Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality

by Julia Shaw

In other words, it is not practical for most of us to get rid of labels entirely, but we must also not attribute too much power or elegance to them.

Bisexuality is] the potential to be attracted, romantically and/or sexually, to people of more than one [gender], not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree.”

While it is unclear whether bisexual behavior is on the rise, more young people than ever are identifying as bisexual, and it seems that many people are open to falling in love with someone regardless of their gender. Bisexuality is not a fad, or “chic,” or “new”; rather this sexuality label appears to be more accessible and empowering today than it has been in the past.

Bisexual people were again socially sacrificed, this time not in the fight for gay rights but in the fight for women’s rights. This shift toward more exclusionary politics coincided with an increased visibility of bisexual women, and as more people (including people who previously identified as lesbian) started to identify as bisexual, some lesbian communities tightened their boundaries.31 Bisexual people were increasingly being stigmatized as being only there for the sexual experimentation. Bisexual women were seen as failed lesbians at best and sexual predators at worst.

This assumption means that behavioral bisexuality would be the foundational state of animals, and that environmental and other evolutionary pressures then changed the amount that this trait continued to exist in the population.