Monosexual privilege - what it is, and what it isn’t

(For anyone who doesn’t know me: I’m the one who wrote the Monosexual Privilege Checklist).

Monosexual privilege is NOT about:

That would be STUPID, because:

  • Gay and lesbian people don’t have the structural power or ability to cause systematic oppression of bi people
  • Gay and lesbian people are severely oppressed by heterosexism, homophobia and lesbophobia
  • Stereotypes, in and of themselves, are not a form of oppression
  • Saying all that would mean unfairly scapegoating gay and lesbian people for things they don’t have the capacity to do

What monosexual privilege IS about:

The purpose of the Monosexual Privilege Checklist is:

  • To draw attention to the fact that oppression against bi people is systematic
  • And is performed by heterosexual society
  • To call people out for thinking that biphobia is something that only happens in gay and lesbian communities
  • To place the fault where it really is: STRAIGHT SOCIETY

Now DO ME A FAVOR - if you’re going to accuse the Monosexual Privilege Checklist of being homophobic or what-not, at least have the decency to mention that I - the author - said it meant the exact opposite.

The Bisexual Mind: A brief history of the term "monosexuality"

the-nonbinary-bisexual:

tearingdownthatfence:

bidyke:

(I’ve been asked this elsewhere and thought others might find it helpful.)

The modern use of the word “monosexual” was invented along with “bisexual” by European scientists in the late 19th century and early…

Here are my (main) sources:

  • MacDowall, Lachlan. “Historicising Contemporary Bisexuality.” Journal of Bisexuality, 9:1 (2009), 3-15. Download PDF.
  • Rapoport, Esther. “Bisexuality in Psychoanalytic Theory: Interpreting the Resistance.” Journal of Bisexuality 9:3-4 (2009): 279-295. Download PDF.
  • Storr, Merl. “The Sexual Reproduction of Race: Sexuality, History and Racialization.” The Bisexual Imaginary. Bi Academic Intervention, ed. Continuum, 1997. 73-88.

There’s also this book, which I know discusses this, but I haven’t gotten to read yet.

Source: bidyke

Not curious but furious: My theory of why bi tumblr is getting so much backlash of late is...

a-little-bi-furious:

My theory of why bi tumblr is getting so much backlash of late is because of the recent study focusing on bisexuals with it’s scary statistics showing a higher rate of suicide, rape, ill health etc for bisexuals way above what was ever considered possible before.

Thanks in no small part to bi tumblr picking up on this, sharing the information, and generally publicly stating “well isn’t this messed up? we should do something about this”, these facts are leaking onto the dashboards and tags of not-so-sympathetic folks on tumblr, especially when we try and raise awareness of really pressing bi issues in tags that imply bi inclusion but actually are focused substantially more on the LG community (this is why I’m hesitant on tagging stuff LGBT nowadays, because I know biphobic blogs are more likely to see it and I might directly or indirectly instigate a flame war).

Add to that this weird nostalgia some portions of the LG community has for outdated queer theory that either only mentions bisexuality in passing or is openly dismissive/hostile to bisexuals (bisexual women in particular, which is also a product of misogyny in these communities). Lesbian TERFs in particular I’ve found are very proud of the glory days of the 60s and 70s when being queer and feminist was radical and wasn’t co-opted by the mainstream and they didn’t have to care about little annoying details like intersectionality and critical thinking within their movement.

Assimilation is of course a real concern within political movements, queer or feminist, the major irony is that they lump bisexuals into the assimilation and ~straight ally~ group because we are “tainted” and “conflicted” by different-sex attraction and are therefore the enemy within, but they are more than ready to approve of straight allies who support them and silence the complaints of bi and trans* folk with them, so the argument of keeping focus on straight allies out of the queer community never holds water with me. You can read it all in the fuckyeahbiphobia tumblr that surfaced a few months ago and the reaction to biphobia and monosexism memes on the Wipe Out Homophobia page to see what I’m talking about.
Studies like “A Population-Based Study of Sexual Orientation Identity and Gender Differences in Adult Health” pretty much fly in the face of everything groups like these hold dear, and the common reaction to any information that conflicts with a well established political theory is derision, erasure and violence.

We complicate and undermine their well-established narratives that have helped streghthen ties within their own communities as well as helped them fight against their own oppression, so they can’t have bisexuals or anyone else muddying the waters and bringing up issues that only effect them and detract from “the cause”.


That’s why these guys are so keen to keep the focus on bisexual myth-busting lists and bisexual erasure in media and biphobic microaggressions within our lives and relationships.

They want to believe that it’s just trivial bellyaching in comparison to LGT problems, obscuring the real cost in human life and well-being for real bisexuals that they are contributing to, which these studies reveal.
They don’t want any revision to their version of history where bisexuals are just a small part of activism and their community.

They don’t like to entertain thoughts that they might have even been partially responsible for the death and harm of people society allows them not to think about.
Coming from an already marginalized group that faces all of this from straight people, to think about these things is extremely uncomfortable, and the easiest thing to do is believe it isn’t real, say it isn’t your problem, to co-opt it into your own oppression so you can safely say “well this is just more of what I face” and just keep doing what you’re doing, fighting your own battles, not listening to what is being said or causing any real change.

We have real numbers on our side that scare the hell out of us, that should scare the hell out of any reasonable person, and they can’t stand to think about it let alone fight for it. It makes them uncomfortable that bisexuals are angry about this and gaining more momentum and evidence supporting our case.
Trust me, the tears and hate campaigns start flowing from these kinds of people as soon as the academic research is made public. Doesn’t matter the context, producing stats will reveal them.

All of this.

bisexual-community: IMPORTANT!! It’s time for the annual (2013) International LGBT (marketing) Survey. As the Bisexual Resource Center asks PLEASE TAKE IT anytime thru June 30th, 2013. And then ‘Signal Boost’, Reblog and in general TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS.  We especially need a LOT of Bisexual/Non-Monosexual Voices please. Here is what it is all about: Please take part in CMI’s 7th Annual LGBT Community Survey. Participation in this survey gives important feedback to our LGBT community media and organizations, and provides valid data to companies interested in serving our needs, sponsoring our charities, and supporting their LGBT employees. Last year, the survey was taken by over 45,000 LGBT citizens of 148 countries!Your answers are completely confidential, and will never be used for sales or marketing purposes. The survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete. We really need a lot of bisexual/non-mononsexual people to take this survey and share it with everyone they can think of becasue Community Marketing & Insights has graciously shared the important statistical information with Bisexual NGO’s/Charities & Academic Researchers. And these people in turn use it to be able to help provide direct and useful services to you! So please help in this annual effort. Thank You Wait, what? Is this some sort of “capitalism is good for you” thing? Excuse me if I choose not to participate.
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bisexual-community:

IMPORTANT!! It’s time for the annual (2013) International LGBT (marketing) Survey. As the Bisexual Resource Center asks PLEASE TAKE IT anytime thru June 30th, 2013. And then ‘Signal Boost’, Reblog and in general TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS.  

We especially need a LOT of Bisexual/Non-Monosexual Voices please.

Here is what it is all about:

Please take part in CMI’s 7th Annual LGBT Community Survey. Participation in this survey gives important feedback to our LGBT community media and organizations, and provides valid data to companies interested in serving our needs, sponsoring our charities, and supporting their LGBT employees. Last year, the survey was taken by over 45,000 LGBT citizens of 148 countries!

Your answers are completely confidential, and will never be used for sales or marketing purposes. The survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete.

We really need a lot of bisexual/non-mononsexual people to take this survey and share it with everyone they can think of becasue Community Marketing & Insights has graciously shared the important statistical information with Bisexual NGO’s/Charities & Academic Researchers. And these people in turn use it to be able to help provide direct and useful services to you! So please help in this annual effort. Thank You

Wait, what? Is this some sort of “capitalism is good for you” thing?

Excuse me if I choose not to participate.

(via bialogue-group)

Source: survey.communitymarketinginc.com

A brief history of the term “monosexuality”

(I’ve been asked this elsewhere and thought others might find it helpful.)

The modern use of the word “monosexual” was invented along with “bisexual” by European scientists in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Back then, “bisexual” meant having a combination of male and female anatomical features, or a lack of sexual differentiation between male and female anatomy. “Monosexual” meant clear differentiation between male and female anatomical traits. Later, when bisexuality came to mean “having masculine and feminine psychological traits” (which is how Freud used it), “monosexuality” meant having the psychological traits of one “sex”. Under that framework, bisexuality also came to be understood as a form of attraction: it was presumed that people who had the anatomical sexual traits of “both sexes” also had “male and female” psychological traits, which meant that they also were attracted to “both sexes”. It was assumed that their “male side” desired females, while their “female side” desired males. Under this definition, “monosexual” meant someone with clear anatomical and psychological “male” or “female” traits, who is attracted to one “sex”. Note that they didn’t at all differentiate between sex, gender and sexuality. These were all considered as one and the same.They also used gender-binary language.

This term also had a particular value judgement: while bisexuality was firmly connected with immaturity, “primitiveness”, non-white/West-European (i.e. “savage”) cultures and with animals, monosexuality was strongly associated with maturity, advancement, “cultured” (i.e. West-European) humanity and whiteness. In this framework, monosexuality was clearly and explicitly superior.

Quite a bit later, in the 1990’s, the bisexual movements in the US and the UK used the word in a similar, but different context. Obviously, the meaning of bisexuality has changed considerably (it meant pretty much the same thing as it does now - referring only to desire rather than “anatomical sex” or “psychological gender”). Bi activists and writers used it to mean people attracted to no more than one gender, as part of a political dialogue about oppression. This is where I took it from and is pretty much how I use it. I will say that even then, the term was met with inner-community criticism, basically on the same grounds as now - that it created an unfair conflation between gay and straight people, and that it created a harmful binary dichotomy (bisexual/monosexual).

While I think that these criticisms have really good points, I also think we can take them into account, and use the term carefully, sensitively and contextually, without necessarily making those same mistakes. I think it’s one hell of a useful term for talking about structural oppression of bi people, so I guess you could say I use it tactically in order to raise those issues.

The "look inside" feature has been added to my book on Amazon! Check it out! :D

Depicted as duplicitous, traitorous, and promiscuous, bisexuality has long been suspected, marginalized, and rejected by both straight and gay communities alike.

Bi takes a long overdue, comprehensive look at bisexual politics—from the issues surrounding biphobia/monosexism, feminism, and transgenderism to the practice of labeling those who identify as bi as either “too bisexual” (promiscuous and incapable of fidelity) or “not bisexual enough” (not actively engaging romantically or sexually with people of at least two different genders). In this forward-thinking and eye-opening book, feminist bisexual and genderqueer activist Shiri Eisner takes readers on a journey through the many aspects of the meanings and politics of bisexuality, specifically highlighting how bisexuality can open up new and exciting ways of challenging social convention.

Informed by feminist, transgender, and queer theory, as well as politics and activism, Bi is a radical manifesto for a group that has been too frequently silenced, erased, and denied—and a starting point from which to launch a bisexual revolution.

[Image: grunge bisexual flag background. Top image: skull and crossbones. Text: “GET ANGRY and SMASH MONOSEXISM”] <3 For more about monosexism:http://radicalbi.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/snippet-4-the-bisexual-invisibility-report/ http://radicalbi.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/the-difference-between-monosexism-and-biphobia/http://radicalbi.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/the-monosexual-privilege-checklist/
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[Image: grunge bisexual flag background. Top image: skull and crossbones. Text: “GET ANGRY and SMASH MONOSEXISM”]

<3

For more about monosexism:

http://radicalbi.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/snippet-4-the-bisexual-invisibility-report/

http://radicalbi.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/the-difference-between-monosexism-and-biphobia/

http://radicalbi.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/the-monosexual-privilege-checklist/

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