#paula rust

Lesbians' spontaneous comments about bisexuality reveal that more than one in ten lesbians perceive bisexuals as confused or undecided, and similar proportions perceive them as transitional lesbians and/or closeted lesbians. In addition, one in seven holds other unflattering beliefs about bisexual women, for example that they are sexually promiscuous or unable to commit themselves to a relationship, whereas less than one in twenty holds a positive image of bisexuality as natural or healthy…

Lesbians' responses to closed questions reveal that these negative attitudes toward bisexuality are even more widespread than spontaneous comments suggest. Whereas only 8.7% of lesbians spontaneously characterized bisexuality as transitional, in response to closed-ended questions 79% of lesbians described bisexual identity as more likely to be transitional than lesbian identity. Whereas only 8.1% of lesbians spontaneously characterized bisexuals as closeted lesbians, in response to closed-ended questions 50% indicated a belief that bisexual identity was more likely than lesbian identity to be fraudulent. Whereas only 2.5% spontaneously described bisexuals as unable to commit to a relationship, in response to closed-ended questions 61% stated that bisexuals are less committed to other women than lesbians and 53% stated that bisexuals are less trustworthy than lesbians. Eighty-three percent believe that it is easier for bisexuals to pass as heterosexual, 65% believe that bisexuals are more likely to want to pass, 79% believe that bisexuals experience less prejudice, and 81% believe they experience less discrimination.

Apparently, the minority of lesbians who made these comments about bisexual women spontaneously were speaking for the majority of lesbians, most of whom simply did not express their opinions on these issues until specifically asked to do so.

Lesbians very rarely generalize these negative images to all bisexual women; most lesbians stopped short of saying, for example, that all bisexual women are confused or in transition to lesbian identity. Most lesbians also agreed that some lesbians share the traits that are so common among bisexuals; for example, some lesbians are also confused or in transition...

But the fact that most lesbians do not generalize their images of bisexuality to all bisexuals does not imply that these images do not affect bisexuals generally. Even when exceptions are allowed, images of bisexuality function to implicate all bisexuals. This is particularly true of existentially invalidating images. Because there are no clear markers to distinguish the few "true" bisexuals from the greater number whose claims to bisexual identity are illegitimate, existentially invalidating images cast suspicion on any woman who claims to be bisexual and thereby invalidate bisexual identity generally. The lesbian who believes that bisexual identity is more likely to be fraudulent than lesbian identity, for example, is likely to be suspicious of all claims to bisexual identity, even though she believes that some of these claims to bisexual identity will eventually prove to be authentic. Thus, every bisexual is aftected by her belief that some bisexuals are inauthentic.”

As a society, we are quickly finding out the hard way that this sterile image of science is false. Values shape the questions we ask and biases shape the way we ask them. The problems that are solved are often the problems of the most powerful in society, because the least powerful do not have the funding, training, or voice to put their problems on the agenda.”

Lesbians are lesbians because they have chosen to live lesbian lives and identify as lesbians; most women who live heterosexual lives never chose to be heterosexual. The argument has interesting implications for bisexuals.

The authors rejected the concept of bisexuality as a sexual/ affectional preference. They argued that when a bisexual is with a man, she is heterosexual because she enjoys heterosexual privileges. But when she is with a woman, she is not lesbian because heterosexual privilege remains an option for her.

She is, in fact, the only woman who consciously chooses heterosexuality because she is the only woman who ever lives a heterosexual life with full knowledge of the other option; the bisexual woman is, therefore, the only true "heterosexual."

In comparison to the number of lesbians who expressed these beliefs about bisexual women, the number who rejected them is minuscule. But the import of their comments lies not in their number.

The fact that some lesbian respondents expressed negative images demonstrates that they exist at least in the minds of some lesbians, but the fact that other women felt the need to refute them demonstrates something even more significant from a sociological point of view.

That is, that these images exist as ideas to be reckoned with in lesbian culture. Even if only a few lesbians actually ascribe to a given negative image of bisexual women, the fact that other lesbians found it necessary to refute that image is evidence that the image enjoys a lively existence in the symbolic world of the lesbian community.”

For example, Doris explained, "I think many women think in terms of bisexuality when they are initially coming out—a transitional period —when I first fell in love with a womyn my internalized homophobia was so great I couldn't comprehend me being a lesbian."

Like Doris, Rhonda identified herself as bisexual before she came out as lesbian, but in hindsight she interprets her experience in a very different way:

When I first entered the lesbian community I thought of myself as bisexual — and referred to myself as such. A very large group of women (friends) that identified themselves as "lesbian" said I was confused. Within six months of coming out, I started referring to myself as "lesbian." Found a much stronger sense of acceptance in the gay community ... bisexual people are not accepted and have a harder time than gay men and women. (Rhonda)

Rhonda believes that lesbians' suspicions about bisexual identity pressure bisexual women into identifying as lesbian. If she were to meet Doris, she might disagree with her that her period of bisexual identification was a transitional phase. Rhonda might argue that Doris is not a lesbian at all, but a bisexual woman who was pressured into identifying as a lesbian and who, in order to authenticate her current lesbian identity, now perceives her bisexual identity as inauthentic in hindsight.

Such a process would tend to be self-reproducing; each generation of women who are convinced to identify themselves as lesbians learns to inauthenticate their own previous bisexual identities by explaining them as transitional phases. These women, like Doris, then assume that other women who identify themselves as bisexual are likewise "going through a phase"; they expect these women to eventually come out as lesbians just as they themselves did.

Bisexual-identified women become aware of lesbians' expectations, and this awareness creates the pressure to identify as lesbian that Rhonda described. Those who are convinced by this pressure to identify as lesbians become invested in authenticating their own lesbian identities by inauthenticating their own and others' bisexual identities, and the cycle continues.”

Now, though, I am trying very hard to understand bisexuality. I feel that it must be a very difficult lifestyle ... an emotional and sexual see-saw. (Kelly)

or juggling simultaneous homosexual and heterosexual relationships:

I think that it would be a very hard way of life for me. I could not juggle the two. (Gina)

or indiscriminate sexual activity with anything that moves:

(Bisexuality is a way) for highly sexed people who go either way to double their chances for sex. (Arlene)

Any of these three lifestyles would make a committed monogamous relationship difficult to maintain, if not impossible. Conceptualized in terms of coexistent homosexual and heterosexual needs or as the result of an overly active sex drive, bisexuality becomes incompatible with committed monogamy,

If a person is settled with this identity I think it's great. I also believe that this lifestyle could present problems in needing both preferences met at same time-makes for a difficult monogamous relationship. (Ruth)

especially when homosexual and heterosexual needs are perceived as antithetical to each other:

One who is attracted and enjoys a sexual relationship with both men and women. Sad that the inner conflict prevents the person to experience a complete commitment to one person in order to build a lasting relationship. (Cori)”