Confused. In a phase. Nonexistent. Take it right out of the biphobia handbook. Biphobia is a constant obstacle that basically all bisexual or pansexual people face. Bisexuality is the attraction to both men and women, and pansexuality is the attraction to both men and women as well as anything in between or outside of the binary. Many people despite his/her/their identity may hold a disbelief or discomfort in those who experience attraction to more than one gender. Personally, I have had people tell me that I am just in a phase as a young person or that I haven’t met the right man. Of course, this could be possible for some individuals, but it completely ignores the fact that I have and still do experience attraction toward women and feel love toward them. Eliminating the identity of a whole group of people is very problematic and simply shows the misinformation of so many privileged people.
In my anthropology class we discussed the idea of the “unthinkable.” What makes something unthinkable for someone? We highlighted that the unthinkable stems from a lack of knowledge and representation of a phenomena. This connects to biphobia because those who perpetrate it obviously haven’t actually interacted with a bisexual individual and are so caught up in the binaries that society places on us all. A common belief amongst those who are biphobic is that there can only be gay or straight and nothing in between that, unless you’re just confused. I’m here to call out that bullshit because I’ve met many bisexuals who are confident in their identity and living their happy little bi lives.
Biphobia is invalidating and a highly privileged way of viewing the world. Believing that you know someone else’s sexual orientation better than they do is very disrespectful. Imagine someone telling a straight person that they are just confused and don’t actually have a crush on someone of the opposite gender. Like queen how would you know??? Overall, placing your socially constructed ideas of strict binaries on people is only harming them as well as constricting your ability to think about the “unthinkable.”