Here and queer (?): Monosexism and the bisexual body

Abstract

How can we see bisexuality in society? What does a bisexual look like? What happens if we cannot see bisexuality in society? This chapter reflects on the bisexual body and suggests that bisexuality fails to be visually recognised due to the assumption that everyone is either heterosexual, lesbian, or gay. I argue that this contributes to a bisexual invisibility in society, thus shrouding bisexual experiences in silence. This silence, I argue, results in a reduced quality of life for bisexuals due to the lack of social recognition and consequent invalidation of the bisexual identity. Although we fail to see bisexuality, I contend that the reliance on visual cues to determine sexual identity is problematic, and we must turn to discursive measures for bisexual representation.