For many — women especially — coming out as bisexual, for example, can be met with dismissal. With the nearly 5 million adults in the U. One thing is for sure: Being bisexual is hardly the only interesting thing about anyone, and the list of seriously impressive people who happen to identify as bisexual is pretty long. Ready to leave your own mark on history?
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Researchers asked more than bisexual women and those who report being attracted to more than one gender about their mental health, how open they are about their sexuality, their experiences with discrimination, and any symptoms of depression. Among their findings is that bisexual women in relationships with heterosexual cisgender men were least likely to be open about their sexual orientation. Bisexual women in relationships with cisgender lesbian women, bisexual cisgender women partners, and bisexual cisgender men partners were more likely to be out than those partnered with heterosexual men. Researchers speculated that bi women may be more comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation when in a relationship with a woman. However, bi women were more likely to be out with a bisexual male partner than a heterosexual male partner, suggesting that a shared bisexual identity might be meaningful. Xavier Hall also said that bisexual women experience two forms of stigma: homophobia and monosexism. Monosexism is a kind of stigma experienced by individuals who are attracted to multiple genders, such as bisexuals, pansexuals and some other queer-identifying individuals. The stigma derives from the idea that monosexual identities like gay or heterosexual are normal or superior to sexual identities that are gender inclusive, according to Xavier Hall. The study also found that bisexual women with cisgender lesbian partners had fewer depressive symptoms compared to single bi women.
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It feels strange to admit this, but when I first read that bisexual women are more vulnerable to sexual and intimate partner violence than people of other orientations, I felt relieved. It was the lightness of finally being able to breathe. I always knew that women are at a higher risk of sexual assault and relationship violence than men. It was evident when men hissed at me on the street, their words crawling up my back. It was evident the first time I was harassed at work, the first time I was sexually assaulted, the first time a partner abused me. The truth is, we are more vulnerable to violence depending on our sexual orientation. And bisexual women are particularly at risk. Physical and sexual violence in intimate relationships is painfully common. For bisexual women, the risk almost doubles compared to heterosexual women.
Being a Real Housewives fan means striking a tricky balance. The surface-level stuff may seem asinine to nonviewers, but real Bravoheads know that underneath all the pettiness is a fascinating and even profound exploration of what it means to love, forgive, and belong. These women attempting to perform their own idealized version of themselves — rich, successful, ageless, perfect wives and mothers — might be doing it all with more money and power than we are, but their anxieties and even delusions are really just fun house mirror reflections of our own. Still, there is a dark side to the Housewives universe, which, of course, centers on wealthy or apparently wealthy women, their obscene spending, and their frequently retrograde ideas about sex and marriage not to mention politics and human rights. Sometimes it feels like Housewives really boils down to Divorce Watch, and none more so than the original, Real Housewives of Orange County. On the other side of the spectrum, perhaps most infamously, we had the modern business-owning woman who works hard, plays hard, and has no time or real desire to invest in her longtime marriage OG castmate Vicki Gunvalson, whose adamant defenses of her cancer-faking boyfriend Brooks in later seasons destroyed most of her friendships and ultimately planted the seeds of her ouster from the show. Braunwyn Windham-Burke, who joined RHOC for its 14th season in , at first seemed like yet another typical blonde Orange County wife, if a little unusual for her particularly large family. But the mother of seven sent shockwaves through the rest of the cast when, in a post-drinking hot tub scene, she admitted that she and her husband, Sean, had the occasional threesome. Later, at the end of Season 15, she came out as a lesbian. But even under cover of being a generous and accommodating wife, Braunwyn was still met with shock and even repulsion from her fellow Housewives castmates for, as Vicki later put it, inviting another woman into her marital bed.
