{"id":194980,"date":"2014-08-22T01:02:35","date_gmt":"2014-08-22T01:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/08\/22\/wsswatson-sorry-to-drag-this-up-again-but-i\/"},"modified":"2014-08-22T01:02:35","modified_gmt":"2014-08-22T01:02:35","slug":"wsswatson-sorry-to-drag-this-up-again-but-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/08\/22\/wsswatson-sorry-to-drag-this-up-again-but-i\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

wsswatson<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Sorry to drag this up again, but I was thinking about the earlier discussion re. bi John vs. \u2018straight with exception\u2019 John while I was walking my dog, and I thought of something else I\u2019d like to add while it\u2019s in my head.<\/p>\n

I think that a lot of people who label themselves as \u2018straight with an exception\u2019, and even more so, \u2018straight with exceptions\u2019, are people with a lot of internalised biphobia. This was certainly the case with me – I identified as straight (heterosexual – I\u2019ve been aware of my aromanticism for a long time) with an exception and then with exceptions for quite some time before I started as identifying as bisexual (or grey-bisexual<\/a>, to get nuanced), and I know several others who did the same.<\/p>\n

There is a massive stigma attached to bisexuality and biromanticism (and, by extension, pansexuality and panromaticism), and in societies where being gay is becoming more accepted, biphobia is more prevalent. I\u2019d expand upon that, but my bisexuality<\/a>, biphobia<\/a> and erasure<\/a> tags will do that nicely for me.<\/p>\n

Technically, in order to be bisexual\/romantic, all that you need to do is experience sexual\/romantic attraction to people of the same and other genders. People, as in a minimum of two. A minimum of two, as in a minimum of ONE person of one gender and ONE of another. Meanwhile, heterosexual\/romantic technically means \u2018EXCLUSIVELY sexually\/romantically attracted to men\/women depending on gender\u2019.<\/p>\n

Of course, identity is more complex than language. Even if I ever experienced romantic attraction to someone, I imagine I would still identify as aromantic, because I would not consider a solitary experience sufficient to alter how I see myself and how I interact with other people generally. That said, I know from experience that lots of people who identify as bi or pan now once identified as \u2018straight with an exception\/exceptions\u2019.<\/p>\n

Hand in hand with biphobia, a large contributing factor to this is misunderstanding of what being bi actually means. So many people believe at least one of the following misconceptions:<\/p>\n