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Bisexual Erasure Quotes

Quotes tagged as "bisexual-erasure" Showing 1-14 of 14
“[Bisexuality] is seen as threatening the homosexual/heterosexual and male/female dichotomies, or binarisms, which underpin our gender and sexual identities to such a large extent. In the case of the first three stereotypes, there is a refusal even to acknowledge the existence of bisexuality. It is simply wished out of existence. You can either be homosexual or heterosexual but anything else is just a phase, just playacting, not real. As Udis-Kessler argues [‘Challenging the Stereotypes’, in Rose and Stevens (eds), Bisexual Horizons: Politics, Histories, Lives. 1996. London: Lawrence and Wishart, pp. 45-57], this reflects an ideology of essentialism which dismisses the idea that sexuality may be fluid, not fixed, and that its forms can change over a person’s lifetime. This ideology assumes that there is a ‘true’ sexuality which we are working our way towards and that bisexuality is not really ‘true’ or ‘serious’ because it is a transition towards that other state… As Udis-Kessler points out, transitions are not a rehearsal for life. Life is a series of transitions: points of arrival become new points of departure, and vice versa. So why should we assume that the way we experienced our sexuality ten or twenty years ago is necessarily less ‘true’ or important than the way we experience it now, or that the way we experience it now will necessarily be the same in ten or twenty years time? Obviously this applies not only to bisexuality, but it is an argument which those - including some lesbian and gay activists - who accuse bisexuality of being a sort of ‘false consciousness’ seldom get to grips with… lesbians and gay men, anxious to create safe spaces where they are not subject to homophobic rejection or oppression, may (consciously or unconsciously) seek to exclude bisexuals[…].Unfortunately, as soon as this happens, as with every oppressed or stigmatised group, it can lead to others being oppressed or stigmatised in turn.”
Richard Dunphy, Sexual Politics: An Introduction

Shiri Eisner
“Passing means that bisexuals are completely dependent upon their partners for successful bisexual passing....passing can never be done individually, as it necessitates being seen with other peoples (as "passing accessories").”
Shiri Eisner, Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution

Jamie Arpin-Ricci
“The fact is this: If “everyone is a little bit bisexual”, then it would be equally true to nobody is gay, straight, or otherwise. However, most of us wouldn’t go that far. Why? Because the logic is almost exclusively applied to bisexuality and is an expression of bisexual erasure. And in some cases, when connected to the fetishization of bisexual women, it is an outcropping of misogyny and patriarchy. This kind of mentality is deeply harmful and must be resisted.”
Jamie Arpin-Ricci

“If the world is constantly telling you that a part of you isn't real, or that it is shameful, it is hard not to let that get to you sometimes.”
Julia Shaw