"Societal biphobia—negative attitudes and behaviors toward bisexual individuals—is more prevalent than anti-gay sentiment. It is sometimes perpetrated by lesbians and gay men and and public health professionals who interact with MSMW. Biphobia can manifest in erroneous beliefs that MSMW are closeted gay men and, particularly for black men, responsible for HIV transmission to women. Experiencing these sentiments can contribute to MSMW’s social isolation and psychological distress, which in turn may promote HIV/STI risk through substance use, sexual risk behaviors, and avoidance of prevention services. Researchers have argued that biphobia may explain some MSMW’s HIV testing avoidance, substance use, and high number of sexual partners. For example, because biphobia manifests in beliefs that bisexuality is not a legitimate sexual orientation, MSMW may feel inclined to publicly validate their bisexuality through multiple sexual partnerships with men and women." (Source)
CONTEXT:
This text is part of a larger article titled "Beyond the Bisexual Bridge: Sexual Health Among U.S. Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women." This article was published in September 2014 in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, and approaches the topic of bisexuality (male bisexuality specifically) from a medical, scientific standpoint. The article explores statistics and studies surrounding MSMW (Men who have sex with men and women) and their tendency to have a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) compared with heterosexual and homosexual men. This study also describes various sociocultural factors that have a negative effect on MSMW, leading to their increased rates of STIs.
Course Reading:
Fear of AIDS has already affected sexual ideology. Just when homosexuals have had some success in throwing off the taint of mental disease, gay people find themselves metaphorically welded to an image of lethal physical deterioration. The syndrome, its peculiar qualities, and its transmissibility are being used to reinforce old fears that sexual activity, homosexuality, and promiscuity led to disease and death (Rubin, Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality, 299).
Analysis:
While the excerpt from Rubin’s piece focuses on the AIDS epidemic and its role in ostracizing homosexual people, this medical journal article provides a more recent look into the physical consequences of obstructing the hegemonic notions of American society. This excerpt blames “societal biphobia” for the high rates of HIV/STI infection among bisexual men, which is somewhat different than the cause/effect relationship outlined in Rubin’s piece. The original AIDS outbreak was associated with homosexual people because of its prevalence in that community, leading to homosexuality being correlated with “disease and death.” However, in the case of bisexual men, it is the social implications of their sexuality that leads to their increased rate of disease. Another difference is that mainly heterosexual people were creating and circulating these negative ideas against homosexual people during the AIDS epidemic, whereas both heterosexual and homosexual people contribute to the transmission of harmful stigmas surrounding bisexual people. Both sides of the straight/gay binary work together to oppress and physically harm the bodies of those in the middle. For example, because of the belief that “bisexuality is not a legitimate sexual orientation,” a belief which is held by both straight and gay people, bisexual men feel that they have to prove the validity of their orientation through multiple relationships with both men and women, which in turn leads to a higher risk of STI. The article also mentions the psychological and emotional effects that go hand in hand with the physical effects: bisexual men may experience more “social isolation and psychological distress” because of the negative stigmas surrounding their identity, which leads to increased risk of receiving a STI through more promiscuous behaviors and “avoidance of prevention services.” The connection between homosexuals and physical weakening that gay people experienced during the AIDS epidemic is now shifting to the bodies of bisexual individuals because their bodies are being invalidated by both sides of the binary alike.
It is also interesting to note that the article mentioned in passing an “erroneous [belief] that MSMW are closeted gay men.” Through further analysis and examination of other pop culture and media references, bisexual women are commonly thought of as being in a “phase” or being with a woman “for attention” from males, which is where their true affections lie. In both of these cases, bisexual individuals are assumed to be ultimately interested wholly in men. This default brings to light certain patriarchal values that lead to the favoring of men over women in most contexts. Perhaps outside the scope of this project, but curious to note nonetheless.
It is also interesting to note that the article mentioned in passing an “erroneous [belief] that MSMW are closeted gay men.” Through further analysis and examination of other pop culture and media references, bisexual women are commonly thought of as being in a “phase” or being with a woman “for attention” from males, which is where their true affections lie. In both of these cases, bisexual individuals are assumed to be ultimately interested wholly in men. This default brings to light certain patriarchal values that lead to the favoring of men over women in most contexts. Perhaps outside the scope of this project, but curious to note nonetheless.