1/14/15
You Don’t Have to Like Men and Women Equally to Be Bi

Reader Peet wrote the following in response to a personal essay on our site, “(My) Bisexuality Is Really Not That Complicated.” Note: The line quoted by Peet was not stated as a fact by the original author, but rather as an example of the “sloppy stereotypes” about bisexuality.

“Bisexuals must desire both genders equally or they’re not really bi; and if they desire both genders equally, they’ll never be satisfied with monogamy, because they must sleep with someone of each gender consistently to be identifying as bi.”

How can somebody take this seriously? Bi people can just be attracted to both genders. But they needn’t be having sex with both of them to be considered as bi, or to be satisfied in a relationship.

Here is an analogy: Even if you are a straight man and you are attracted to only women, you can be satisfied with one women you are in a relationship with, even if you are attracted to other women, too. Replace the words “women and men” with “person,” and “straight” to “bisexual” and it remains as true as it is in its original form.

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