Bisexuality tends to be quite misunderstood. It is the tendency to be sexually attracted to both men and women. Let’s shed some light on a sexual identity that is often shrugged off and misunderstood:
Myth: Bisexuality does not really exist. It is just a phase.
Lisa M Diamond, author and an American psychologist conducted some very sophisticated work on this topic, in which she examined the sexual identities of women for over 10 years. Her results clearly showed that bisexuality was not a transitional period: Very few women who had identified as bisexual in adolescence changed their identity to either straight or lesbian by the end of the study—only 8% of that group did so. Rather, bisexual women were consistently sexually fluid over time, maintaining attractions to both genders, to varying degrees, over the course of a decade.
Myth: Bisexuals can’t be faithful to their partners
This myth—arguably the most pernicious one—stems from the assumption that one partner can not fully satisfy a person who is attracted to both genders. In reality, a great many bisexual individuals have happily monogamous relationships; for example, by the end of Diamond’s 10-year study, 89% of bisexual women were in monogamous, long-term relationships.
Myth: Bisexuals are desperately unhappy, endlessly seeking some kind of peace that they cannot ever find.
Like lesbians and gay men who have been told that they will live awful lives, bisexuals can respond that much of the pain comes from oppression. People concerned about the “awful lives” of bisexuals should join the fight against homophobia. Various researches show that bisexuals are individuals that are ignored even by their own LGBT community because they are attracted to the opposite sex, which is not considered in alignment with the community.
It is important to remember that “bisexual,” “lesbian,” “gay,” and “heterosexual” are labels created by homophobic, biphobic, heterosexist society to separate and alienate us from each other. We are all unique and deserve equal human rights.
