On National Coming Out Day, Influencer Comes In Defense Of The Bisexual
The next October 11th is symbolically celebrated as the “National Coming Out Day”, the annual awareness day to support people in “coming out of the closet” and it is by taking advantage of this date that Sheyla wants to show that people don’t need to be ashamed of who they are.
Sheyla Fong has increasingly used her platform to advocate for the bisexual cause. For Fong it’s crucial that to understand and separate acceptance from fetishization. The bisexuality is not really accepted, they are seen as objects that are simply putting on a show for the pleasure of the viewer (specifically straight men).
The fetishization of same-sex attraction affects the lives, everyday experience of queer women. Fetishization reduces the Lesbian and bi women to do things that are only desired for consumption by a privileged group.
After making a post cautionary of the sexualization and fetishization of bisexual women, with a t-shirt, the influencer wants also to remind people that bisexual men also exist and need support.
“Sexuality still being an issue in the 21st century is shameful. And there is a lot of prejudice against bisexual people, especially bisexual men”, she says. “People doubt them. They want bisexual men to be just gay, but that’s not how it works! Nobody chooses their sexuality. And those questions are extremely personal.”
The bi community has faced and continues to face adversity and difficulty in being recognized and respected. Social movements of the past century have increasingly rallied for the understanding and acceptance of fluidity, but we still live in a patriarchy system, that relies on strict gender and sexuality binaries – in which power is unevenly vested in heterosexual males.
“This behavior can get in the way of a guy who is in a process of self-acceptance and discovery. If he likes the person regardless of gender, that’s just him and no one else. It’s not a question of whether he’s straight or gay. The thing is: he’s bisexual! That’s it! Finish.”
Therefore, we often see discrimination that depicts bisexual men as “less manly” and bisexual women as a fetish to be consumed and enjoyed by heterosexual males.
