Bisexuality is a sexual orientation that refers to individuals who are romantically, emotionally, and/or sexually attracted to people of more than one gender. This can mean attraction to men and women, attraction regardless of gender, or attraction to multiple genders (McNamee, 2023). The attraction does not necessarily happen simultaneously or to the same degree (HRC Foundation, 2023). While the prefix bi- grammatically refers to a binary understanding of the gender, it is used to describe attraction to more than one gender (Koenig, 2019).
Framing & Perspectives
The first contemporary use of the term can be found as early as 1991, in the so-called Bisexual Manifesto: Bisexuality is a whole, fluid identity. Do not assume that bisexuality is binary or duogamous in nature: that we have ‘two’ sides or that we must be involved simultaneously with both genders to be fulfilled human beings. In fact, not assuming there are only two genders (Pennasilico, 2019).
The bisexual flag, created in 1998 by Michael Page, consists of a pink and a blue horizontal stripe that overlaps creating a thinner purple stripe between them. This allows interpretations beyond a binary, on a gender spectrum that is being created when one’s own and another gender “blend”.
Relevance
The definition of the term has historically been quite controversial both for people identifying as such and for researchers. Some researchers define bisexuality behaviorally, suggesting that a person must engage in relationships with people of varying gender identities and not only be attracted to them in order to be considered bisexual (Rosenthal et al., 2011). Other researchers suggest the “bisexual umbrella”, which includes all those identities that are attracted by more than one gender (Cipriano, 2022; Callis, 2014; Dyar et al., 2015; Galupo et al., 2014, 2015). This point of view, however, changes the approach of bisexuality from a sexual identity to a broader category of ‘non-monosexuality’ (Flanders et al., 2017). Apart from it being already described by the currently existing, more inclusive, term “plurisexual”, it also gives the concept a more heteronormative gaze, implying a problematic binary of monosexuality and bisexuality. Similarly, for bisexual individuals themselves, the definition of bisexuality and the way they experience their own bisexual identity are not identical. The dissonance is about sexual attraction and sexual behavior. Only the attractions and not the behaviors are necessary to their self-conception as bisexual, there is no specific sexual experience needed to justify their definition of bisexuality (Rusk,2000).
Keywords: LGBTQ+ Topics, Sexual Orientation, Sexual Identity
Connected terms: Queer, Pansexual, Acronym “LGBTQIAPN+”, Plurisexual
References
Callis, A. S. (2014). Bisexual, pansexual, queer: Non-binary identities and the sexual borderlands. Sexualities, 17(1-2), 63-80.
Cipriano, A. E., Nguyen, D., & Holland, K. J. (2022). “Bisexuality isn’t exclusionary”: A qualitative examination of bisexual definitions and gender inclusivity concerns among plurisexual women. Journal of Bisexuality, 22(4), 557-579.
Dyar, C., Feinstein, B. A., & London, B. (2015). Mediators of differences between lesbians and bisexual women in sexual identity and minority stress. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2(1), 43.
Flanders, C. E. (2017). Under the bisexual umbrella: Diversity of identity and experience. Journal of Bisexuality, 17(1), 1-6.
Galupo, M. P., Davis, K. S., Grynkiewicz, A. L., & Mitchell, R. C. (2014). Conceptualization of sexual orientation identity among sexual minorities: Patterns across sexual and gender identity. Journal of Bisexuality, 14(3-4), 433-456.
Galupo, M. P., Mitchell, R. C., & Davis, K. S. (2015). Sexual minority self-identification: Multiple identities and complexity. Psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity, 2(4), 355.
HRC Foundation. (2023, May 31). HRC | Glossary of Terms. https://www.hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms
Koenig, A. L. (2019). Glossary of terms. Creative arts therapies and the LGBTQ community: Theory and practice, 255-268.
McNamee, C. M. (2023). Conceptualizations of identities in bisexual, pansexual, and plurisexual communities (Order No. 30247363). [Master’s dissertation, University of Toronto]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/conceptualizations-identities-bisexual-pansexual/docview/2786353429/se-2
Pennasilico, A. (2019). The invisi_les: Biphobia, bisexual erasure and their impact on mental health. pIJ: puntOorg international journal: 4, 1, 2019, 22-28.
Rosenthal, A. M., Sylva, D., Safron, A., & Bailey, J. M. (2011). Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men revisited. Biological Psychology, 88(1), 112-115.Rust, P. C. (2000). Two many and not enough: The meanings of bisexual identities. Journal of Bisexuality, 1(1), 31-68.
