babblingqueerace: themeaningofbisexuality:Via The Bisexual Index on Twitter [Picture is a ser
babblingqueerace: themeaningofbisexuality: Via The Bisexual Index on Twitter [Picture is a series of tweets by The Bisexual Index which read:] We don’t say “bisexuality is attraction to two or more genders”. We say “bisexuality is attraction to more than one gender”. If you don’t see a difference then why not use our version? There is a difference. 1) Saying “It’s not 2, it’s 2 (or more)” doesn’t really get away from the outdated “there’s two” model. 1a) And it footnotes other genders. No need to! 2) And as with our list of points, more than one can include ‘not entirely two’. But again - if you see genders or your attractions purely as integers then don’t worry: More than one totally includes two. Part of the @bisexualindex mission statement is to promote “more than one” over “two” or “two+”. We think it’s more inclusive and reflective of the bisexual community. Other bi orgs disagree and that’s cool. It’s not mandatory. But when people who don’t use the bisexual label tell you we’re wrong, feel free to tell them we don’t care. Our label, our definition. This is a very interesting thread and they make some good points as to why “more than one” would be preferable to “two or more”. I specifically dislike the “same and other genders” definition due to the way it submits to the “bi = 2″ definition and also specifies a particular gender you have to be attracted to and, in The Bisexual Index’s words, “it footnotes the other genders”. (and since the SGA discourse I really don’t trust people who use it for the whole community). But I also feel that “more than one” and “two or more” are equally inclusive and reflective of everyone in the bi community so they can be used more interchangeably than some other definitions, though I’ll definitely consider promoting the “more than one” definition a bit more going forward. I’m gonna say right off the bat that this Tumblr ‘SGA Discourse’ Bullshit is absolutely coloring my perspective on this but… I kind of think ‘bisexual means attraction to more than one gender’ has similar problems. If the ‘two or more genders’ definition has the connotation of ‘boys and girls and maybe more’ I am gonna be extremely wary of the ‘more than one genders’ definition having the connotation of ‘the same gender as yourself and other genders too’ (or something similar). Which isn’t really a problem with the definitions in and of themselves, but a problem with shitty people being shitty and using the definitions for shitty purposes. (like I have issues with the ‘same and different genders’ and ‘two genders full stop’ definitions in and of themselves, on anything beyond a personal level) And I don’t entirely agree with the notion that ‘two or more genders’ isn’t a meaningful departure from the ‘there’s two genders’ model… which I know is due to the fact that lately I have pretty much only see the ‘two or more genders’ definition being used in explicit opposition to the bullshit idea that there are only two genders (boys and girls). And by extension of that I’m not really sure I agree with the idea that the definition ‘foot notes other genders’ (because if ‘two’ doesn’t mean ‘boys and girls’ but just ‘any two genders’ what genders exactly are getting foot noted?) But I think it’s worth the note that I have also seen the ‘two genders full stop’ definition being used on a personal level in explicit opposition to the idea that there are only two genders, those genders being boys and girls (stuff like ‘being attracted to two genders doesn’t mean those genders have to be boys and girls’) Because again, especially when it’s at a personal level, it’s less an issue with the definitions in and of themselves and more an issue with shitty people being shitty. I mean, the ‘same and different genders’ and ‘two genders full stop’ definitions when applied broad scale are an issue because they are leaving a bunch of bi people out but on an ‘individual describing themself’ level I don’t think it’s inherently a problem. And the connotations matter, absolutely. The cultural/historical/whatever context words are being used in matters. Just *helpless have wave* I dunno…. I had those thoughts. What I really like about the ‘more than one gender’ definition is the space it leaves for ‘not entirely two’. I think that is really awesome and a really good thing. That, I think, is the main difference (when we’re talking on a broad scale level) between the ‘more than one’ and ‘two or more genders’ definition and I think that difference is meaningful. …. so I hope that was a mildly coherent ramble ahaha. Definitely coherent :DYeah you’re right that the bad thing about some definitions is just because of the way shitty people have used them! -- source link