Bisexual people exist in a weird space in the queer community, as a bisexual person myself there’s always a feeling that you’re not quite queer but also that you’re definitely, definitely not straight.
Historically we’ve had a much better time with discrimination because it’s a bit easier to fly under the radar but there are still a few weird pervasive myths about the mysterious bisexual, one of which is that they tend to be a bit sluttier.
While it may definitely be true of me as an individual, it’s ridiculous to say that it’s true of bisexuals as a whole. Just because you’re into twice as many (or more) genders doesn’t mean you’re twice as likely (or more) to sleep around, that’s absurd.
The misconception is rooted in this heteronormative idea that if you’re in a straight relationship with a bisexual person they’re constantly thinking of the sex they’re not having with people who aren’t your gender.
In a way it’s almost refreshing to see it crop again, as it did on Channel 7‘s ‘The Morning Show‘ this morning, when they asked entertainment correspondent Peter Ford to weigh in on Amber Heard and Johnny Depp‘s divorce.
The discussion around the divorce has already been pretty gross, with a lot of horrible people crawling out of the woodwork to be complete pieces of shit about Heard’s allegations that she was assaulted by Depp – a bit of light homophobia served as a nice break from the usual heavy misogyny.
Ford put forward that Depp’s mistake was getting married to Heard in the first place, because she’s bisexual:
“I probably shouldn’t say this, I’ll probably get in trouble, but it’s not wise to marry a bisexual.”
One thing he is correct about is he absolutely shouldn’t have said that. Well done to Ford for coming up with an extremely left-field way to be wrong about this, I guess.
The fact that he was able to say that on nationally broadcast television without either of the hosts calling him out on it or having to apologise is pretty crazy, and shows that we still have some way to go with attitudes about bisexuality.
He did try and offer something in the way of an explanation when asked but, well, it didn’t actually explain anything:
@Brocklesnitch not at all! But she was in a legal marriage at the time Johnny came along. Simple as that.
— Peter Ford (@mrpford) May 30, 2016
Weird areas all round.
Source: Daily Life.
Photo: Channel 7.
