(Source: julianahuxtable)
Radscum are a particularly nasty breed of radical feminist (i.e., those that are scum.) There’s a common misconception that “radical feminism” just means … well, any feminism that is radical. However, it refers to a specific kind of feminism that, in my experience, is characterized by rampant transmisogyny and a fuckton of internalized misogyny.
(To be fair, I’m sure there exist some radical feminists that aren’t scum. I just … haven’t met any.)
Most, if not all (actually probably all) radscum identify with some form of the “Womyn Born Womyn” movement, also known as the “If You Don’t Have a Vagina I Will Never Give Any Shits About You Ever” movement. They actively attack, belittle, and oppress trans women, and treat trans men as disappointments at best, traitors at worst. In short, they are scum.
They also seem to believe that any woman who is not a radical feminist is not smart enough to make decisions for herself. Most of them are anti-pornography, anti-burlesque, anti-femme, anti-heterosexuality, [Ed Note: and anti-Bisexuality], anti- … okay, they’re just anti-women-claiming-their-sexuality. Interactions with radscum in this context usually go like this:
Me: *wears makeup/wears a dress/shaves legs/etc.*
Radscum: HEY! DON’T DO THAT! STOP THAT! YOU’RE SUPPORTING THE PATRIARCHY! YOU’RE COOPERATING WITH THE ENEMY!
Me: Uhm, actually, even though I understand that mainstream beauty standards originated from the patriarchy to oppress and sexualize women, I’m actually doing this as a femme reclamation and a refusal to allow them to dictate my appearance. Also, outside of a feminist context, I just really like how this looks and it makes me happy.
Radscum: NO! WRONG! YOU CAN’T DO THAT! IT WILL ALWAYS BELONG TO THE PATRIARCHY! YOU DON’T REALLY WANT THAT, YOU’RE BRAINWASHED!
So basically what they’re saying is that a woman cannot make her own choices because her opinion will never outweigh a man’s opinion (not using inclusive language here because I’m referring to THEIR bullshit definition of “woman”), and that female-presenting people can never reclaim anything because anything that we attempt to reclaim belongs to men and always will.
Which, uh. Doesn’t sound very feminist to me.
And for people who screech so much about how gender/sex divisions are harmful and evil, they seem very very very concerned with policing who’s a “REAL WOMYN!!!!!!!!” and who isn’t.
Anyway, I’m rambling. Long story short is that they are very very unpleasant people and I don’t like them.
((rebloggable by request!))
(Source: mamamantis)
These are definitions from several leading bisexual organizations:
American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB)
Bisexuals are people who have the innate capacity to form enduring physical, romantic and/or emotional attractions to those of the same gender or to those of another gender. There may be an individual preference for one gender over others. Bisexuality is not synonymous with being polyamorous. Individual bisexual people may be celibate, monogamous or non-monogamous just as individual straight, lesbian or gay people can be.
Bisexual Resource Center (BRC)
The BRC uses bisexual as an umbrella term for people who recognize and honor their potential for sexual and emotional attraction to more than one gender (pansexual, fluid, omnisexual, queer, and all other free-identifiers). We celebrate and affirm the diversity of identity and expression regardless of labels.
Identifying as Bisexual, Fluid, Pansexual or Queer simply means that you were born with the capacity to be attracted to people regardless of someone’s sexual or gender identity.
Bisexuality is the potential to feel attracted to and to engage in sexual and/or romantic relationships with people of any sex or gender. A bisexual person may not be equally attracted to men and women. The degree of attraction to any sex can be fluid and may change over time.
Bisexuals, like all people, have a wide variety of relationships. Sexual involvement with both a man and a woman at the same time is not necessary for all bisexuals. Just like anyone else, bisexuals may be single, have one partner or have more than one partner.
Self-perception is the key to a bisexual identity. Many people engage in sexual activity with partners of more than one sex over the course of their lives but do not identify as bisexual. People who have had sex with only one gender, or who have not had sex at all, may identify as bisexual because of their attractions, fantasies or openness to a sexual or romantic relationship with someone of any sex.
Bisexual isn’t about there being only “two sexes”
Some people get hung up on the ‘bi’ and protest that gender isn’t binary. They claim that identifying as bisexual is tantamount to saying trans people don’t exist, or that you’re not attracted to them, or that you’re only into masculine men and feminine women. However many people using the identity “bisexual” disagree.
In traditional dictionaries:
- Homosexual is defined as “only attracted to the same sex”
- Heterosexual is defined as “only attracted to the opposite sex”
So why then dismiss bisexuality as being about “only men and women” when the definitions of hetero- and homo- don’t mention those? And why don’t the critics of the word also have a go at people using “heterosexual” or “homosexual” on the grounds of the words being even more restricted?
In this modern age with a wider understanding of gender some people choose to re-state those as:
- Homosexual- “attracted to people of a broadly similar gender”
- Heterosexual - “attracted to people of a broadly different gender”
In fact many people say there’s more than two genders, but if two options are either “similar to me” or “different to me” then we think it’s clear that “both” can refer to those two options rather than two perceived sexes.
Bisexuality isn’t an attempt to pigeonhole gender, it’s the freedom to feel attraction without blinkers! But we agree that ‘both’ is an oddly limiting word for the category of “everyone else” - this is why we say “more than one gender” at the Bisexual Index. Ultimately though, we don’t think anyone is obliged to use the word “bisexual”, and we agree there’s some way to go before our definition is the most common one.
What does it mean to be bisexual? It’s simple actually —
Bisexuals = people who can ♥ people of same gender as themselves + can ♥ people of different genders/gender presentations from themselvesFormal Definition: Bisexuals are people with the (some include “inborn” or “innate”) capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, (some include “spiritual”) and/or emotional attractions to:
(1) those of the same gender as themselves
(2) those of different genders/gender presentations from themselves.There may be an individual attraction for one gender or gender presentation which can also be fluid and changeable over time.
Bisexuality is not synonymous with being polyamorous (some include “or promiscuous”). Individual bisexual people may be celibate, asexual, monogamous or non-monogamous just as individual straight, lesbian or gay people can be.
No matter what their own gender/gender presentation or the gender/gender presentation of the person they are partnered with, bisexual people remain bisexual. They do not suddenly switch orientation as if by magic when they enter into a relationship.
or actually (to be really accurate) “women and men” are some of the subsets (see how cleverly we worked that in?) of “similarly and differently gendered people”
DEFINITION OF BISEXUALITY: I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted - romantically and/or sexually - to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree. ~ from “Selected Quotes” by Robyn Ochs
AND IT’S NOT THAT I’M TRYING TO DEFINE YOU FOR YOU, BUT IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND THAT BI MEANS TWO SORT OF LIKE DI MEANS TWO AND PAN MEANS ALL SORT OF LIKE OMNI MEANS ALL
THEY ARE PREFIXES THAT REFER TO A SPECIFIC NUMBER THAT IS HOW THE WORDS BISEXUAL AND PANSEXUAL WERE DERIVED
SO NO YOU CAN’T BE BISEXUAL AND PANSEXUAL
THAT IS NOT HOW NUMBERS WORK
With the greatest respect and not in anyway meaning to disregard any self-identification that anyone wishes to adopt but you should know there is an actual formal definition of bisexual. So that from now on could we please ask you to always use this as the starting point of any discussion of bisexuality/bisexual community.
When people say bisexual = only male/female it’s a bit like defining native american’s “redskins”. While the person speaking most likely meant no harm it’s silly, problematic as well as hurtful & disrespectful to all the bisexual people who in some ways define themselves as gender variant/gender non-conforming. It also (again probably by accident) erases the one third or more of trans* & genderqueer activist who founded and sustain the bisexual movement. So from now on Instead please use these instead:
First here is a “cute” twitter-ish version:
Bisexuals = people who ♥ People of Same Gender as themselves + ♥ People of Different Genders/Gender Presentations from themselves
Second, here is the longer more formal definition of bisexual:
Bisexuals are people with the inborn capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, (some include spiritual) and/or emotional attractions to:
(1) those of the same gender as themselves
(2) those of different genders/gender presentations from themselves
There may be an individual attraction for one gender or gender presentation which can also be fluid and changeable over time.
Bisexuality is not synonymous with being polyamorous, (some include “or promiscuous”). Individual bisexual people may be celibate, asexual, monogamous or non-monogamous just as individual straight, lesbian or gay people can be.
No matter what the gender/gender presentation of the person they are partnered with, bisexual people remain bisexual. They do not suddenly switch orientation as if by magic when they enter into a relationship.
It’s ridiculous how everyone is just waiting for me to come out and say that I’m gay.
bi·sex·u·al
Adjective:Sexually attracted to
both men and womenPeople of the Same Gender as themselves + People of Different Genders/Gender Presentations from themselves.
Very respectfully, there is an actual overarching formal definition of bisexual that should always be the starting point of any discussion of bisexuality/bisexual community.
When people say bisexual = only male/female it’s a bit like defining native american’s “redskins”. While the person speaking most likely meant no harm it’s silly, problematic as well as hurtful & disrespectful to all the bisexual people who in some ways define themselves as gender variant/gender non-conforming. It also (again probably by accident) erases the one third or more of trans* & genderqueer activist who founded and sustain the bisexual movement. Instead please consider using these instead:
First here is a “cute” twitter-ish version:
Bisexuals = people who ♥ People of Same Gender as themselves + ♥ People of Different Genders/Gender Presentations from themselves
Second, here is the longer more formal definition of bisexual:
Bisexuals are people with the inborn capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, (some include spiritual) and/or emotional attractions to:
(1) those of the same gender as themselves
(2) those of different genders/gender presentations from themselves
There may be an individual attraction for one gender or gender presentation which can also be fluid and changeable over time.
Bisexuality is not synonymous with being polyamorous, (some include “or promiscuous”). Individual bisexual people may be celibate, asexual, monogamous or non-monogamous just as individual straight, lesbian or gay people can be.
No matter what the gender/gender presentation of the person they are partnered with, bisexual people remain bisexual. They do not suddenly switch orientation as if by magic when they enter into a relationship.
(Source: klubvs)
When I was struggling with my sexuality, I briefly considered bisexuality, but quickly rejected the term. After all, don’t you have to be attracted to two genders equally?
Not quite. This is one of the biggest misconceptions I run into when I discuss bisexuality with other people.
“Do you like guys or girls more?”
“During the last five months, I found myself more attracted to girls, but these are random little crushes. I’m also attracted to male celebrities at the moment, but I also just went through a major crush on a friend of the same gender. It’s kind of complicated.”
By this point, I lose most people unless they are fellow bi/pan/fluid friends that also happen to go through similar experiences. As a note, I want to quickly say that these are only my experiences and I believe that there are an infinite number of ways for someone to experience sexuality.
Point being, sexual orientation is a complicated matter and I haven’t even begun to touch on sexual and romantic attraction and there on. Bisexuality is what it means to you.
Respectfully, but that should probably be more correctly stated as, “how you experience bisexuality is what it means to you”. However, FYI there is an actual overarching definition of bisexual that should always be the starting point of any discussion.
First here is a “cute” twitter-ish version:
Bisexuals = people who ♥ People of Same Gender as themselves + ♥ People of Different Genders/Gender Presentations from themselves
Second, here is the longer more formal definition of bisexual:
Bisexuals are people with the inborn capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, (some include spiritual) and/or emotional attractions to:
(1) those of the same gender as themselves
(2) those of different genders/gender presentations from themselves
There may be an individual attraction for one gender or gender presentation which can also be fluid and changeable over time.
Bisexuality is not synonymous with being polyamorous, (some include “or promiscuous”). Individual bisexual people may be celibate, asexual, monogamous or non-monogamous just as individual straight, lesbian or gay people can be.
No matter what the gender/gender presentation of the person they are partnered with, bisexual people remain bisexual. They do not suddenly switch orientation as if by magic when they enter into a relationship.
I really need to update my dictionary. I’m going to add every variation of cis since I get asked about that often. Does anyone have any suggestion on words I use a lot or concepts we talk about that some people might not understand or know about?
Bisexual! here is how historically the bisexual community actually defines itself … a “cute” twitter-ish version:
Bisexuals = people who ♥ People of Same Gender as themselves + ♥ People of Different Genders/Gender Presentations from themselves
the longer more formal definition of bisexual:
Bisexuals are people with the inborn capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, (some include spiritual) and/or emotional attractions to:
(1) those of the same gender as themselves
(2) those of different genders/gender presentations from themselves
There may be an individual attraction for one gender or gender presentation which can also be fluid and changeable over time.
Bisexuality is not synonymous with being polyamorous, (some include “or promiscuous”). Individual bisexual people may be celibate, asexual, monogamous or non-monogamous just as individual straight, lesbian or gay people can be.
No matter what the gender/gender presentation of the person they are partnered with, bisexual people remain bisexual. They do not suddenly switch orientation as if by magic when they enter into a relationship.
