Bisexual erasure: Perceived attraction patterns of bisexual women and men

Abstract

Bisexual individuals face identity denial and erasure and qualitative analyses suggest that it may be gendered, such that people stereotype bisexual women as truly heterosexual and bisexual men as truly gay. Across three studies (total N = 787), we examined perceptions of bisexual targets’ attraction patterns. Participants rated the attraction of either a female or male bisexual target to both the same gender/sex and opposite gender/sex. An internal meta‐analysis revealed that heterosexual, lesbian, and gay participants all perceived bisexual men as more attracted to men than to women. No such pattern emerged for bisexual women. These differences between the perception of bisexual women and bisexual men were also reflected in the endorsement of an explicit measure of bisexual erasure. Our findings add to the understanding of the unique bias bisexual people face by showing that perceived attraction patterns may underlie the labelling of bisexual men as “actually gay”.

Stereotype Content at the Intersection of Gender and Sexual Orientation

“…One potential reason for these differences in attitudes toward bisexual individuals could be that participants have different views of what bisexuality entails. There is a common prejudice in relation to bisexuality that bisexuality is not a valid sexual orientation unto itself, but rather an expression of confusion from people who are "actually" homosexual or heterosexual (Israel and Mohr, 2004;Hubbard and de Visser, 2015;Burke and LaFrance, 2016b;Morgenroth et al, 2021). Whether or not a bisexual person is seen as latently homosexual or heterosexual depends on their gender, such that bisexual women are seen as latently heterosexual and bisexual men are seen as latently homosexual (Flanders and Hatfield, 2013;Mize and Manago, 2018;Morgenroth et al, 2021).…”

“…There is a common prejudice in relation to bisexuality that bisexuality is not a valid sexual orientation unto itself, but rather an expression of confusion from people who are "actually" homosexual or heterosexual (Israel and Mohr, 2004;Hubbard and de Visser, 2015;Burke and LaFrance, 2016b;Morgenroth et al, 2021). Whether or not a bisexual person is seen as latently homosexual or heterosexual depends on their gender, such that bisexual women are seen as latently heterosexual and bisexual men are seen as latently homosexual (Flanders and Hatfield, 2013;Mize and Manago, 2018;Morgenroth et al, 2021). Because the stereotype content reported in the current study for bisexual groups was closer to that of gender congruent homosexual groups for both bisexual women and men, there is some indication that bisexual men were viewed as latently homosexual, but no indication that bisexual women were viewed are latently heterosexual.…”

Bisexual stereotypes apply differently by body size: An assessment of bisexual prototypicality, trait application, and body size

“…The evaluation of the skinny male as particularly androcentric may be related to the association of skinny male bodies with gay identities (e.g., Alt et al, 2019;. Further, the general trend was such that bisexual male body stimuli were perceived as having slightly heightened androcentric desire relative to bisexual female body stimuli; this trend is supported by recent research finding that bisexual men, but not bisexual women, are perceived as more attracted to men than to women (Morgenroth et al, 2021). Given endorsement of androcentric desire is associated with explicit prejudice toward bisexual men (Morgenroth et al, 2021), the current findings lend support to the necessity of interventions to reduce bisexual prejudice specifically by targeting beliefs about androcentric desire.…”

“…Social and academic movements for queer rights and inclusion have excluded bisexual people (see Rothblum, 2020;Weier, 2020). This lack of visibility arises in part from bisexuality's defiance of both heterosexist and monosexist norms, which enforce binary understandings of sexual attraction to one gender, rendering the multiple attractions of bisexuality intangible (see Morgenroth et al, 2021;Roberts et al, 2015). Further, bisexuality is often rendered invisible on the individual level, as bisexual individuals in monogamous relationships with partners of any gender are often perceived as having "chosen a side" and thus no longer being bisexual (e.g., Hartman-Linck, 2014;Hayfield et al, 2018).…”

“…Future work on perceptions of bisexuality should thus aim to include more encompassing assessments and displays of gender expression and identity, which would provide more ecologically valid understandings of perceptions of bisexuality. It is unclear at present how androgynous bodies of varying sizes might be perceived, particularly in their interaction with bisexual identities and with regard to bisexual stereotyping (which often operates along gendered lines; see Morgenroth et al, 2021). However, analogous to how the adoption of fat identities can be used to resist hegemonic beauty standards (see Taylor, 2020), androgynous expressions can be embodied as a challenge to beauty norms (Cusack et al, 2020;Galupo et al, 2021).…”