Pop idols Madonna and Britney Spears catapulted its expanding presence into teen culture with their famous bisexual kiss.
I can honestly say that I have never been to a house party where I haven't witnessed at least two girls begging to be given free liquor on the basis that they were bisexuals, saying that getting them drunk would be worth the free show. They always get the liquor, the audience, and the subsequent, slightly embarrassing Facebook photo fame.
Although I vehemently support the freedom teens currently have to explore their sexualities, as a teenager growing up in the midst of bisexual hype, I wish being “bi” would stop being as cool, fun and sexy as people perceive it to be.
Being bisexual is not like being “emo” or “punk” or “gangster”. Being bisexual is not a trend that people just pick up because it's in vogue; it's the inherent characteristic of a large segment of the populous.
To treat it as a fad equates it to something much more transient and artificial. The notion of bisexuality being 'chic' undermines the importance of being sincere to oneself, which pioneer bisexuality activists fought to establish.
The issue of disrespect aside, one can contend that pretending to be bisexual for fun and shock value is not a cause for grave concern. However, when closely examined, the rise of the bisexual chic trend branches out into several more worrisome aspects.
Assuming that all people who claim to be bisexual genuinely are attracted to both genders, out of Canada's 330,000 professed bisexuals, over half are female. In 2005, Time magazine published a highly criticized, yet interesting, study by researchers Gerulf Rieger, Meredith L. Chivers, and J. Michael Bailey, which purported that bisexuality is extremely rare in men.
In addition to scientific studies, there is also the street level assurance that finding a bisexual girl at a party is ridiculously easier than finding a young man willing to engage in physical displays of affection with another dude.
So, why are more girls bisexual than boys?
I’m not an expert at psychology, so I can’t validate this hypothesis, but I believe this is due to the media aggrandizement of female sexuality. We generally see and hear more about female sexuality through the media than its male counterpart.
Women are the ones discussing their sexualities on television, their faces and bodies cover magazines, and their physical assets are those we constantly hear about and compare ourselves to.
Whether it is Jennifer Lopez’s butt or Gwen Stefani’s abs, the media adores the female form, constantly barraging us with what is beautiful, hot and sexy. Men often acquiesce to this standard, and women have subconsciously begun to agree, thereby creating a generation of women prone to finding both men and women sexually attractive.
Then there is the inherent fetish factor of female bisexuals. This brings us to the idea of the “Myspace bisexual” - the girl who raises the facade of bisexuality to appeal to male perversions, boost her confidence, and get attention.
As many of my 'straight' peers who engage in bisexual behaviour for fun and attention can attest, there is an attractive power in being a sex symbol for voyeurs. However, one must question whether simultaneously exploiting both oneself and the perversions of men is really an intelligent, responsible or mature way for young women to feel “in control” and empowered.
It’s disturbing to discover that many young women today are under the impression that twisting their personalities to the extent of faking a sexuality, solely to appeal to boys, is a way to be “liberated.”
In addition to heaping more sexual confusion onto the already generous pile teens face, the rise of chic bisexuality has given rise to the importance of romance and sex in general. Platonic love is thereby harder for our generation to understand.
I don’t mean to say that modern teens can’t have close relationships with others of the same gender, as we surely can and do; however, in previous times, same-gender friendships were seen as the strongest kind, due to a shared understanding between people in almost exact situations.
Currently, as portrayed in the media, and well, life, the most valued, special friendships almost always lead to romance. Many teens are almost unwilling to pursue long term, emotional relationships with members of the opposite sex unless they believe romance may follow, and a similar trend has emerged for same-gender friendships.
When girls become close, they often feel as though sexual manoeuvres are the next logical step in a friendship, that they are the only way they can express their feelings of camaraderie and closeness. Just recently a female friend of mine and I discussed how another girl claimed to respect her so much she couldn’t help but fall in love.
Yes, romance is awesome, however, maintaining clear boundaries between respect/admiration and sexual attraction are fundamental to the healthy development of youth. We can’t just go falling in love with everyone we think is cool! Yes, we’ve achieved the sexual liberation, but ironically we’re losing parts of ourselves in the process of ensuring we have the freedom of self-discovery.
The reason bisexuality is considered acceptable today is because our society is recognizing the importance of authenticity. We must be true to our own personalities and preferences, and respectful of people's life choices. Bisexuality is a lifestyle and a personality. Bisexuality is not the new black.
*****
Check out all the Orato.com special series:
Hell’s Kitchen Chopping Block [1]
Song Over For American Idols [2]
People In Peril [4]
