As I was looking for something else, I found Pepper Mint's paper "Bisexuals and the Slut Myth" that was presented at the 9th International Conference on Bisexuality, 2006:
... First ... Why is the connection between bisexuality and sluttiness so persistent, to the point of ignoring the reality of large numbers of [happily monogamous] bisexuals? ...
Second, rates of nonmonogamy seem to be relatively high among bisexuals.... I personally have observed this anecdotally in the polyamory community. Fill a room with poly people, and the number of bi people in the room ranges up to sixty percent.... What gives?
Pepper Mint proceeds to deconstruct the bisexual-as-slut myth as arising from two false assumptions:
... the “one of each” myth.... is the common idea that bisexuals will not be happy unless they are dating one of each, namely a man and a woman....
The problematic assumption here can be stated simply: men and women are so different that desire for one is an entirely different beast from desire for the other. This assumption is sexist, as it is based in the false assumption that men and women are entirely different. It is also a defining feature of heterosexism....
There is a culture-wide assumption that verbalizing a sexual desire inevitably leads to attempts to satisfy that desire. I call this the immediacy of desire.... One of the primary functions of the immediacy of desire is as an enforcement tool for monogamy.... Preventing the expression of desire removes it from the arena of discourse, and also delegitimizes it....
We now have two false assumptions that together form the basis for the “one of each” myth. First, it is assumed that bisexual desire is actually formed of two different and distinct desires. Second, it is assumed that each desire must be satisfied (within a relatively short timeframe) for the bisexual person to be happy. Doing so would constitute nonmonogamy.
He goes on to discuss the invisibility of monogamous bisexuals, and the implications of this slut myth on bisexual and nonmonogamy activism.
(Emphases added.
Read the full paper.)
Tags: activism, bi activism, bisexuality, heterosexism, monogamy, nonmonogamy, one of each, poly, poly activism, polyamory, More…sexism, slut myth
Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on March 9, 2013 at 8:09pm Thanks for the link.
Mathew T. replied to Atheist Andrea's discussion Are you open about being an atheist or are you in the closet?
Mathew T. replied to matthew greenberg's discussion Daily Show takes on Christian persecution
Mathew T. replied to James M. Martin's discussion Sorry for the Hype, But This Might Make You Laugh
Loren Miller replied to Joan Denoo's discussion Edward Snowden: War on Whistleblowers "Only Builds Better Whistleblowers" in the group Politics, Economics, and Religion
Tom Sarbeck replied to Joan Denoo's discussion Edward Snowden: War on Whistleblowers "Only Builds Better Whistleblowers" in the group Politics, Economics, and Religion
Debra Stevenson commented on Loren Miller's blog post Of Wardens and Caretakers ... and Gods...
Tom Sarbeck replied to Ravi Morey's discussion Upcoming New Book putting God on Trial in the group Atheist Writers© 2013 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: Richard Haynes.

