A national study by George Mason University found that bisexual teens are more likely to experience depression, stress and alcohol abuse than their straight peers. But while bisexual men tend to experience these less as they age, bisexual women continue to face all three consistently throughout their lives. The study’s lead researcher says that social stigma against bisexual and the pressure to “choose a side” contributes to depressed, stressed-out binge drinking.
Image via visualchlebovo
Mike
With all the shit that bisexuals get from gay men and lesbians this is not surprising. Then again I have read studies that say that if you’re GLBT your chances of becoming an alcoholic are higher than if you’re heterosexual, that coupled in with how common alcoholism is genetically if it runs in families increases one’s potential for alcoholism or alcohol abuse.
Little Kiwi
…not to mention, uh, that being born LGBT into a world that is not accommodating, welcoming or accepting of you can create a massive psychological impact on a person’s sense of self-worth. these voids are often filled with substances or fleeting-high band-aids.
from a purely psychological standpoint it makes complete and utter sense that those in the LGBT Community would be more prone to seeking solace and numbness in substances considering we’re people that are born into a Lie (the closet) and grow up in a world that can’t shut the fuck up about how “abnormal” we are – and that prejudice against us is justified.
i year for the day when bisexuals represent themselves, rather than them being misrepresented by gay people who falsely co-opt the “Bi” label before they’re able to admit to being gay. Eliminate omnipresent anti-gay prejudice from culture and you get fewer gay people falsely-claiming to be bi, thus you will get fewer people making it seem as if Bisexuality is a transient phase as opposed to the legitimate orientation that it is.
ke
@Little Kiwi: agree.
corvidae
@Little Kiwi: Amen! I would also like to add that since I came out I get TONNES more discrimination from gay guys than I do from straight ones!
(Women are generally equally more supportive, but there is occasionally a lesbian who takes me being bi as a personal affront to her sexuality.)
Straight guy’s reaction: “So you like girls and guys?”
ME: “Yes.”
SG: “Cool” + humorous comment about getting extra dates/lays.
Gay guy’s reaction: “you’ll grow out of it”
Little Kiwi
the reality is this – there are in fact Right and Wrong ways to Come Out.
falsely claiming to be Bi is the wrong way – as it then invalidates the legitimacy of the bisexual orientation.
a gay person falsely co-opting bisexuality to help themselves does not in any way help the bisexual community.
it’s like the gay men who Come Out but with such an intense weight of insecurity that they become those ‘anti-gay gay guys’ as their coping mechanism. it’s the Wrong way, too. it’s not helping anyone, not even themselves – it’s an act of harming other gays in hopes that it will draw negative attention away from you and onto “those fags” instead.
jason
The problem with so-called bisexual women is that they spend their lives seeking the approval of men, usually straight men. It’s an ugly and consistent trait in the female gender. It comes from being socialized – by parents and society, including other women – to say and do things that get the male nod.
This propensity of women causes them to say and do things that don’t genuinely reflect who they are but, rather, who they think they must be. A lot of fake female bisexuality stems from it. A lot of fake overall interest in sex stems from it.
My view is that, since the sexual revolution, there has been an increase in female depresssion that can be linked to the sexual revolution. The sexual revolution was basically about encouraging women to become straight male fantasy objects by choice. Women fell for it. They now have to abide by notions that are counter-productive to their health.
Feminists are also to blame because they put out this poisonous line that “women can have anything they want”. Such a philosophy might be an excellent feel-good line in a publicity blurb but it fosters the notion that women SHOULD be having anything they want. As a result, women are now pulled from pillar to post as they atttempt to balance work and children in a very high-pressure lifestyle.
Women are highly impressionable. Highly impressionable. The social forces that have shaped our liberal society in the last 50 years have cornered them. They’re now paying the price.
missanthrope
Jason is an obvious troll. Do not engage.
Rob
Bisexuals already do represent ourselves and have been for decades. Or are you too young to remember the 60s, 70s, and 80s Kiwi when bisexuals came out along with everyone else that’s GLBT and started to fight for equality alongside gay men and lesbians?
Michael
The fact that so many people who happen to be bisexual are pressured like that saddens me in many ways.I look at it this way all these people who claim to be your friend or your family members if they expect you to choose a side whether you are with a male or female.Then they are not being supportive encouraging or standing by their child or their friend period.I’d never want people like that in my life under any circumstances.
Michael
@Roland:
Those who treat bisexuals like that are ignorant plain and simple.There is no other word for that kind of blind stupidity and hate.
Little Kiwi
roland, it’ll happen when anti-gay prejudice lessens. it’s anti-gay stigmas that make far too many gay kids falsely claim to be “bi” before they’re able to Come Out as gay. thats’ why Bi is seen as a transient phase – gay people falsely co-opting the label.
work to eliminate the negative stigma on being gay and you’ll alleviate the connected stigma of bisexuality. for real.
Michael
@Rob:
*sighs* The hypocrisy of some in this community literally astounds me.I was shocked years ago when I came out and started to see hate coming from the SAME community thats supposed to be loving accepting and TOLERANT.To this day this kind of stuff boggles my mind.Im sorry you went through that ive had a gay user on this site mock my relationship with my bisexual boyfriend because its online.I have social anxiety disorder so we have not seen each other yet but this user is gay and has mocked the fact that my boyfriend is bisexual and has PROVEN HIS intolerance in that area. I am so glad you had friends that are kind and decent though Im grateful Ive met some really decent people.Unfortunately even in this community there are some indeed rotten apples who try to spoil the whole bunch.
DenverBarbie
While I do want to avoid “engaging” Jason, I am excited (first and last time) to see him post his usual mommy-problem ramblings- as they highlight the points made by all other users to a tee.
Bisexual women experience tremendous persecution from the L’s and the G’s (like Jason), but also do not get taken seriously by heterosexual men. Female sexuality is not seen as complex or real or the woman’s own, but is instead viewed as something created for male satisfaction. (This is what Jason mistakenly refers to as women using their sexuality- it is, in reality, reverse.)
Which of course is just one piece of the “Misogyny is Alive and Well!” puzzle.
ALSO, it has been said that bisexual women suffer from greater incidents of sexual abuse.
Little Kiwi
for an example of “hypocrisy” take a good look at the comments “Michael” makes in which he throws insults left and right and then cries “victim!” when people do it back at him.
Michael
@Little Kiwi:
Nope you are LYING as you always do.Hypocrisy is when someone mocks the death of someones father as you did with mine and never once apologized.You are low class though so it did not shock me.Hypocrisy is when someone claims they are AGAINST bullying when they do it on a daily basis like you do on this site whether it is emotionally bullying or physically bullying it is still bullying nonethless and its wrong on too many levels to count.You have already proved you have absolutely no class heart nor conscience another thing your parents failed when it came to raising you.Blame yourself for growing up to be a sociopath its no ones fault but yours.Your intolerance for bisexuals was already proven also by your comments about my boyfriend.I saw what you wrote Kiwi you even tried to put doubts into my mind that he would cheat on me.
Michael
@Little Kiwi:
You have mocked the fact that I have social anxiety disorder which shows even more how low YOU are.I have never been a victim in my life nor do I act like a victim online.You however have been WARNED multiple times on this site about your behavior and intentionally ignored those warnings.
Little Kiwi
@Jack: ” Coming out as bisexual does not make it any easier on friends or family and if they have prejudices against GLBT people they are still going to treat you like shit or disown you.”
As someone who has been involved in LGBT Outreach and indeed queer and family-related outreach for more than a decade I can safely say, from direct experience, that your statement is incorrect.
I don’t know what else to say to you. We see it all the time. Unless you are saying that in the LGBT Youth and Family Outreach programs that YOU volunteer for that you see otherwise I’m not really sure what you’re arguing about.
I’m talking about what I see and hear all the time, and have seen for more than a decade. What’s your basis for experience?
Michael, you keep bringing shit up and attacking others then crying victim when it gets tossed back at you. it makes look certifiably insane. pick your battles, kiddo, and learn when to just shut up.
Michael
@Little Kiwi:
I hope one day for your sake you grow up lose your ego and learn how to treat people with respect and like actual human beings.
Little Kiwi
and i hope you shift your obsession with me onto someone else. this is officially tired and creepy.
Michael
@Little Kiwi:
Rot in hell biphobic dipshit. Flagged again once I get my email back I will be getting you off this site once and for all for your behavior.Ive fucking had it with your pathetic ass.Ugly on the inside and out period.
Michael
@Little Kiwi:
You’d be no match in the real world little boy neither intellectually or physically. 🙂 You really are a loser thinking you are some kind of badass online a highly uneducated egotistical piss ant is what you are and always will be 🙂
Little Kiwi
michael, you can’t come onto a thread and make baseless lies and digs at me and then scream that you’re being victimized when you get called on it.
Jack, ” what I said about how gay youth don’t lie about being bisexual is true. Most gay youth and teens here in the US will stay closeted and pretend to be “straight” rather than come out as anything other than hetero.”
I don’t know what to say, then. We have had drastically different experiences in dealing with queer youth. I was posting stuff about this on facebook this week and legions of guys were chiming in to say “yeah, i said i was bi for two years”
I say what I say from years of experience.
Little Kiwi
Damon, i never said it was the fault of bisexuals. Not once. because it’s not. it’s due to anti-gay stigmas in society. So, again, calm yourself down.
I can’t be any clearer about this – if you want to help promote the legitimacy of bisexuality as the orientation that it is then we all need to work harder to eliminate anti-gay stigmas from society.
that was bisexuality can be represented by actual bisexuals and not misrepresented by homosexuals who falsely co-opt the label.
what about this is so hard to understand?
Little Kiwi
“You’d be no match in the real world little boy neither intellectually or physically. ”
real world? i’m not the one with ‘social anxiety disorder’. you’re the one who apparently can’t venture into the real world. not me.
Little Kiwi
Rob, none of that has anything to do with what I’ve been saying. My point is that the stigmas of it being a transient phase will be effectively countered when we help create a culture that doesn’t make so many gay people falsely misrepresent themselves as bisexuals before they’re able to Come Out as gay.
what, specifically, do you folks disagree with about that?
I don’t get it.
Michael
@Little Kiwi:
There you go again did your parents just let you grow up to be an asshole who thought he was something special? Or have you always been that deluded about your own self importance? Pathetic.Enjoy having no conscience while others like myself actually do have one.
jason
The male-male sex act is discouraged and demonized by society, particularly women. When that act is practiced by a male who also practices sex with women, it is considered to be even more concerning. That’s because a bisexual male cannot be confined in the way an exclusively homosexual male can be confined. A bisexual male can compete with women for the attention of men. He represents a threat to her ability to sell herself.
The female-female sex act is encouraged by the very same forces that discourage the male-male sex act. A bisexual female – fake or otherwise – appeals to the sleazy straight guy fantasy for girl-girl action. She represents the “fantasy woman” for men who use women to achieve their threesome fantasies.
An unintended consequence of gay liberation: men who have sex only with men can be easily confined to ghettos – thus, their influence and their ability to confront homophobes in the mainstream is reduced.
Michael
@BiWoman:
He knows nothing about bisexuals nor does he have any right at all to act as if he does.Unless he is bi himself he’s just pissing in the wind period. My boyfriend happens to be bisexual hes had feelings for both men and women and he still struggles with that but he is in love with me.It’s hard enough being gay at times I can not even imagine how difficult it is to be bi and also get discriminated by the very community you would expect to welcome you with open arms and love.
please don't get mad at this one
@Marie: “Thinking bisexual people haven’t made up their minds.”
Q: How many bisexuals does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Doesn’t matter, they can never decide which way to screw it in.
Peter
@Little Kiwi: I don’t know if this phase is unique to me, but a lot of people THINK that they are Bi, simply because when you first come into puberty, the concept of SEX excites u, to the point that any naked person or porn excites u, and then as u get older, the naked women and lesbian porn don’t excite you anymore because you are used to sex as a concept and realise that you are only attracted to men.
I know that this happened to me, and I told some close friends I was bi, because I legitimately thought I was, but over 2 years I became less and less attracted to women, and realised I wasn’t going through a bi phase, but that I was just more used to sex and was only attracted to men. It took me almost a year to realise that, but if that can happen to me, I think it might happen to others too.
tallest
so bisexuals are depressed because “they’ve just got it so much harder!” ffs gimme a break. What’s hard about being bisexual that isn’t as hard or harder about being gay/lesbian? No one takes you seriously? tough shit, get a real problem and maybe we will care a little.
Beatrix Morel
@tallest:
Did you even read the post? The statistics were comparing bisexuals to their STRAIGHT peers. Nobody every claimed they had it harder, but when assholes like you treat them as flippantly as any heteronormative bigot would, well, could you blame them if they did?
Mark Moscow
@missanthrope: shut up, miandrist busturd!
Mark Moscow
Pro-feminist orientation of LGBT is the tragedy for gay\bi male rights. Radical feminists(90% lesbians) very like double standards on bisexuality as female privilege. Also they against commercial surrogacy. It means that gay male couples can’t to be parents of their GENETICAL child => this is cause for blaming male homosexual behaviour.
Gay and bi guys must support liberal masculism!
amo
@Little Kiwi: “falsely claiming to be Bi is the wrong way – as it then invalidates the legitimacy of the bisexual orientation”
I disagree. I’m bi and I support people who ID as different orientations at different times in their lives. They’re not doing any harm. They’re not invalidating bisexuality.
The only thing that harms bisexuality is biphobia.
jason
Lesbians, like women in general, will exploit their sexuality in order obtain privileges. Like women in general, they will use their sexuality as a marketing ploy to obtain benefits. We all know of lesbians who hate men but will sleep with them anyway because of their desire to have a baby.
Bisexual women are similar. They will exploit their sexuality – fake or real – to obtain privileges.
Women generally like to imagine themselves as being superior to men when in fact they aren’t. They will also claim that their sexuality is superior to a man’s when it isn’t.
jason
amo,
What harms bisexuality is females who claim to be bisexual in order to titillate sleazy straight guys. These women are whores. Their sexual behavior is dictated by the need to appeal to the girl-girl fetishes of men – many of whom are homophobic towards male-male sexuality – rather than the desire to express their orientation.
The sooner we tell these women to get lost, the better. They are doing immense damage to the cause of GLBT rights with their grubby pandering to the sleazy straight guy fantasy.
amo
@jason: Jason, You do nothing to advance the bi cause. In fact, you harm bisexuals.
missanthrope
God you people are a bunch of misogynist bigots. Just join the republican party already and leave us alone.
Jaded
@Jason
I am a bi woman. I am not a whore. I am attracted to both men and women. In fact, gender isn’t ultra important to me. I’m attracted to the person and as a result, I’m physically attracted to them and whatever gender they are. It pisses me off when gays and lesbians treat me like dirt because I won’t get militant about men and heteros.
Mark Moscow
@missanthrope: shut up, misandrist hypocrit
BiTranswoman
I’m with Amo, I don’t see anything wrong with someone identifying as different sexual orientations at different periods of their life. A LOT of bisexuals identify as gay or lesbian either at first, for periods of their life, or even decades before they realize that they are bisexual and come out again as bisexual. Biphobia is a serious problem and way more common in the GLBT/gay and lesbian community than people want to admit or they don’t think it’s as bad as homophobia.