AlterNet: Why Are People So Afraid of Bisexuals?

[marmar]

Why Are People So Afraid of Bisexuals?

By Adele M. Stan, AlterNet. Posted August 5, 2009.

As society's shape-shifters, bisexuals mess with everybody's idea of sexual orientation.




I don’t like the term bisexual; I prefer to think of myself as a person of no fixed sexual orientation. It better suits the amorphous world I inhabit.

“How do you identify?”

“Oh, I’m a PoNFSO.”

Okay; it’s a little unwieldy, and abbreviated, it hardly rolls off the tongue. So, neither fish nor fowl, I content myself with being the bacon in the LGBT sandwich.

I didn’t come of age as a free-spirited bisexual. I always knew it was what I was, at least from the point at which I knew what the term meant. As a child, I had crushes on both boys and girls. When my best friend in high school lost her virginity, I was beside myself. But how was I to tell her I was in love with her -- especially after I had spent the previous year utterly smitten with a boy?

I remember being very little, maybe four, watching the Ed Sullivan Show, mesmerized by the siren on the screen, Miss Peggy Lee. In my memory, she is wearing a satin evening gown and a feather boa. I’m laying on my belly, looking up at the television. I can still feel the scratchy texture of the fake-braided rug on my elbows as I propped up my head with my arms. I didn’t know whether I wanted to be Peggy Lee, or just wanted to touch her. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/sex/141770/why_are_people_so_afraid_of_bisexuals/

[xchrom]

1. mmmmmmm -- bacon. nt

[marmar]

2. .......

:P

[IndianaGreen]

8. I guess I am the lettuce in the LGBT sandwich

:P

[xchrom]

9. mmmmmmmmm -- lettuce! nt

[comtec]

3. I like the term TRYsexual myself

but I admit as I try more ... i'm going to have to cop to being a pansexual soon hee hee.

on a serious note... it's because people in general need fixed values.
they have trouble dealing with the idea of someone who is nebulous in their sexual interests.
Both gay ans straights have trouble with the concept.
Gays think i just haven't found the right guy (not completely wrong) and straights just think i'm greedy (also not wrong)

To be honest if I wasn't married I would be far more adventurous. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing that i'm "tied down" but I'm also not very good at 'sharing' with others.

but yeah *plink* *plink* my 2 cents.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. I have no idea why people fear bi-sexuals

but I also got utterly slapped senseless as a kid by Peggy Lee on television. She sang 'Is That All There Is?" and it was such a deeply resigned performance, by which I mean she sang the song from a deep place of truth, that she scared the life out of me for weeks. Her style gave me chills, and the emotional depth of the song as she sang it gave me insight into adult life that was maybe too much for me at the time. I will never forget that as long as I live. Peggy Lee was a freaking genius as a singer and later in life I found she wrote or co-wrote the songs from Lady and the Tramp, which I also just loved as a child. She was a diverse and brilliant performer.
She was never my favorite singer,she had scared me badly, but she may be the best I ever saw. An artist, just an artist.
Just has to share that.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Because they think we will seduce both them and their spouse?

[burning rain]

6. What's to be afraid of?

I think it's great when hot gay chicks are at least a bit on the bi side. When they're strictly gay, that's just dismal. :evilgrin:

[BirminghamExaminer]

7. Do you think people more afraid of bisexuals than gays and lesbians?

I'm just curious. I am the mother of a 22 year old gay man and I know that there are plenty of people who are afraid of gay men, it seems they are a lot more afraid of gay men than of lesbians. I don't know if that is true or not but that's my perception.

For the record, I'm not afraid of anyone based on their gender preferences.

And I think that under the right circumstances, just about anyone can be bisexual. Maybe that's where the fear comes from?