Читать книгу Bisexuality and the Challenge to Lesbian Politics - Paula C Rust - Страница 33

In an early phase of this research, 26 pre-test subjects were asked to rate the importance of various criteria in defining sexual orientation. Forty-six percent rated bisexual identity as “very important” or “essential” in defining bisexuality. Apparently, the women who participated in the pretest felt that they accorded a great deal of respect to others’ bisexual identities. When lesbian respondents in the main phase of the research were asked “What is your opinion of bisexuality?” many of them spontaneously mentioned bisexual identity. In this open-ended format, however, they usually mentioned it not to tout it as an important criterion of bisexuality, but to raise questions about its validity as a criterion. Of the 82 lesbians who mentioned bisexual identity, 57 did so to cast doubt on it. It would appear that when asked directly, lesbians generally say that they give serious consideration to other women’s bisexual identities, but when they are allowed to express their thoughts in a less structured context their comments reveal that many do not in fact accord bisexual identity much credibility.

Most lesbians who are suspicious of bisexual identity believe that women who call themselves bisexual are really lesbians. They explained that bisexual identity is used by people who can’t or won’t acknowledge their true sexuality, i.e., lesbianism, usually because of homophobia. Other lesbian respondents do not necessary think that bisexuals are lesbians, but they do expect that bisexuals are women on their way to becoming lesbians. Both of these beliefs cast doubt on the authenticity of bisexual identity, and by implication, on bisexuality itself. I call these beliefs “existentially invalidating” beliefs, and I will discuss them in detail along with lesbians’ other images of bisexual women later in this chapter.

A few respondents took pains to point out that their doubts about the authenticity of bisexual identity arose from their personal experiences with bisexual women, thus softening their criticism of bisexual identity. Maria, for example, sounded apologetic for her skepticism about other women’s bisexual identities. She wrote, “I feel that sometimes women who claim to be bisexual are simply denying their homosexuality. This is based on only the people I know that say they are bisexual.” Others commented that their impressions of bisexuality came primarily from their own experiences. They recalled that they identified themselves as bisexual before they came out as lesbians, and tentatively drew on this experience to wonder if other bisexual-identified women were also in the process of coming out as lesbians. For example, Doris explained, “I think many women think in terms of bisexuality when they are initially coming out—a transitional period—when I first fell in love with a womyn my internalized homophobia was so great I couldn’t comprehend me being a lesbian.”

Like Doris, Rhonda identified herself as bisexual before she came out as lesbian, but in hindsight she interprets her experience in a very different way:

When I first entered the lesbian community I thought of myself as bisexual—and referred to myself as such. A very large group of women (friends) that identified themselves as “lesbian” said I was confused. Within six months of coming out, I started referring to myself as “lesbian.” Found a much stronger sense of acceptance in the gay community . . . bisexual people are not accepted and have a harder time than gay men and women. (Rhonda)

Rhonda believes that lesbians’ suspicions about bisexual identity pressure bisexual women into identifying as lesbian. If she were to meet Doris, she might disagree with her that her period of bisexual identification was a transitional phase. Rhonda might argue that Doris is not a lesbian at all, but a bisexual woman who was pressured into identifying as a lesbian and who, in order to authenticate her current lesbian identity, now perceives her bisexual identity as inauthentic in hindsight.

Such a process would tend to be self-reproducing; each generation of women who are convinced to identify themselves as lesbians learns to inauthenticate their own previous bisexual identities by explaining them as transitional phases. These women, like Doris, then assume that other women who identify themselves as bisexual are likewise “going through a phase”; they expect these women to eventually come out as lesbians just as they themselves did. Bisexual-identified women become aware of lesbians’ expectations, and this awareness creates the pressure to identify as lesbian that Rhonda described. Those who are convinced by this pressure to identify as lesbians become invested in authenticating their own lesbian identities by inauthenticating their own and others’ bisexual identities, and the cycle continues.

But not all lesbian respondents who mentioned bisexual identity did so to cast doubt on its authenticity. Of the 82 lesbian respondents who referred to identity in their answers to the question “What is your opinion of bisexuality?” 25 referred to it for other reasons. Nine lesbians stated or implied that they accept other women’s bisexual identities at face value, i.e., that they assume other women’s identities are authentic reflections of their sexual essences. For example, Thelma expressed no suspicion whatsoever that bisexual-identified women might not be bisexual, which, according to her own definition, means that they are attracted to both women and men,

I feel accepting of my friends who identify themselves as bisexual. I don’t understand their ability to feel sexually attracted to and satisfied by both men and women. (Thelma)

and Samantha believes that a woman’s sexual identity should be respected and taken as the primary indicator of her sexuality:

It seems to be a viable lifestyle for some individuals. I support individual choice in defining ourselves. I, therefore, support individuals who choose bisexuality. (Samantha)

Five other lesbians went one step farther in authenticating bisexuality; so far, in fact, that they questioned the authenticity of lesbian identity. In contrast to the 57 lesbians who cast doubt on bisexual identity by stating or inferring that women who call themselves bisexual are sometimes or always really lesbians, Mae cast doubt on non-bisexual identity by implying not only that women who call them selves bisexual are authentically bisexual, but that many women who don’t call themselves bisexual are also bisexual. She thinks that bisexuality is “the most common sexual orientation, if only people would admit it.”

Despite their disagreements over the authenticity of various sexual identities, all 71 of the women discussed above—those who doubt the authenticity of bisexual identity, those who doubt the authenticity of non-bisexual identity, and those who believe in the authenticity of all identities—do agree on one point. They share the underlying opinion that sexual identity should reflect sexual essence. There are also lesbians who believe that sexual identity should not necessarily reflect sexual essence, especially when that essence is bisexual. In fact, some believe that essence should not be the determining factor in identity at all. Loretta, for example, believes that although women might be essentially bisexual, they make choices regarding which sex or sexes they will become sexually involved with, and their identities reflect, or should reflect, these behavioral choices:

I think that almost everyone is bisexual but some choose to place their emphasis on one end of the scale . . . I think that many lesbians could be involved with a man and straight women with other women if they allowed themselves to. I see people who call themselves bisexuals as those who do not wish to choose. (Loretta)

Other lesbians believe that identity reflects, or should reflect, a woman’s political commitments. Gilda, for example, believes that it is woman-identification, not sexual behavior, that distinguishes lesbians from bisexual women. In other words, lesbians and bisexual women might have identical sexual behaviors and feelings; the difference lies in their political orientation, not their sexuality:

I know many lesbians (including myself) who relate romantically I sexually with men and women yet identify strongly as lesbians. To me a bisexual is someone who goes either way sexually but is not particularly woman identified. (Gilda)

Rebecca would approve of Gilda’s decision to identify herself as a lesbian:

I think bisexual women while they may practice bisexuality ought to identify as lesbians to strengthen the lesbian movement. I believe the old line about identify with the oppressed group and not the more privileged one. (Rebecca)

In summary, the majority of lesbians who mentioned bisexual identity did so to discredit it. In general, lesbians tend not to accept other women’s bisexual identities at face value; usually, they suspect that women who call themselves bisexual are really lesbians. Very few lesbians spoke up to defend the authenticity of bisexual identity and express their respect for women who choose to identify as bisexual, but a few of those who did went so far as to cast doubt on lesbian identity instead. Finally, some lesbians do not believe that identity should reflect essence at all; they feel that identity should reflect a woman’s political convictions, not her sexual behaviors or feelings. To them, the issue is not authenticity, but politics.