Stereotypes bad for bi people

From the Academic Bi mailing list

Researchers publishing in the The Journal of Bisexuality say a variety of unfounded assumptions often driven by the media contribute to a culture of Biphobia that affects all bisexual people. The studies show that the Bisexual community is diverse and subject to discrimination from gay/lesbian and straight people alike, which negatively impacts the health and social lives of people who identify as bisexual.

Denise Penn, a director with the American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB), spoke with GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) about her thoughts on these recent studies, and how to end stereotypes about bi people in the media.

Penn, who says that bisexuality “is sometimes forgotten” by the public, is very pleased with the increasing diversity of LGBT characters in the media, but notes “there’s still a lot of progress to be made.” Often when a character is portrayed as bisexual, “the stereotype lingers that it’s a person who is confused, or someone who has a man and a woman on the side, or who has a woman and a man on the side.”

Read Full Article Here:
http://www.glaad.org/blog/study-shows-stereotypes-about-bisexuality-are-harmful

Hot bi babes: Stereotypes of bi women

Following the previous post on Jessie J, a new blog post is out today on radicalbi about media depictions of bisexual women. Here is a quote and a link to the rest of the article.

“In an article called Curiouser and Curiouser: the Strange ‘Disappearance’ of Male Bisexuality, British gay journalist Mark Simpson writes about biphobia against bi men, and compares their status to that of bisexual women. “It’s unques­tion­able,” he argues, “that female bisexuality is today much more socially acceptable than male bisexuality, and in fact frequently positively encouraged, both by many voyeuristic men and an equally voyeuristic pop culture.”… In this section, I would like to look a bit deeper into this “positive encouragement” and to question whether it really is so positive.

Simpson, of course, is right. Female bisexuality truly is encouraged by voyeuristic men, as well as by voyeuristic (male dominated) media. Spelling out media presumptions, Simpson writes that as opposed to male bisexuality, female bisexuality is considered “almost universal. It’s as natural and as true as it is wonderful and real and… hot!” And indeed, it seems that the main context in which female bisexuality appears in mainstream media is that of “hotness.”

In this section…, I want to be looking at media representations of female bisexuality in attempt to show the ways in which it is depicted, and the terms under which it is allowed to appear in mainstream culture. I wish to argue that while female bisexuality seems to be ‘encouraged’ on the surface, this encouragement applies to only one form thereof: that palatable to straight men. Bisexual women are presented in hypersexualized* contexts, as sexual objects for the hegemonic** straight male gaze, while directly or covertly appealing to a quasi-pornographic fantasy of a (2 females and 1 male) threesome, and while also reassuring us that these women are not really bisexual, but are rather simply behaving so for the satisfaction of the presumed male spectator.”

Read more…

Jessie J and bisexuality

Interesting article in The Independent on Sunday yesterday by Jane Czyzselska about Jessie J and the problems with bisexual and lesbian representations in the media.

Jane Czyzselska: Jessie J gets the Rock Hudson treatment

Poor Jessie J. The ridiculously successful “Do It Like a Dude” singer speaks openly as a proud bisexual, sings a song about being true to yourself, then someone comes along and ruins it all by claiming she’s a fake.

According to a new, unauthorised biography, Who’s Laughing Now? The Story of Jessie J, not only is The Voice star allegedly a lesbian, she’s also had the thumbscrews put on her by her record company, Universal, who apparently forced her to hide her Sapphic ways in favour of a bisexual image or risk her contract.

Read more…

Deconstructing images of bisexuality in the media

For the next 8 weeks bitchmedia will be publishing blog posts about examples of bisexual invisibility in the media. Definitely one to watch…

“Bisexual people are suffering, and the media continues to treat them as a joke. We have plenty of bisexual visibility when it’s dramatic, when it’s titillating, when it’s controversial. But we don’t have nearly as much bisexual visibility where it counts—honest, realistic portrayals of bisexual people that counter stereotypes and create an environment of support and equality.

Over the next eight weeks, I will explore both progressive and problematic depictions of bisexuality in order to see how far we’ve come and how much progress still needs to be made. Together, we will look at examples in film, television, music, celebrity culture, and new media. And, with any luck, we will be able to start a discussion about what the media could be doing to increase realistic and positive depictions of bisexual identities and, by extension, advance bisexual acceptance.”

Shit bisexuals say

A new entry into the ‘shit people say…’ meme which is going around at the moment. We like the vids where people highlight the problematic assumptions that others make about a certain group, but it’s also good to see people poking fun at their own groups in this way. Of course it’s helpful too in raising awareness of the kinds of assumptions that are out there that lead to people having to say this kind of thing.

Bisexual comics

At BiUK we get excited about visual methods and the power of art and creative materials to portray things that words alone often can’t.

Yesterday The Advocate included the two bisexual-related comics below which provide a good example of this.

Kate Lethe draws and writes Kate or Die which includes a whole series relating to bisexuality.

Tara Mavery created Dirtheads and Gooch and is on the steering committee of the Los Angeles Bi Task Force.

It’s My Story: Getting Bi

Tom Robinson’s Radio 4 show about bisexuality is now available to listen to online. Lots of interesting stuff about bi invisibility, biphobia and double discrimination.

There’s also a blog from the producer of the programme which is worth a read.

Tom Robinson to examine bisexuality for Radio 4

Pink News reports that the singer, Tom Robinson, will be presenting a Radio 4 documentary on bisexuality.

Tom Robinson was a big part of 1970s gay rights but was excluded from Pride and other gay events when he began a relationship with a woman. He played BiCon on occasion and became an important role model for the UK bi community.

 

 

BiUK very much look forward to hearing the documentary and thank Tom for his continued work in raising bi visibility in the UK. The show will air on 19th September at 8pm and was put together by Made in Manchester.

New York Times – Bi Men Do Exist!

The New York Times last week published an article reporting that bi men do exist. The history of this research is that a group of Northwestern University researchers previously conducted a study which – they claimed – cast doubt upon the existence of bisexual men. They now seem to have taken a U-turn on this in a study using a similar, but somewhat more rigorous, methodology.

Read the New York Times article here.

Read the research here.

Read the original New York Times article here.

Read the original research here.

Read some criticisms of the earlier research here.