and 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.
This is despite the fact that bisexual people
are as capable of monogamy or serial monogamy
as homosexuals or heterosexuals.
== Effects ==
The mental and sexual health effects of biphobia
on bisexual people are numerous.
Studies show that bisexuals are often trapped
in between the binaries of heterosexuality
and homosexuality, creating a form of invalidation
around their sexual identity.
This often leads to recognized indicators
of mental health issues such as low self-esteem
and self-worth.
These indicators and pressures to "choose"
a sexual identity can, in many cases, lead
to depression as they may feel they live in
a culture that does not recognize their existence.While
doing research on women at high-risk of HIV
infection, one study, from the Journal of
Bisexuality, concluded that bisexual women
in the high-risk cohort studied were more
likely to engage in various high risk behaviors
and were at a higher risk of contracting HIV
and other sexually transmitted diseases.
These behaviors have been attributed to the
unlikeliness of bisexuals to discuss their
sexuality and proper protection with health
professionals for fear of judgement or discrimination,
leaving them uneducated.Bisexual-identified
people may face disparities in harsher degrees
than their gay and lesbian peers.
In the U.S. in particular, for example, they
may face:
Lower success rates for refugee applications;
may also be the case in Canada and Australia
Higher levels of intimate partner violence
Higher likelihood of youth risk behaviour
amongst high school students
Higher likelihood of anxiety and mood disorders
amongst bisexual women and men who report
having sex with both sexes
Higher likelihood of living on less than $30,000
a year
Lower levels of reporting feeling "very accepted"
in the workplace
Lower likelihood of being out to the important
people in their lives
== 
Intersectional perspectives ==
=== Feminism ===
Feminist positions on bisexuality range greatly,
from acceptance of bisexuality as a feminist
issue to rejection of bisexuality as reactionary
and anti-feminist backlash to lesbian feminism.A
bisexual woman filed a lawsuit against the
lesbian feminist magazine Common Lives/Lesbian
Lives, alleging discrimination against bisexuals
when her submission was not published.A number
of women who were at one time involved in
lesbian-feminist activism have since come
out as bisexual after realizing their attractions
to men.
A widely studied example of lesbian-bisexual
conflict within feminism was the Northampton
Pride March during the years between 1989
and 1993, where many feminists involved debated
over whether bisexuals should be included
and whether or not bisexuality was compatible
with feminism.
Common lesbian-feminist critiques leveled
at bisexuality were that bisexuality was anti-feminist,
that bisexuality was a form of false consciousness,
and that bisexual women who pursue relationships
with men were "deluded and desperate."
However, tensions between bisexual feminists
and lesbian feminists have eased since the
1990s, as bisexual women have become more
accepted within the feminist community.Nevertheless,
some lesbian feminists such as Julie Bindel
are still critical of bisexuality.
Bindel has described female bisexuality as
a "fashionable trend" being promoted due to
"sexual hedonism" and broached the question
of whether bisexuality even exists.
She has also made tongue-in-cheek comparisons
of bisexuals to cat fanciers and devil worshippers.Lesbian
feminist Sheila Jeffreys writes in The Lesbian
Heresy (1993) that while many feminists are
comfortable working alongside gay men, they
are uncomfortable interacting with bisexual
men.
Jeffreys states that while gay men are unlikely
to sexually harass women, bisexual men are
just as likely to be bothersome to women as
heterosexual men.Donna Haraway was the inspiration
and genesis for cyberfeminism with her 1985
essay "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology,
and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth
Century" which was reprinted in Simians, Cyborgs
and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (1991).
Haraway's essay states that the cyborg "has
no truck with bisexuality, pre-oedipal symbiosis,
unalienated labor, or other seductions to
organic wholeness through a final appropriation
of all powers of the parts into a higher unity."
However, the book Feminist Essays (2017) by
Nancy Quinn Collins states that in the opinion
of its author this "is wrong because bisexuality
is a sexual orientation, a harmless attraction
some people simply have, not something they
try to have or do in order to create organic
wholeness through a final appropriation of
all powers of the parts into a higher unity.
Therefore, I [the author] would say that cyborgs
can be bisexual, and cyberfeminism can and
should be accepting of bisexuality."
=== Race ===
While the general bisexual population as a
whole faces biphobia, this oppression is also
aggravated by other factors such as race.
In his examination of the bisexual male perspective,
Managing Heterosexism and Biphobia: A Revealing
Black Bisexual Male Perspective, Grady L.
Garner delves into the oppression that he
faces as both a black and bisexual male.
He explains that the internalization of negative
sociocultural messages, reactions, and attitudes
can be incredibly distressing as bisexual
black males attempted to translate or transform
these negative experiences into positive bisexual
identity sustaining ones.
The experience of bisexual black males is
different from that of bisexual white males.
As the demands and tribulations of black bisexual
males appear to be comparatively more distressing
than those that black and white, homo- and
heterosexual individual's encounter, this
acknowledgement is important and vital to
the understanding of biphobia from an intersectional
perspective.
== See also ==
Bisexual American history
Bisexual community
Duclod Man
Heteronormativity
History of bisexuality
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia
and Biphobia (biphobia was added to the name
of the day in 2015)
List of media portrayals of bisexuality
List of phobias
== References ==
== 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.
Rankin, Sam; Morton, James; Bell, Matthew
(May 2015).
"Complicated?
Bisexual people's experiences of and ideas
for improving services" (PDF).
Equality Network.
The fencesitters?
Suspicions still haunt the bi/homo divide
- article in Xtra, Gay & Lesbian news site,
2006]
== External links ==
Bialogue/GLAAD Bisexuality Packet for Mental
Health Professionals
Curiouser and curiouser by Mark Simpson
Bisexuality Basics, UC Riverside LGBT Resource
Center, Riverside, CA
